Farnham Common 1 v 1s

The 1s made the trip up the road past Slough to Farnham Common. The home team won the toss and elected to bat first. The conditions were expected to be hot but a change in the forecast saw slightly cooler, overcast conditions and a couple of light rain showers.

Farnham Common lost Ahsan Dildar early to Harry Johnston but Summer Abbas (34) and Haseeb Haider (32) scored quickly until falling to Will Powell and Harry Johnston respectively. At 117 for 3 the match was evenly balanced but the introduction of Kamran Hanif and Rahul Singh started to apply the breaks and wickets began to fall. Suleman Khan fell for 43 to make it 137 for 6.

They managed to reach 198 all out, thanks to Khurshid Ahmed’s 41 not out, but Ascot will have been happy with the overall batting and bowling performance. Kamran Hanif was the star bowler for Ascot with 5 for 34.

Ascot lost both openers early thanks to some tight bowling Haseeb Haider but Kamran Hanif (35) and Rahul Singh put on 56 for the third wicket to give the innings impetus. Adam Smith (34 not out) and Rahul Singh (94) kept the momentum going before Singh fell with only 12 runs needed but Ascot were comfortable winners with 6 wickets remaining. Haseed Haider took 4 for 28 for Farnham Common.

2s v Sandhurst 1

With Royal Ascot on, Warfield Cricket Club hosted our home game against Sandhurst. Ascot won the toss and elected to field first.

Adam Birch and Atif Qadar started well and put on 55 for the opening partnership. Adam Birch fell for 42 to make it 85 for 2 but at 116 for 2, Sandhurst looked in a good position. But Razwan Hanif pulled things back for Ascot with 3 for 22, and support from Rahul Mohindra 2 for 35 and Rajiv Docker at the end with 2 for 44 saw Sandhurst reach 183 all out with 14 balls remaining.

Skipper Manvir Dhaliwal went first ball, but James Docker and Billy Baker put on 113 for the second wicket until Baker fell for 70. Ascot then went from being in control to out of control as 4 of the middle / late order made ducks – making it 5 overall. However, James Docker remained resolute and with Rahul Mohindru got Ascot over the line with 2 wickets and 6 overs remaining, to finish on a fine 84 not out. Musa Raza was the pick of the Sandhurst attack with 4 for 26.

3s v Windsor 3

Windsor made the short trip to Locks Ride for a match against the 3s. Windsor won the toss and elected to bat first.

Windsor’s innings were built on the innings of No.4 Hamid Ali with 73 and No.7 Iq Dhutti with 44, which enable Windsor to reach 252 for 8 off 40 overs including 37 extras. Cedric Cooray took 3 for 19 to be the pick of the Ascot attack.

In response, Ascot started strong with Thomas Brooke (62) and Jez “Flying Without” Wing (56) putting on 112 for the opening partnership. Uthkarsh Balegara (53) and Gowtham Yeramanasetti (25) then accelerated the scoring rate to keep Ascot in the chase with 39 needed in the last 5 overs. Both fell but Ascot needed 4 off the last over to win. Sadiq Khan scored 2 off the first ball but then a dot ball was followed by Sadiq’s dismissal with 3 balls remaining. Skipper Naeem Mohammad strode to the crease with 2 needed and hit his first ball to the boundary for Ascot to win by 3 wickets.

Danyal Siddiqi took 3 for 51 for Windsor, in a division which is extremely tight as 11 points cover 3rd place to 9th place.

Binfield 4 v 4s

The 4s made the trip to Sol Joel Park in Reading to play Binfield. Ascot won the toss and elected to bat first.

The top order did well but despite Elliot Mills (19), Toby Dodwell-Bennett (38) and Glen Winning (36) no one kicked on to make the decisive innings. Unfortunately, none of the rest of the batting order except Mike Wyatt (35 not out) made double figures and Ascot finished on a below average 174 all out with 3 overs remaining. Taran Kiri (3 for 16) and Samar Mughal (3 for 31) were the pick of the Binfield bowlers.

Despite some good bowling and fielding, Binfield were able to keep in touch with Andy Bryant (50) and Kamal Gupta (36) and with Ascot conceding 17 wides to Binfield’s 3 wides, Ascot kept Binfield in the game. Despite some fine bowling from Raf Bocchio (3 for 31), Gyan Patel (3 for 42) and some economical bowling from Mike Wyatt and Irfan Lone, Binfield were able to get home with 2 wickets and 4 balls remaining.