The U15s played their Berkshire Cup match against Cookham Dean. Ascot were put into bat and made 155 for 9 thanks to contributions from Toby Dodwell-Bennett 36, Ronan Schreiber 30 & Vishal Vijay 20.

In reply, Cookham Dean kept wickets in hand but fell short by 8 runs finishing on 147 for 4. The whole bowling unit did well to keep Cookham Dean behind the run rate. In the next round they will face either Crown Taverners or Pinkneys Green.

Newbury v 1s

Ascot made the slow journey (thanks to the closure of the M4) to Newbury. Ascot won the toss and elected to field first. Wickets fell at regular intervals on a difficult wicket as the covers had some holes allowing moisture through. 6 Newbury players got into double figures with Prashant Singh top scoring on 31. The stand out bowlers for Ascot were Joe Warren and Razwan Hanif both with 4 for 15 as Newbury reached 163 all out.

Ascot started poorly but Andy Murray kept them in the game with 35. The game looked evenly poised at 137 for 7 but despite Mo Nawaz’s 27, Ascot subsided to 137 all out. Thomas King took 3 for 42 and Charlie Anstey 3 for 42.

2s v Yateley

Ascot won the toss and elected to field first at the Racecourse Ground. John Howells bowled third ball seemed to justify the decision but that was to be the high point for Ascot as they spent a long day in the field. Chris Petts 53, Cameron Hume 82 and skipper Jacques Pienaar with 100 not out saw Yateley reach an imposing 330 for 4 with 49 fours and 8 sixes.

In response, Ascot never looked like chasing the total down but made a respectable 219 all out with Ben Atkin top scoring on 62. Jacques Pienaar justifying his player of the match award with 3 for 28.

Kidmore End 3 v 3s

Travel for both teams away was problematic as the 3s were caught in traffic jams around Kidmore End’s second ground as an unknown event was taking place. With only 3 players able to get through for the start, Kidmore End won the toss and elected to field first.

A prompt start saw skipper Omair Sheikh and Toby Dodwell-Bennett open and ensured that the whole team got to bat, as they eventually battled through the traffic to arrive at the ground. But Ascot only managed to reach 114 all out, Dirk Benneyworth top scoring with 24 and Todd Butler taking 4 for 14.

Despite a couple of early wickets, Kidmore End eased to victory by 7 wickets with over 14 overs remaining. Definitely a trip to forget for the 3s.

4s v Kidmore End 4

At Locks Ride, Kidmore End won the toss and elected to… field first. You would think that there may have been a bit of rain in the lead up to Week 2 fixtures!

Ascot’s innings was built around the 3rd wicket partnership of 163 by skipper Elliot Mills 86 and Ahmer Mughal 104 not out to help the 4s reach 289 for 4 off 40 overs.

Kidmore End had no response and despite Arnav Saptoka’s 21, were bowled out for 74. Samar Mughal took 3 for 3 for Ascot.