Another scorching weekend was the backdrop to the action in the M Zaidi Surrey Cricket Championship Premier Division. Richard Spiller reviews the action there and on Sunday…
Banstead v Esher
A speedy victory by seven wickets saw Esher cut the gap at the top to 39 points – with a trip to leaders East Molesey coming on Saturday.
They bowled out Banstead for just 120, having sent them in, with Joe Lavender’s 5-39 from 9.4 overs taking the starring role.
The hosts hit immediate trouble at 2-2 and then suffered the major loss of Australian Patrick Rowe (7) at 19-3. Alfie Haxton’s 23 led the initial resistance and Ahmed Khan (36no) put up most resistance but Lavender was aided chiefly by Seb Allison (2-23) and Ben Townsend (3-43) in finishing off the innings in the 37th over.
Although Andrew Whaits (10) departed early, Travis Norris (38) and Surrey’s Nikhil Gorantla (42no) added 65 for the second wicket, county colleague Laurie Evans (24) making a brief intervention before Esher finished their chase in just 19 overs, a heartening result for them after defeat at Ashtead a week earlier. Banstead slipped one place to sixth.
Ashtead v East Molesey
Ashtead went within a run of inflicting East Molesey’s first defeat of the season.
The runaway leaders – who saw their advantage at top cut from 55 points – had to summon up all their fighting spirit to avoid losing in the tense final moments of the match.
Having chosen to bat first, Moles found themselves in trouble at 38-3 – all three wickets falling to Surrey’s Adam Thomas on his way to taking 5-46 – and needed opener Michael Shean’s 92 to extract them. Marcus Campopiano’s 34 down the order ensured they made it to 234 all out in the 65th over.
Thomas has rediscovered his touch with the bat too, making 50 as he put on 69 with Dylan Church, whose 86 seemed set to take Ashtead to victory. Lachie Stackpole (35) pushed Ashtead further and they were hot favourites while Church and Pranav Khera (27) were adding 49 for the seventh wicket, only being separated in the 55th over when kingpin Andy Westphal removed Khera with nine runs needed.
Five were still required from the final over, Church being bowled by the first ball from Toby Porter (4-58). Sam Homes took two off the fourth but his attempted single off the fifth was called a dead ball after it hit his helmet, a leg-bye from the last bringing the scores level at 234-8. It meant Ashtead had to be content with 13 points, Moles taking eight.
Wimbledon v Normandy
Holding up the table in the early weeks of the campaign, Normandy’s midsummer burst of form has seen them grab three wins in a row and move into the top half of the table.
Fading champions Wimbledon were their latest victims, beaten by five wickets as cricket returned to Church Road after the tennis over the road.
The home side would not have got close to their eventual 229 from 63.5 overs but for Adam Fox’s typically busy 83 from 107 balls, pulling them up from 113-6 through a stand of 91 for the seventh wicket with Joe Baldwin (38). Leg-spinner Nathan Sowter’s 3-43 from 17.5 kept control, off-spinner Chris Jones (3-19) carving through the lower order.
Opener Akshat Rai (72) led the chase but it was skipper Jones’s 64no which proved key to securing victory, putting on 70 with Sowter (40) which secured the 24 points. Wimbledon collected five and remain fourth but will need a remarkable pick-up in form to have any chance of defending their title.
Guildford v Sutton
Josh Blake’s classy unbeaten century piloted Sutton to victory by eight wickets, pushing Guildford further into trouble.
Chasing 192 for victory on a pitch encouraging spinners, the Surrey left-hander entered at 8-1 and gave a fine demonstration of judgement, placement and patience, qualities lacking in the home side’s batting earlier.
He added 114 with skipper Ryan Hackney (36) and rarely looked in trouble, hitting 19 fours and two sixes as Sutton cruised to victory with 17.3 overs unused. Fabian Cowdrey finished 15no, Olly Birts taking both wickets in a desperately thin and injury-hit attack.
That win kept Sutton third, albeit 61 points adrift of leaders East Molesey, while Guildford are now 28 points adrift of everyone else and may soon need snookers.
They could take some comfort in the 59 made by young opener Dominic Atkins while Australian Blake Macdonald made 53 before being tempted down the pitch by Aneesh Jhalla to be stumped by Blake for 53. Left-arm spinner Jhalla’s 5-53 from 19 took him to 19 wickets for the campaign, seamer George Jackson’s 2-53 from 18 doing a fine job. He has 16 so far while off-spinner Harry Gardner – despite missing early matches through a back injury – is on 22 although he had just one victim on Saturday.
Spencer v Reigate Priory
Gus Grant stood between Reigate Priory and victory as he saved his side from defeat.
The Spencer skipper entered at 130-7 and cracked 94 from 92 balls, dominating an eighth wicket stand worth 167 with Harry Stothard (67) which lifted the hosts to 300-9dec from 64 overs. Grant was bowled by Tommy Ealham, the Surrey off-spinner claiming 4-71 from 19 overs, his 22 wickets putting him fourth in the Premier wicket-takers list this season.
But that total looked ever more modest while Richie Oliver and Surrey’s Ollie Sykes – making 103 in his first appearance of the season after suffering a knee injury in April – put on 168 for the first wicket. They were finally separated and captain George Ealham (5) was run out soon after but Tommy Bates cracked 63 while Oliver continued at the other end on the way to making his fourth century of the summer, one a double.
With two of their 56 overs back still to come, Priory still needed 19, the penultimate one delivered by Horler costing seven. That meant 12 were still requiree, lofty off-spinner Grant taking responsibility. Oliver took a single from the first, Tommy Bates unable to score off the second and being run out from the third.
Grant then had both Michael Burgess – the former Sussex and Warwickshire wicketkeeper – and Tommy Ealham caught by Horler to be on a hat-trick. Joe Kelly saw that off by taking a single but it left the visitors on 292-4, taking 14 points for a winning draw which at least lifted them out of the relegation zone. Spencer’s eight could not prevent them sliding into ninth spot.
Best of the rest
Weybridge inflicted a first defeat of the season on Division One leaders Sunbury to keep alive their own hopes of promotion.
They bowled out the home side for 194 in the 42nd over, Aaryan Pillai’s 42 the highest score as seamer Luke Griffiths took 4-61. Christian Howe followed up three wickets earlier by making 40 at the top of the reply but it was Henry Francis (65) who played the major part before Giles Cunningham (21no) and Brent Kay (20no) finished the job with three wickets in hand. Sunbury still have a 50-point pillow at the top but Weybridge, although seventh, are just 20 points behind second-placed Malden Wanderers, who beat Walton by six wickets.
Comeback of the week surely belongs to Chipstead Coulsdon & Walcountians in Division Two. Hosting Wimbledon IIs – for whom Dougie Beckett’s 100 had driven them to 225 all out – they were 141-9 and getting ready to shake hands. But skipper Jeremy Ives (56no) found a sterling partner in last man Nathan Heal, who hit the final three balls of the match for four, six and then four to grab victory, finishing 46no in a remarkable heist.
Sunday extra
An 85-run trouncing of Sutton saw Ashtead lift the Edwards Cup on Sunday in the Championship’s T20 finals day.
Dylan Church’s furious 119no from 61 balls included 11 fours and four sixes as he lifted Ashtead to a formidable 208-3 in the final, Lachie Stackpole’s 42 from 25 ensuring there was no let-up.
In trouble straightaway at 9-2, Sutton were given a smidgeon of hope by Max Wallis’s 48 from 24, despite struggling with a back injury, but there was little else to prevent Mark Stoneman’s side as they polished off the reply for 123 in the 15th over and now head for the regional competition.
A sunny Sunday at Banstead was the ideal stage for the occasion, Sutton having beaten underdogs SinjunGrammarians by 28 runs in the first semi-final before Ashtead overcame Valley End by five wickets.
For their part, Sutton can now look forward to the ECB National Championships quarter-final on August 2, when they will face a long trip to Sawston & Babraham. They had been hoping for a rather shorter journey to Wimbledon but the Cambridgeshire side won by seven wickets in Sunday’s delayed last 16 clash at Church Road. Adam Fox (46), Dane Vilas (42) and Alex Barrett (39) conspired to push Wimbledon to 203 all out but Callum Guest’s unbeaten 95 ensured the visitors motored in by seven wickets with 11 balls to spare.
East Molesey moved smoothly into the Conference Cup semi-finals through a seven-wicket success at Roffey. They limited the Sussex Premier Division side to 198-9 from 45 overs, Jake Kings – who had such a short early-season spell at Hornchurch that some of his colleagues thought he was having a weekend off – following 2-25 by making 50 to launch the chase. Marcus Campopiano (66no) and Luka Woods (16no) completed the match in just 23.4 overs.
You can check on fixtures, results, tables and live scores at www.surreycricketchampionship.play-cricket.com.
