Ashtead close in on the championship with another win

A nail-biter for the fans and teams alike, but the points keep flowing, as Ashtead snatched a 10 run victory at home to Old Whitgiftians in Round 14 of the Surrey Championship Division 1.

The visitors won the toss, and elected to field, which seemed a curious decision given the overhead conditions and the hard, dusty wicket. And once again, the Ashtead openers, Michael Sanderson and Dom Sibley, got the innings off to a flier. Although Harshil Patel caused early problems and stifled the pair, the same could not be said for the other Old Whits seamers, who were expensive and, at times, wildly wide.

It took the introduction of the spinners, Harshil Shah and Pratik Khetia, to stem the flow of runs, and with Khetia’s first over, the wickets began – Sanderson lbw for 28. John Vaughan-Davies then entered the fray, and together with Sibley, steadily began to accumulate runs. At the second drinks break, after 30 overs, the Stags were 127-1 and looking well set to pile on the runs.

However, the return of Luke Fisher, bowling off spin rather than his original faster bowling, proved disastrous. Khetia opened the floodgates, with the wicket of Vaughan-Davies for 36, and then a farcical run out between Sibley and Matt Friedlander saw the Surrey star depart for 77. Fisher then swooped in, and with 4 wickets over the next 10 overs, ripped the heart out of the Ashtead line-up. Friedlander, Danny Miller, Stewart Cameron and Conor Young all fell here – but with some powerful hitting, the score had reached 215-7 with 4 overs to go.

Enter Paul Harrison. Steady up till this point, with 22 runs from 20 balls when Young fell, he launched the final few PowerPlay overs. With just three men outside the 30 yard circle, the visitors could not protect all the areas they needed – and the plundering began. When Harrison finally fell with a ball to go, he had made 61 from 36 – and 39 from just 16 in the last 5 overs. With some scampering at the end, Ashtead made 264-9 at the close of the 50.

It became clear early in the piece that seam would not be the way forward. Despite the early wicket of Rory Caines, both Will Pereia and Jordan Thomas found the going tough in the early overs. When the 10 over PowerPlay was done, the visitors were 52-1, with both Shah and Joe Murtagh going well.

Enter spin, which would encompass the entirety of the remaining overs. Tom Deighton and Sibley began the display, and both were very tight in their early spells. Conor Young and Paul Harrison were then introduced, and whgile both saw more runs off them in their early overs, Harrison snaffled both settled batsmen shortly before the drinks break. With 20 overs to go, Old Whits required 146 with 7 wickets left. All to play for.

Runs continued to flow after the break, but it was the end of the overs from Young and Harrison that did the damage, with 3 wickets in 4 overs to reduce the visitors to 168-6 in 39. 97 from 11 seemed a tall order indeed. Young finished with a credible 2-46 off his 10, and Harrison improved on that to take 3-51.

Enter Luke Fisher. He provided the firepower that Old Whits desperately required at that stage in the innings. Deighton was his prime target, going for 20 off his first over back into the attack, and with some more plundering, he eventually reached 45 of just 22 balls when Deighton removed him. Two more quick wickets, one each for Deighton and the returning Sibley left the visitors needing 36 off four overs with just 1 wicket left.

Mo Raza and Khetia wouldn’t give in, however, and with some more attacking shots, got the visitors close. It was not to be, however, and Deighton claimed the last (finishing on 3-59) to bowl out the visitors 11 shy of their target with exactly an over to spare.

20 points here, and losses elsewhere for East Molesey and Spencer, means that Ashtead hold a commanding 62 point lead at the top of Division 1. Just one more win will confirm the Stags at this year’s Division 1 champions. Next week sees the Stags host Camberley. Join us then.