Stags surge to Finals Day after T20 victory in summer sun

Finals Day the prize. Banstead the opposition. And the Stags continued their winning ways in the shortest format, with an 11-run victory in the Surrey Championship T20 Cup quarter final.

Ashtead won the all-important toss of the coin and elected to make first use of a previously used wicket that would take lots of spin later in the game. And, as ever for a T20 innings, the bludgeoning began right from the first over.

The loss of Michael Sanderson for just 1 in the third over threatened to derail an otherwise excellent start for the Stags, as Manoj Sarathchandra and Harri Aravinthan used the fielding restrictions of the PowerPlay to their advantage and plundered the quicker bowlers. 50-1 after 6 overs and setting a strong platform for further carnage later.

Wickets, however, are a very valuable commodity, and the Banstead spinners proved capable and confident in their arts. Shots aimed to clear the boundary rope started to find the waiting hands of fielders and the innings began to stagnate. 111-4 after 15 overs left concerns about who would finish the innings, and how far Ashtead would get.

Enter Tom Homes. The Stags’ vice-captain, typically starring with the ball more than the bat, swung hard but also played the field and found the gaps. The last over was a flurry of activity, scoring 10 runs off the first three balls but then seeing 3 wickets (and a wide, no hat-trick here) fall as well. The hosts finished on a respectable 151-8 – defendable but a good chase would succeed.

And, initially, the visitors made the best of the early going. Both batsmen, who had previously caused significant problems for the Stags in their league clash just 4 days prior, went hard and fast against the quicker bowlers. 51-0 at the end of the PowerPlay was ominous, 68-0 off 8 downright worrying. Banstead were very much on top.

But just as it had been in the first innings, it would be the spinners that did the damage. Senura Jayasinghe and Harry Williams combined to tie down, frustrate, and pressurise the batsmen – until the shots became ragged and the wickets started to tumble. Michael Sanderson took a straightforward catch to remove one of the openers for 49 (off just 27 balls), and a pair of special Sarathchandra stumpings wreaked havoc.

Despite a late surge (with one batsman anchoring and the others swinging), the required rate just kept climbing and the Stags mercilessly turned the screw. A six in the final over was a faint but forlorn reminder of what might have been, as Banstead finished on 140-7, 11 runs shy of Ashtead’s total.

This result sees Ashtead progress to the final four of the Edwards Cup, Surrey’s premier T20 competition. The next matches in the tournament will be played on Finals Day, which this year is beginning held at East Molesey this coming Sunday (19 July). Ashtead will look to continue their form, as they look to emulate their successes of 2014. Join us then.