Reading 2 v 1s

The 1s had a tough assignment on the road at Reading. Ascot won the toss and elected to bat first. However, tight bowling and fielding made runs difficult and only 3 Ascot batters made it to 20 with Christof Karemaker top scoring with 22. Ascot were restricted to 136 all out in 40 overs with Berkshire stalwart, Luke Beaven, taking 4 for 14.

Reading had no trouble in knocking off the runs and despite 2 late wickets from Karemaker, won with 8 wickets and over 30 overs in hand as Rehan Akram making 79 not out.

2s v Eversley 2

At the Racecourse Ground, Eversley were the visitors and fielded first as they lost the toss. Contributions from all of the top order, Ian Dawkins (50), Dan Corsini (40), Deep Mohain (39) and Jez Wing (38 not out), helped Ascot reach 221 for 6 off 45 overs. Sam Glaze was the pick of the attack with 3 for 33.

In response, Eversley looked in trouble at 81 for 5 with Dylan Baker and Jacob Parry taking a brace of wickets each. But William Reis kept them in the chase until he departed for 50 leaving Eversley on 158 for 7. However, Ewan Johns took up the mantle and all results were still possible with Eversley 209 for 9. But Johns (56 not out) and Cummings (5 not out) held their nerve to win a cliffhanger with 2 balls remaining. Steve Bowles took 3 for 33 for Ascot.

3s v Reading 3

At Locks Ride, the Dennis Waterman of cricket (think of the Little Britain sketch), our skipper Tom Clarke won the toss and elected to bat first. Opening the batting, Clarke departed with the score on 151 for 4, his contribution being a magnificent 113 including 19 fours and 2 sixes. Some lower middle order hitting from Matt Hurdwell (48) and Manvir Dhaliwal (32 not out) took Ascot to 270 for 7 off 40 overs.

Reading were soon in trouble at 17 for 5 with Mike Wyatt (3 for 27) and you guessed it, Tom Clarke (3 for 27). But a strong recovery led by Amardeep Dosanjh (81) and Josh Sidhu (78) kept Reading in the run chase. But in the end it was just too big a total as Reading were eventually all out for 251 with 16 balls remaining. (Tom Clarke also took 2 catches as a replacement wicket keeper). A good win for the 3s who are chasing promotion along with Reading, Bracknell 2 and Binfield 3.

Binfield 4 v 4s

The 4s made the trip to Earley for a critical match against Binfield 4. Ascot won the toss and elected to field first. Conditions were tough and Binfield were in trouble at 52 for 6. Maz Wade (32) and Harry Brooks (21) helped Binfield reach a tricky 106 all out in 27.4 overs. Cedric Cooray starred with the ball with 5 for 26.

Ascot also found themselves in trouble at 46 for 6. Soomro (15) with Jason Carr then put on 33 to get Ascot to 79 for 7. Cooray departed for 7 leaving Ascot 90 for 8 with 17 still needed but Carr with 35 not out helped Ascot over the line with 2 wickets and 14 overs remaining.