Bracknell United 1 v 1s

Ascot made the short trip to Larges Lane in Bracknell. The square was as dry as the outfield and Ascot were soon to see what it was like as they were asked to bat first.

The impact was sooner than Ascot would have hoped as Bracknell opened the bowling with slow bowler Vipin Taliyan and a half tracker cleaned up Dan Mallett third ball. Baker and Singh made the most of anything that could be put away but Billy Baler played on to Vipin Taliyan to become his second victim.

Rahul Singh and Steve Naylor battled their way a few overs before Naylor was bowled by Atif Naseem to leave Ascot on 72 for 3. Runs were hard to come by Rahul Singh held the innings together with a well made 88 but was the ninth wicket to fall as he tried to get quick runs as others fell around him either bowled or lbw.

Ascot finished on 145 all out off 38.1 overs leaving Bracknell over 60 overs to reach the target. Vipin Taliyan picked up 4 for 32 and Amol Tyagi 3 for 39 to put Bracknell in the box seat.

Bracknell opened with Amol Tyagi and recent signing Daud Sardar, who had already demonstrated his form with a powerful 113 not out against Challow & Childrey in the Home Counties Premier Cricket League.

Under the applicable player-registration rules, Sardar was eligible to represent Bracknell immediately because his previous appearances that season had been in the HCPCL. The regulations allow players moving from HCPCL cricket to play without the 15-day period that can apply to transfers between TVCL teams.

He had made an immediate impact for Bracknell the previous week, scoring 114 not out from just 62 deliveries against Boyne Hill 2s. Ascot therefore knew that Bracknell were likely to attack from the outset, and that proved to be the case, with two balls needing to be replaced during the opening five overs after being struck into the nearby car park and towards the former Bracknell Football Club ground.

But Ascot struck back as Will Powell had captain Amol Tyagi lbw and then Steve Naylor removed Manpreet Singh lbw for 0 and then took a great caught and bowled off Zeeshan Mehtab leaving Bracknell on 25 for 3.

Daud Sardar started to accelerate but fell to another great catch by Joe Warren off Steve Naylor for 26 and then Raj Docker was introduced in the attack to bowl Shail Ram leaving the game in the balance at 71 for 5.

Bracknell’s batting hopes then rested largely with all-rounder Suman Ganguly. Early in his innings, he left a fine delivery from Naylor that struck his pad and prompted an unsuccessful LBW appeal. Ganguly remained at the crease, gradually grew in confidence and went on to take the game away from Ascot.

He was well supported at the end by the resolute defence of Fahad Anwar who eventually fell for 11 off 57 deliveries to Kamran Hanif. Ganguly fell eventually caught and bowled to Kamran Hanif for 65 but at this stage Bracknell only needed 7 runs to win which they duly knocked off.

Steve Naylor took 3 for 64 and it was a spirited performance in very challenging conditions. Bracknell United are now strong favourites to lift the Division 3A title.

2s v Yateley 1

Ascot won the toss and elected to bat first. Skipper Jeremy Wing went early but Thomas Brooke and Razwan Hanif rebuilt the innings. Brooke fell for 40, and the middle order batted around Hanif to get some quick runs. Razwan Hanif was the seventh to fall on 196 after being run out for 57 but the tailenders were unable to score after that and Ascot finished the innings on 206 all out with 10 balls remaining.

Andre Pienaar was the pick of the Yateley attack with 3 for 21.

In reply, Ascot started brightly as Yateley were in early trouble at 21 for 3, but William Forster (40) and Andre Pienaar rebuilt the innings. After Forster fell, Pienaar (83 not out) was joined by Joshua Gore (40 not out) who saw Yateley calmly  home to a 6 wicket victory with just under 6 overs remaining.

3s v Windsor 4

At Locks Ride, the 3s hosted Windsor 4. Ascot won the toss and elected to field first. Some early wickets saw Windsor in trouble at 40 for 4 but the middle and late order rallied the team 5 players made 20+ runs, with Zaman Zafar top scored with 32, and Windsor finished on a respectable 172 all out with 3 balls remaining.

Irfan Lone was the pick of the Ascot attack with 3 for 26.

Ascot were also in early trouble as Sohail and Folly fell leaving them 8 for 2. But a great partnership of 134 between Glen Winning (75) and Shivam Sinha (59) broke the back of the run chase and in the end Ascot won comfortably by 5 wickets with just over 7 overs remaining.

Yateley 2 v 4s

Yateley won the toss and elected to bat first. It was a case of building an innings with everyone contributing but no one batter dominating as 6 batters scored 20 or more but Luke Jones top scored with 32. Yateley finished their 40 overs on a strong 208 for 8 as the wickets were shared amongst the Ascot attack.

In response, Ascot just did not fire and despite useful contributions from Arun Chandrasekaran (33) and Cedric Cooray (28), Ascot finished 140 all out to lose by 68 runs. Stuart Harris was the pick of the Yateley attack with 3 for 43.