Cometh the hour, cometh the battering. This was the story of Ashtead’s first T20 match of the season, as they demolished Chessington by 114 runs (using the DLS Method) at Woodfield Lane in Round 2 of the 2024 Edwards Cup.

Chessington, currently flying high in Division 3 of the Surrey Championship, won the toss and elected to field first – a wise choice, given the showery conditions and the greasy surface (although credit is due to the Ashtead groundstaff for how good the ground was, given the week’s weather).

Ashtead’s opening pair was regular opener Ragu Aravinthan, and overseas pro Simon Keene, and they opted for attack immediately. Ragu would strike the first (but certainly not the last) six of the innings in the 2nd over – and would find himself back in the pavilion just two balls later, gone for 8.

The task became to ensure Keene was supplied with as much strike as possible, as he began to find his range. Young Ashtead star Nathan Farmer came and went in short order, but Dan Geddes (after a slow start) was able to consistently rotate the strike. Keene brought up his half-century off just 24 balls in the 9th over, and continued to exert uncontrollable pressure on the bowlers. After 10 overs (of an innings shortened to 19 before the start), the Stags were cruising along at 83-3.

Momentum continued to stick with the batters, although the introduction of a new spin bowler saw off Geddes for 20 – just as the rain came down again. Two more overs would be lost, and as Nick Kimber joined Keene in the middle, just 29 balls were left in the innings. Would the Stags finish strong?

You bet. Those 29 balls were shelled for 82 runs – and of that, Kimber would finish on 13 off 11. It would be Keene who showcased his hitting prowess, after being dropped on 73. The penultimate over began with a waist high full toss (a no ball), dispatched over square leg for 6. Next ball, over the car park. Third ball, out of the ground again. The 19th over would go for 34 runs – and the last over would see two more sixes and 26 runs from it. 185 off 17. Keene finishing on an unbeaten 133, from just 56 balls, with 22 boundaries. The highest ever individual innings by an Ashtead batter in a T20, and the second highest ever in the Edwards Cup. An exhibition in brutal batting.

The Duckworth-Lewis-Stern calculation added 4 more runs to the target, so Chessington needed 190 to win – a mammoth task, in the circumstances. And they started spritely, swinging hard at the opening bowlers, and finding some purchase. Keene could not be kept out of the action and picked up the first wicket, but at 45-1 off 7, a platform had been set (albeit far too slow to worry the hosts).

But once the wicket started falling, they just kept coming. 45-1 became 75 all out. A combination of smart, accurate bowling, some fantastic fielding, and some abject batting, saw the visitors drop wickets over after over. Tom Homes, so often the Stags’ strike bowler, claimed three top order wickets and Senura Jayasinghe joined the party with 3 of his own. All too soon, it was all over for Chessington, Ayantha de Silva claiming the last wicket to finish with figures of 1.4-1-0-1.

This win sees Ashtead safely through to the last 16 of the Edwards Cup, which has often been a happy hunting ground. The next match in this cup is likely to take place in a couple of weeks time – the opponent will be either Esher or Kempton, but the match is confirmed to be at the home of Ashtead cricket.

A reminder that you can follow Ashtead CC’s matches via our Twitter feed (@ashteadcc), on our website (www.ashtead.play-cricket.com) or our YouTube channel (Ashtead Cricket Club Live). We look forward to the next round! Join us then.