Victory for the Stags at last

Finally over the line. Ashtead returned to winnings ways on Saturday as they defeated Normandy by 7 runs in a close fixture in Round 7 of the 2018 Surrey Championship Premier League.

Ashtead won the toss, and Tom Deighton elected to make first use of a typical Normandy pitch – slow, with a slow outfield, relatively flat to start but with spin expected later in the game. The regular Ashtead openers, Guy Harper and David White, made a steady start in the face of some good bowling, but the loss of White for 8 on the introduction of spin saw the start of an inexorable slide.

The Normandy tactic, from rewlatively early on, was to bowl spin aty both ends and ook for the wickets that would inevitably follow. In the next 15 overs, 4 more wickets would fall, including Harper for an innings high score of 37 and Conor Young for a battling 20, to leave the visitors at 79-5. Tom Homes and Hayden Storey steered the batting to lunch, but at 86-5 with 33 of the possible 66 overs already gone, finding a defendable score would be a challenge.

Runs began to flow a little more freely after the break, with both batsmen looking to play some shots in search of more runs. However, the loss of Homes for 26 precipitated another miniature collapse, with 4 wickets falling for 11 runs to reduce the Stags to 130-9. A low total seemed inevitable.

But they hadn’t contended with Harshil Patel or Tom Deighton. Act 1 of their day saw a fighting performance from the tailenders to push the total up to 171 all out. Both played their strokes, but also ran fast between the wickets and put pressure on the fielders to step up. The 171 total also included 8 runs from overthrows – a turning point for the match.

Initially, the hosts got off to a flyer, with their opening batsmen quickly scoring 41 off the first 8 overs or so. It would be Harshil Patel who would strike first, with Seb Stewart snaring an important catch. Harshil would then wreak havoc within the Normandy middle order, and with a pair of double wicket maidens, the hosts suddenly found themselves 75-5.

However, the opening batsman for the hosts was also their overseas player, and he was still there while wickets fell around him. Forming a partnership with the Normandy captain, they saw the side through the tea interval and up to 120 – when Tom Deighton found a crucial wicket as John Vaughan-Davies took a dramatic catch on the boundary to remove the danger batsman for 72.

The emphasis of the final 30 overs or so then changed to survival – as the runs required would inevitably result from batting for a long enough time. The spin partnership of Deighton and Tom Homes applied the pressure, and wickets continued to fall at regular intervals. When the 9th wicket fell, Normandy required 29 runs to win with 18 overs left. All results still possible.

And they nearly made it. Through plenty of sensible defending, and some attacking shots from the hosts’ no. 11, Normandy approached the total. With the runs required in single figures, Seb Stewrat claimed an escellent stumping to win the game for the Stags. A huge result, richly deserved.

This result sees Ashtead rise out of the relegation zone for the first time in 2018, now in joint 6th with Normandy. Next week sees Ashtead host Winbledon in the next 120 over game. Wimbledon are currently 8th, a solitary point behind the Stags, but have found over 300 runs in their last two matches. The fixture in 2017 saw Wimbledon all out for 108, and chased with only 3 wickets down. Let’s hope Ashtead can repeat the feat. Join us then.