1s v Uxbridge 2

After last week’s nail-biting finish, the 1s again produced another close match. Uxbridge won the toss and elected to field first.

Ascot struggled against a tight bowling and fielding effort by Uxbridge. Despite Adam Smith (30) and Dan Mallett (23), Ascot looked unlikely to post a competitive target at 119 for 7. But the tail-wagged with skipper Myles Trainor chipping in with 27 to give Ascot a chance as they made 176 all out. Nishan Patel was the pick of the Uxbridge attack with 3 for 33.

Uxbridge’s start was in total contrast to Ascot, with former player G K Reddy now in Uxbridge’s ranks after looking for much greener pastures, putting on an opening partnership of 65 with Pranay Dollu (20). Uxbridge looked in control of the run chase until G K Reddy was out for 60 making it 134 for 3. His wicket was the first of five by Razwan Hanif (5 for 23) but despite Ascot turning the screw, Uxbridge managed to get over the line on 177 for 8 to take the win and get the loot of 23 points.

Burnham 3 v 2s

The 2s first road trip was to Burnham. Ascot won the toss and elected to field first. However, Ascot were soon chasing leather in the field. Opener Shahzad Baig enabled Burnham to get off to a solid start with 43 off 57 balls, but a century parntership between new recruit from Slough – Muhammad talha Guzza (112 off 108 balls) and Zafeer Khan (61 off 46 balls) saw Burnham reach 271 for 7 off 45 overs. Jacob Parry picked up 3 for 43 at the end of Burnham’s innings.

Unfortunately Ascot’s innings was cut off before it really could start and at 25 for 5, the only question was how many batting points could Ascot reach. Jez Wing (24) and Uthgarsh Balegara (24) helped get some momentum, but Tom Clarke was the pick of the Ascot batters with 47 not out to get 157 for 9 at the close. Shafaqat Ali was chief damager of the Burnham attack with 5 for 15 in very helpful conditions.

3s v Maidenhead & Bray 4

At Lock’s Ride, Maidenhead & Bray were the 3s first visitors of the summer. Ascot won the toss and elected to field first. While skipper Omair Sheikh bowled a tight opening spell taking a well deserved 3 for 34, the rest of the bowling attack allowed Maidenhead & Bray to get a a much higher total than anticipated, especially with 45 wides. Despite Usman Mumtaz also bowling a good spell of 3 for 33, Maidenhead & Bray made 201 all out off 35.5 overs. 6 batters got into double figures but the top score was 29 by Fas Sarwar.

In response, Ascot started well but when they collapsed from 62 for 2 to 90 for 8, then defeat was staring the home team in the face. 27 from Naeem Mohammad enabled them to reach 132 all out, 69 runs short. Muhammad Subhan took 3 for 37 for the visitors.

Wraysbury 4 v 4s

The 4s made the short trip down the road to Home Park, Windsor to play Wraysbury. Wraysbury won the toss and elected to bat first. Wraysbury got off to a flyer thanks to Osama Alam hitting a whirlwind 85 off of only 54 deliveries. It was the introduction of Yeshas Vijay that brought back some control to Ascot taking the important wickets of Alam and Parmjit Bajwa (41) with a spell of 4 for 33.

However, Andy Chinn (30 not out) and Hassan Ahmed (30 not out) put on 66 runs for an unbeaten 7th wicket partnership to set up a challenging total of 227 for 6 off 40 overs.

In response, Elliot Mills led from the front with 79 to keep Ascot in the chase and the Larry Hobson (28) and Mike Wyatt (50 not out) ensured that Ascot made the target with 4 wickets and 26 deliveries in hand. Umer Yunis took the bowling plaudits with 3 for 41.