1s v Farnham Common

Farnham Common were the visitors to the Racecourse and having seen what has been happening at the main ground, unsurprisingly, elected to field first on winning the toss.

Tight opening spells by Summer Abbas and Shakeel Arshad made life difficult for the Ascot batters and runs hard to come by. Rahul Singh (39) and Kamran Hanif (38) were the top scorers for Ascot, but whenever Ascot tried to up the run rate, a wicket fell. In the end, the total of 194 for 9, felt below par but Farnham Common had done a great job in the first half with Shahab Ur Rehman taking 3 for 30.

Farnham Common started brightly in contrast and at 40 for 0, the signs were ominous. However, Ascot pulled it back to make it 71 for 6 and back in the game. A couple of bright partnerships took them to 124 for 7 but then two quick wickets left them 126 for 9 needing 69 runs to win. In at No.11 came Farhad Abbas. Now as M&S would advertise, Farhad Abbas is no ordinary No.11, in fact he doesn’t normally bat at No.11 and the field was put back from the first ball he faced.

However, a whirlwind of an innings followed as he made 56 not out in 26 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes, to see Farnham Common take an extraordinary one wicket win, ably supported by Haseeb Haider with 22 not out. Whether he batted at 11 was an inspirational choice by the captain or a more draconian rationale, it saw victory snatched from the jaws of defeat, and enabled them to remain above the relegation zone.

Sandhurst v 2s

Ascot made the trip to Sandhurst 1s. Sandhurst won the toss and elected to bat first. A tight opening spell from Joe Warren and especially Tim Howson with 9 overs, 1 for 23 kept the run rate down. However, Sandhurst started to open up and with Savir Sharma (90) and Zack Waight (50) putting Ascot under pressure, Sandhurst reached an imposing 248 for 8. Andy Wiggett took 2 for 35.

In response, Ascot were never at the races and looked like they wouldn’t reach 100 at 55 for 6. However, Tom Clarke (68 not out) and Tim Howson (14 not out) saw Ascot finish on 177 for 9. Waight followed up his 50 with 5 for 27 to be the pick of the Sandhurst attack.

Windsor 3 v 3s

Ascot made the trip to Home Park, Windsor. Ascot won the toss and elected to bat first. Ascot was in early trouble at 47 for 4. But a 102 stand for the fifth wicket between Ghulam Mirza (33) and Waqas Ashraf got Ascot back on track. While other batters struggled, Waqas Ashraf made 125 not out off 94 deliveries including 13 fours and 5 sixes to get Ascot up to 255 for 8 off 40 overs. Eddie Winch was the pick of the Windsor attack with 3 for 30.

But in response, Windsor had not trouble in chasing down the target. Opener Aman Chopra made 113 not out off 102 balls and with support from Craig Bird (48) and Yash Khosla (47), Windsor made it look easy against the various bowlers that were used by Ascot to win by 7 wickets and 15 deliveries remaining.

4s v Binfield 4

At Locks Ride, Binfield made the short trip and on winning the toss elected to field first. Ascot batted well and were buoyed by the presence of returning captain, Elliot Mills, who made 50. The middle and late order contibuted as well with Shivam Sinha making a near run-a-ball 65 not out to get the 4s to a good score of 222 for 7 off 40 overs. Taran Kiri took 3 for 37 for Binfield.

Binfield started strongly with opener Anthony Goff making 74 but wickets fell at regular intervals to leave the game in the balance with Harry Winning taking 4 for 43 and Shivam Sinha following up with a good bowling performance with 3 for 33. With the final wicket remaining and 20 required, all results were still available. Binfield gave a chance which Ascot could not take, and captain Abinandan Venkatraman saw them home with 47 not out supported by No.11 Sugumar Daivasigamani making 11 not out. So near but so far for the 4s.