Another nail-biting finish, but Guildford take the spoils

So close, but yet, so far. This was the headline from Woodbridge Road, as Ashtead fell just 10 runs short of defeating Guildford in Round 3 of the Surrey Championship Premier League for 2017.

Guildford won the toss, and elected to make first use of a green wicket that promised much for the bowlers – but often offered very little. The openers flew out of the blocks, with some attacking strokeplay and plenty of extras in the early overs. Stewart Cameron claimed an important early wicket, but this only served to increase the flow of runs. By 15 overs in, the hosts were 114-1 and going well.

Enter Ashtead’s spinners, Tom Deighton and Tom Homes. Both took a wicket in the first over of their spells, removing the two set batsmen and triggering the start of a middle-order collapse. The pitch provided both turn and bounce, and proved extremely difficult to score easily from. The next cluster of wickets fell around the mid-session drinks interval, and by the time the carnage has ceased, Guildford were 149-7. A low total seemed a near certainty.

Never count out the lower order and the tail, however. With a competent middle order batsman, and Surrey U17 protégé James Smith for company, runs began to flow again, and neither of the spinners could find the crucial breakthrough required. It took the return of the seamers to dispatch the 8th wicket, and even then, Smith and his partners continued to terrorise the bowling. By the time Smith was out, caught behind by 51, the damage had been done. The final partnership added insult to injury, adding 33 to set Ashtead a challenging target of 268 to win.

The visitors’ reply could not have started any worse, with in-form batsman Guy Harper departing without scoring. Michael Sanderson, however, who needed to find some runs, seemed to have found his stride. He dispatched the opening bowlers and their replacements to all parts of the ground, racing to 27 off just 14 balls. He then lost his second partner, Lalit Bose, who also failed to score.

At 30-2, a lengthy partnership was now vital, and Sanderson provided this, along with overseas pro Mahesh Rawat. After a disappointing the previous week, Rawat was determined to make amends, and the pair laid into the bowling some more. Despite needing a runner for most of his innings, Sanderson seemed assured, and brought up his 50 in just 42 balls.

It would, once again, be spin that slowed the advance, and when Sanderson holed out to short cover for 67, the score was 117-3. Rawat was then joined by Cameron, and they continued the rapid advance of the scoreboard. Rawat was eventually out for 59 just before the mid-session interval. At 148-4, the game was delicately balanced.

When Cameron, and then Hayden Storey, were both out with around 10 overs to go, Ashtead needed 50 to win. The lower order and tail couldn’t find it. A valiant effort from Tom Homes, putting on 25, was just not enough, and the visitors were eventually bowled out for 257, 11 runs short of victory, with exactly 1 over remaining.

The 8 points gained at Guildford leaves Ashtead 8th in the league table, with Sunbury and Valley End also need to record their first victories of the campaign. Next week sees Ashtead travel to league leaders Normandy for the last of the opening 50 over fixtures. Join us then.