The weather has improved just in time for Royal Ascot Week. However, that means no cricket at the Racecourse Ground until Sunday as the ground is out of bounds during the course of the week.

The Women had another nailbiter / final ball finish in the league against Emmbrook & Bearwood. Unfortunately we were on the wrong end of the result as we lost by just 1 run but it is great to see the team playing so well.

1s v Finchampstead 3

Finchampstead were the visitors to Ascot. On winning the toss Ascot elected to field first. Finch were solid as 5 of the top 7 made contributions but the top scorer James Eaglesham made only 32. They recovered from a small collapse from 83 for 2 to 94 for 5 and then at 159 for 8 the tail wagged to make 193 all out in 43.1 overs. Razwan Hanif took 4 for 51.

In response, Ascot started brightly with the openers putting on 60 before GK Reddy fell for 37, but with concerns over rain, Ascot lost wickets in chasing the runs. Kamran Hanif held firm for 67 before being 8th out in 189 leaving Joe Warren to score the winning boundary and a 2 wicket win. James Eaglesham capped a strong performance with bat and ball with 4 for 53.

Bagshot 2 v 2s

The 2s made the short trip to Bagshot but had a long wait before the ground dried for a 25 over match to take place. Bagshot won the toss and elected to field.

The innings was mis-firing at 63 for 5 before Dan Corsini 28 and Tom Clarke 63 not out gave the innings impetus to finish on a good total of 163 for 8. Jonathan Atkinson took 3 for 36.

In response, Bagshot fell behind the run rate and despite 38 from Stuart Derry and a quick 20 off 8 balls by Marcus Foley, Bagshot fell 17 runs short. Joseph Summers was key in the Ascot attack with 4 for 23.

Theale & Tilehurst 3 v 3s

Ascot won the toss and elected to field first. Theale started slowly but they gained significant momentum with a run-a-ball 86 from No.3 Sohail Arshad and then 50 not out off only 32 balls from George Coker to reach a formidable 241 for 4 off 40 overs.

The rain then came and Ascot’s innings was reduced to 30 overs with a new target of 203. Sadiq Khan helped get a quick start with 42 off 35 balls and then Waqas Ashraf kept Ascot up with the run-rate with 50 off 34 balls.

Ashwin Vasudevan then saw Ascot home with 24 not out off 19 balls to see them through by 4 wickets with 16 balls remaining.

4s v Wraysbury 4

At Locks Ride, Wraysbury were the visitors. Ascot won the toss and elected to field first. The match was reduced by rain and the visitors reached a respectable 188 all out as opener Iffy Wain scored 51 and No.8 Sahib Singh Dhutti got some quick runs with 36. Skipper Elliot Mills was the pick of the Ascot attack with 4 for 23.

Ascot’s innings was subsequently reduced to 29 overs, and the target was revised to 151. Ascot were in trouble at 51 for 4 but Will Powell hit a quick 39 off 22 balls to get Ascot back on track aided by 23 off 13 from Ronan Schreiber.

It was left to Richard “The Finisher” Baker with 24 not out and Mike Wyatt 9 not out to see Ascot win a close encounter by 4 wickets but more importantly 1 delivery!

The second clean sweep in three weeks.