x

Having lost the toss, and been inserted, the Stags were immediately in trouble, as both Jonno Sole and John Vaughan-Davies were early victims of Shahid Khan. 15-2 after 4. The fightback started with a solid partnership between Michael Sanderson and Danny Miller, who were both beginning to hit their stride, as the boundary rope was regularly found. Eventually, however, both Sanderson and Miller would both fall, with the latter making a valuable 58. At 106-4 after 26, it was time for drinks.

Andy Roberts and Stewart Cameron continued to keep the scoreboard ticking, as the spinners toiled away, but when Roberts, then Rob Lammiman, then the rain all fell in quick succession, the Ashtead innings looked to have stunted completely. 140-6 after 37.

45 minutes later, the rain abates, the charts are studied and the Stags are given 13 more overs maximum to bat. Cameron and Josh Pickering were the batsmen, and they continued to pick off the singles as the spinners continued.

When the pace returned, however, it was time for a charge. And as Fazal Hadi supplied the ammunition, Cameron fired the cannon. The over started with a dot ball. The second went over the bowler’s head, and cleared the tree straight. The third went flat through the leg side and into the nets. The fourth went back the way it came, with significant interest. The fifth bath went through Cameron completely.

With Cameron gone for 41, the charge stunted. An attacking next over saw both Tom Williams and Tom Deighton also fall away, and so the declaration came after 46 overs. Ashtead would set Horsley & Send 210 to win off 42.

As Horsley & Send came out to bat, a quick wicket would be essential. 6 balls later, the first was claimed, as Lammiman took a smart catch off Sole. 1-1. Four overs later, the other opener, Sharne Grant, was trapped LBW by Sole. 10-2. This quickly became 3-4 after 11 as Sole claimed his third and Tom Williams also joined the action, bails flying.

At this stage, the run rate slowed significantly, and a defensive strategy became the tactic for the batting team. This proved to be extremely effective, as neither Sole nor Williams could strike again. Vaughan-Davies and Tom Homes, while being extremely economical, were unable to find the breakthrough wicket.

Enter the captain, Tom Deighton, needing to produce a skipper’s performance to get Ashtead back into the game. At this point, Horsley & Send were 79-4 after 23. Six wickets to find, 19 overs to get them. The first couple of overs saw some signs of batting danger, but also the half-century for Riaz Kael.

Then came the wickets, the first LBW and the second sharply taken by Vaughan-Davies in successive overs. The third came two overs later, as the poor batsmen was completely bamboozled, played all around a straight one and was clean bowled. From looking like a safe draw was all but sealed, suddenly only 3 wickets were left and 8 overs still remained. When Stewart Cameron took the 8th wicket 4 overs later, the end seemed nigh for the batting team.

But the 9th partnership held on, even with the fast over rate gaining Ashtead an extra 2 overs to find the final 2 wickets. Kael finished on an unbeaten 80, saving an innings with only one other double figures batsman’s score.

Next week sees Ashtead make the lengthy journey to Dulwich. Dulwich currently lie 7th in the table, and next year’s fixture saw Ashtead deliver a thumping 119 run victory. Join us then.