Binfield 2 v 1s

It was Royal Ascot week, but the 1s had a short trip to Binfield. Steve Naylor won the toss and elected to field first. Ascot got off to a great start as Nick Wiggett yorked Harry Maxfield first ball of the innings. Captain Mikey Allen-Canty stroked several mice boundaries but was then undone by Will Powell as he was smartly caught by Nick Wiggett, and Will struck again as he had Dan Humphrey caught behind by Dan Mallett, leaving Binfield on 28 for 3.

Tom Phizackerley and Rhys Hunt both got started but fell leaving Binfield on 84 for 5, but old boy Oscar Pincus gave the Binfield a massive injection to the innings as he hit 75 off 52 balls before the falling to the combination of Mallett and Powell, but at 172 for 6, Binfield’s innings was back on track.

Jaden Slaughter kept the momentum going with a run-a-ball 71 and with Harry Field making a very useful 48 not out, Binfield finished their allocation of overs on 285 for 8. Will Powell was the pick of the Ascot attack with 3 for 50.

Ascot lost Kamran Hanif early to another old-boy, Elliot Coggins, but Dan Mallett and Rahul Singh scored quickly before Mallett fell for 41 to Christopher Emes. Singh and Steve Naylor then kept the momentum going before Naylor fell for 31 to Emes, leaving Ascot on 170 for 3.

Unfortunately the middle order just didn’t fire as Billy Baker and Adam Smith fell cheaply, and although Nick Wiggett provided some support to Singh with 17, Ascot were still 50+ runs short when Wiggett fell leaving us on 232 for 6. Joe Warren and Tamoor Hussain then became Jaden Slaughter’s second and third victims as he ended up with 3 for 34.

At 257 for 8, the match was in the balance, when Will Powell joined Rahul Singh at the crease. But Powell hit Slaughter for 4 and then 6 off consecutive balls to ease the tension, and Rahul Singh scored the winning runs off Coggins to finish on 135 not out as Ascot won by 2 wickets with 9 balls remaining. A tough match but a resilient win sees the 1s still in the chase.

2s v White Waltham 2

The 2s swapped the Racecourse for Locks Ride as White Waltham were the visitors. Tom Clarke won the toss and elected to bat first. It was a solid batting effort from the 2s with contributions throughout the line-up. Openers Abdul Rehman Raja (31) and Razwan Hanif (39) provided a strong platform, while the middle-order of Toby Dodwell-Bennett, Andy Murray and Gyan Patel made solid twenties, before captain Clarke (57) with Suraj Regmi (18) saw Ascot to a very strong total of 257 for 8 off 45 overs. Luke Beard was the pick of the attack with 3 for 50.

Simon Jessup fell early to Abdul Rehman Raja but Luke Beard (27) and Kevin Baillie (28) help White Waltham get back on track. When they both fell, the score was 61 for 3, but despite Umar Butt scoring 47, Ascot kept chipping away and taking wickets to stop any significant momentum by White Waltham. Adil Pervaiz added some quick runs at the end of the innings with 41 not out but White Waltham finished short on 222 for 9 to give Ascot a 35 run win. Razwan Hanif was the pick of the Ascot bowlers with 3 for 29.

3s v Aldershot 4

A big thank you to Aldershot CC, because without them we would not have got a game on as the original venue for the match became unavailable, but Aldershot CC helped us secure the ground with Holybourne CC being our hosts for the day.

Aldershot won the toss and elected to field first. Ascot started slowly, but the middle order kicked in with Glen Winning (63), Waqas Ashraf (33) and Gowtham Yeramanasetti (35) aided by 71 extras saw Ascot reach a very strong 270 for 6 off 40 overs.

In response, Aldershot found it hard going, finding themselves on 89 for 5, but William Frazao (45) and Nathan Kerridge (45) gave some hope but it was never enough as Aldershot finished on 212 for 7, giving Ascot a comfortable 58 run win.

Eversley 5 v 4s

Ishaan Banerjee won the toss and elected to bat first. A steady opening partnership by the captain Banerjee (22) and Ashwin Vasudevan (40) saw Ascot put on 90 for the first week, but in reality runs were hard to come by and only Dirk Benneyworth (30 not out) and William Smith (24) made contributions as Ascot only reached 207 for 8 off 40 overs thanks to extras contributing 65 to the score.

In response, Eversley looked from the start to be the only winners in the contest, as David Howorth (52) and Muhammad Aziz (101 not out) put on 166 for the first wicket and despite then losing another couple of quick wickets, Eversley strolled to victory by 7 wickets with 7 overs remaining.

Apparently the word is that Elliot Mills is making his way to the airport as we speak.