Weybridge take the points on rain affected day

The end of the white ball cricket (for the time being), and not a moment too soon. Ashtead ended second best to Weybridge in Round 7 of the 2021 Surrey Championship Premier Division, as the visitors ran out the victors by a convincing 7 wickets at a very damp Woodfield Lane.

The rain that had claimed the Twenty20 fixture against Esher on Thursday evening, and which had poured down throughout Friday, had caused some problems for the Ashtead groundstaff – who performed miracles to get any play at all. The start being delayed, the game would be shortened – and a 30 over game was eventually agreed.

Weybridge won the toss and elected to field first, on a wicket that looked useful to bowling, and with conditions set to favour a chase if weather intervened. The initial overs looked promising for the hosts, with Wayne White and Manoj Sarathchandra, the effervescent overseas player for the Stags, making a careful and steady start.

All that would change when the first PowerPlay ended after 6 overs. Ex-Ashtead bowler Harshil Patel made a crucial double strike, removing White and in-form player Harri Aravinthan in consecutive overs. This formed a pattern – the hosts would find a few overs of shots, and then another wicket would fall, losing momentum in the process.

Glimmers of hope and promise were present throughout the performance, with a strong innings from young prospect Ragu Aravinthan (including 3 sixes), making 44 off 33 balls, and cameos from Harry Williams and Manoj. In the end, however, the wickets column was telling and with a final couple of catches, the Ashtead innings concluded 4 balls short for just 143. A tough task to defend.

All hope seemed faded when the Weybridge opener Odge Davey went on an all-out attack, plundering the initial seam bowling and sending the ball to all parts of the ground. Prolific run-scorer Nathan Tilley only had to stand and watch from the bowler’s end as the target was almost halved in the first ten overs.

Cricket is a fickle game, however, and the spin bowlers had been having a calming effect when Sam Homes broke through, Manoj completing a very swift stumping to remove Davey for 52 off just 42 balls. Next ball and the Weybridge overseas was bowled. Hat-trick ball, and out walks former England batsman Nick Compton, who calmly defends it away.

Two overs later and it’s Sam Homes again, as Tilley sends a top edge high into the sky and Conor Young safely pouches it for 8. 75-3 at about halfway. Game on.

Except here the resistance ends. The spinners (and Harri) continue to keep the bowling tight, but they couldn’t find any more wickets. All too soon, 50 to win became 40, and then 30. With 5 overs to go, the target had reached single figures. An overstep saw a no ball, and Compton finished the chase with a six off the resulting free hit. Target reached with 28 balls to spare.

This result, and overs around us, see Ashtead fall to 6th place in the league table – but with the league so tight this year, a win next week could see the Stags climb back up to second.

Next week sees a change in the regulations and a return to red ball cricket, traditionally a stronger suit for Ashtead than the shorter format. We travel to Wimbledon, the 2020 Challenge Cup champions, who currently lie second in the standings. The 2019 long format game saw our hosts prevail by just 17 runs, so the game should be a close affair.

The next match, however, for the Stags is our re-arranged T20 Round 3 match against Esher, which we expect to play on Tuesday. Join us then.