Three wins in a row as Ashtead's streak continues

That’s a hat-trick – and almost one in the game too. Ashtead ran out victors by 91 runs at Valley End in Round 7 of the 2017 Surrey Championship Premier Division.

Ashtead won the toss, and elected to make first use of a pitch that looked beautiful to bat on. However, Michael Sanderson probably wouldn’t agree, as his run of poor form continued with a duck, guided to gully in the 3rd over. Guy Harper and Lalit Bose continued to make runs, and by the first drinks interval, the visitors had reached 51-1 off 15 overs.

The loss of Bose for 23 shortly after drinks, to the introduction of spin, brought overseas pro Mahesh Rawat to the crease. Already on 247 runs from his first 5 innings in the league, it seemed time for him to convert one of his many 50s into a century. Time would tell, but hitting some early boundaries showed a statement of intent.

Rawat and Harper would continue through to lunch, although a slight becalming of Harper’s scoring helped keep the runs down somewhat. By the interval after 35 overs, Ashtead were 111-2 and had set a solid platform to post an excellent total.

It took the hosts another 13 overs to find a breakthrough, when Harper holed out to the overseas fast bowler Michell Turner for 74. At 166-3 off 48, Stewart Cameron had the chance to play his natural attacking game. Rawat also began to play more expansively during this latter period.

Despite losing more partners, in Cameron and John Vaughan-Davies, Rawat was not to be denied and in the 52nd over, he reached his century with another exquisite boundary. The century came off just 124 balls. A sharp cameo from Hayden Storey saw Ashtead post a difficult target of 255. Valley End would get at least 58 overs in reply.

The chase for the hosts began extremely well, as pace on the ball clearly wasn’t working. A freak run out in the 10th over, due to an astounding throw from Harshil Patel, temporarily dented the chase, but at tea, Valley End were 95-1 off 23 and going well.

Cue the most dramatic collapse seen for some time. 101-1 became 115-6 in the space of 6 overs. As usual, it was the wicket-taking prowess of Tom Homes and Tom Deighton that made the difference, along with some excellent catches.

All seemed lost, and with both spinners continuing to take wickets, it was only a matter of time before the hosts capitulated. Wicketkeeper Ben Kingsnorth provided some middle-order resistance, and the tail attempted to wag, but with some further excellent fielding, Valley End was bundled out for 166, with 45 minutes of game time remaining. Deighton finished on 5-48, Homes on 4-41 – but should’ve been 5-37 if Deighton had held an earlier chance!

This win keeps Ashtead solidly in the centre of the table, in 5th place, and ensures that Valley End remain at the bottom of the pile. Next week sees Ashtead host Wimbledon at Woodfield Lane. Wimbledon won in last year’s declaration encounter, and currently lie a single place above Ashtead in 4th. Join us then.