Beddington beaten badly as Ashtead win again

Three in a row, and the double win too. Ashtead completed their domination of Beddington in the 2016 Surrey Championship Premier Division, as they won by 65 runs at Woodfield Lane, the home of Ashtead CC.

Another toss won by Tom Deighton, and he elected to bat first again on a wicket that looked difficult to bat on early on. Despite this, Guy Harper and Michael Sanderson, opening for the hosts, scored well in the early overs, with boundaries aplenty. Neither Ryan Cummins nor Daniel Lewis made any headway, but the last of the PowerPlay overs changed everything. First Harper, edging behind for 27. Then Sanderson, unlucky as the ball fired off the surface – caught behind for 12.

Danny Miller and Stewart Cameron headed to the crease within 3 balls of each other. However, their innings would play out very differently. Cameron, in excellent form so far in 2016, was gone without scoring, as a questionable shot selection, combined with an excellent delivery, saw stumps fly.

Sam Homes and Miller then settled the ship, but with a smart catch at square leg, Homes departed for 15. At the halftime drinks, Ashtead were 82-4 and in some trouble. The problems got worse after the interval, as Conor Young was stumped for 8, and at 86-5, the game could have gone.

Miller was still in the mix, with an extremely composed 14 thus far, and now Paul Harrison, a centurion of two weeks ago, joined him at the crease. Together, they worked away at the spin attack that Beddington produced, and were scoring well. By 40 overs, the Stags were 145-5, and ready to launch their final push for runs.

The batting PowerPlay was taken at the start of the 43rd over, and in it they plundered 47 runs. One wicket did fall – that of Harrison, who could not clear the boundary fielder and was gone for 43. The hard-hitting and in-form Matt Friedlander came to join the show, and carnage ensued. Despite losing Miller in the penultimate over, the team pushed on and finished on 215-7 off their 50 overs.

Wickets would be vital early on, but just as in the first innings, the openers got away well – with some added help in the wides and no balls column. The similarities with the first innings were uncanny, as the first two wickets came in the 10th over, both to Friedlander. 51-2, honours even.

Except that the wickets kept coming, as spin entered the attack, and all of a sudden, it was 67-4, with Friedlander picking up a third, and skipper Tom Deighton adding his name to the scoresheet.

A partnership was needed, and Beddington provided. Cummins, and the opposition overseas player Kyle Moolman, continued to work hard and score runs, and it seemed as if the game could slip away again. However, Tom Homes claimed two wickets in an over just before drinks. At halftime, Beddington were 104-6 and seemingly out of it.

Another wicket, this time for Sam Homes, seemed to mark the beginning of the end, but Cummins and Scott Dance chose to fight, and with runs beginning to flow, a swift end would be required. This was brought with the return of Thomas, who with Sam dispatched the final 3 wickets for just 4 runs to end the game well in time.

This win keeps Ashtead in 6th place in the Premier League, with 3 games remaining. Next week sees the final home game for the Stags, as they host Wimbledon at Woodfield Lane. Despite suffering a crushing defeat in the long format, Ashtead will fancy their chances. Join us then.