Ashtead do the double as Weybridge fall short

Hats off to a Guy. This was one of the headlines leaving Weybridge on Saturday, as Ashtead took an 11 run win to safeguard their mid-table position in the 2016 Surrey Championship Premier Division.

Ashtead won the toss, again, and elected to bat first. And the opening mini-session was almost all in favour of the visitors, as Guy Harper and Michael Sanderson made a steady, but solid start, taking some early boundaries and keeping the bowlers at bay.

It took the host captain, Sarel Erwee, to take pace off the ball, and it was he who claimed the first wicket of the day, as Sanderson was caught for 26 after two chances in the preceding 10 balls. 66-1 at drinks.

The second mini-session proceeded much as the first one had done, and by the end of it at the end of the 34th over, 70 more runs had been added for 1 extra wicket. This wicket was Hayden Storey, who was bowled by Jack Winslade for 15. Harper, now on 63, was then joined by Stewart Cameron, and it was hoped that the strike rate would increase dramatically.

However, this acceleration failed to materialise - at least at this stage. By the 40th over, the stage was set for a blast, but the hosts had other plans. First to go was Cameron, for 25 off 32 – slow by his standards. The big loss at this stage was Harper, lbw for 85, and Sam Homes and Kamran Mirza followed in the next two overs. The Stags had collapsed to 177-6 with 7 overs to go, and a below par target seemed a certainty.

Enter the ‘guns’. John Vaughan-Davies, always hiding a blast or two, and known hitter Matt Friedlander were now at the crease, and with the spinners exhausted, they had pace to work with. The 44th went for 12, so they called for the Batting PowerPlay. And they plundered it. The 45th went for 9. 10 off the next.

All was going well in the 47th, with 11 off the over and a ball to come, but the run couldn’t last and Vaughan-Davies went for 24. 222-7 with 3 overs to go. Friedlander, meanwhile, was on 19 from 10 and going well. The 48th went for 12, as did the 49th, but the final over went for 22 as boundaries were smashed hither, thither and yon. Friedlander finished on 52 from 21, with Jordan Thomas on 13. 268-7 was in the game.

The early overs proved troublesome for the visitors, as early chances went begging, with two catches down at slip and gully early on. However, Thomas soon had his first scalp, caught at gully, and then followed up with a second in his next over. When Tom Deighton dispatched Erwee with an excellent deflection run-out early in his spell, the mini-section belonged to the Stags, concluding at 72-3.

The middle section seemed to go the same way, with two more wickets falling, and not many runs in the board. Sam Homes claimed these two wickets, and bowling in tandem with Vaughan-Davies, Weybridge simply could not find the runs they needed. Needing 140 runs from 17 overs, and only 5 wickets left in the hut, it seemed the game was up.

Jack Winslade, however, had other ideas, and with some extraordinary power, he shepherded his tail towards the target score. Wickets started tumbling as Tom Homes was introduced to the fray, but runs kept following too, and a profitable final few overs saw 18 required off the last. Jordan Thomas kept his nerve, however, and only 7 runs off it (including three dots to Winslade) saw the visitors home. Winslade finished on an unbeaten 104.

This win keeps the Stags 6th in the league table, and barring a freak set of results, secures them a berth in next year’s Premier Division. Next week sees Ashtead host Beddington, a side they vanquished by 130 runs in the long format, and who need to win to avoid relegation. Join us then.