Fleet 1 v 1s

The 1st XI travelled to Fleet looking to bounce back from the previous week’s defeat to Falkland and, after being asked to bat first, produced comfortably their most entertaining batting performance for a while.

Things did not begin entirely according to plan.

Thomas Brooke departed with the score on four, but Billy Baker immediately injected some momentum into proceedings, racing to 26 from just 18 balls with six fours.

When Baker and then Steven Naylor fell, Ascot were suddenly 44 for 3 and in need of a partnership.

Step forward Rahul Singh and Adam Smith.

The pair patiently rebuilt the innings, adding 81 for the fourth wicket. Singh made 39 from 68 balls, including four fours and two sixes, while Smith was considerably more aggressive in making 49 from 56, with six boundaries and a six.

Smith’s dismissal one short of his half-century left Ascot 144 for 5.

Which was when Kamran Hanif really got going.

Hunt had already begun positively, but together with Dan Mallett he transformed the innings completely.

While Mallett provided excellent support with 28 from 43 balls, Hanif went through the gears, and then apparently discovered several additional gears that weren’t listed in the owner’s manual.

The pair added a superb 121 for the sixth wicket, taking Ascot from 144 for 5 all the way to 265 before Mallett finally departed.

Hanif, meanwhile, completed a magnificent century and finished unbeaten on 107 from only 72 balls, smashing 12 fours and five sixes.

It was an outstanding innings.

Tamoor Hussain then arrived with two balls remaining and sensibly decided there wasn’t really time for a traditional settling-in period. He hit one of them for six, and Ascot closed on 271 for 6 from their 45 overs.

Fleet therefore needed more than six an over from the outset.

They gave it a very good go.

Nir Vaishnav made 23 before Bruce Friderichs and Lewis Burns established a strong platform. Friderichs scored 56 from 57 balls, while Burns contributed 46 from 67.

Fleet were keeping pace with the required rate and the game became increasingly uncomfortable for anyone of an Ascot persuasion when Sebastian Bramah launched an assault of his own.

Bramah smashed 47 from just 38 balls, including five sixes, and Fleet reached 184 for 2 with the chase very much alive.

Then came the crucial passage of the game.

Bramah and Burns both departed with the score on 184, and suddenly the hosts had gone from cruising along nicely to wondering where everybody had gone.

Ascot kept chipping away.

Will Powell and Joe Warren claimed two wickets apiece, while Baker and Hussain also picked up a wicket, and two further Fleet batters were run out.

Tamoor Hussain was particularly impressive, conceding just 20 runs from his nine overs, including a maiden, at an economy rate of only 2.22 — exactly the sort of spell you want when everyone else is watching the required-rate calculator with increasing concern.

Fleet refused to go quietly. Alex Mynard made 30 from 27, and even at the death they continued to attack, with Sam Holmes striking 11 from six balls.

But Ascot held their nerve.

Fleet finished on 258 for 9 from their 45 overs, leaving Royal Ascot victorious by 13 runs.

A terrific win, built around Hanif’s superb unbeaten 107 and then defended under considerable pressure against a Fleet side who remained in the contest virtually until the end.

After scoring only 103 the previous week, Ascot responded by making 271.

Apparently someone had taken the advice to “score more runs” rather literally.

2s v Hounslow & Whitton 2

The 2nd XI welcomed Hounslow & Whitton to the Racecourse and, having lost the toss, were asked to field first.

For much of the early innings, Ascot did a decent job of keeping the visitors under control.

Irfan Lone made the first breakthrough, while Razwan Hanif produced an excellent spell of 2 for 24 from his nine overs, including three maidens. Aarav Radhakrishnan also picked up two wickets for 36 as Hounslow & Whitton were prevented from completely breaking free.

The problem was Mark Redwood.

Redwood came in with the score at 107 for 3 and proceeded to make himself increasingly difficult to remove. In fact, Ascot never did.

He smashed an unbeaten 100 from just 73 balls, with 12 fours and three sixes, and received excellent support from Akhilesh Mohan Nair, who made 51 from 42.

The pair added 108 for the fifth wicket and, with Gurpreet Singh chipping in with a rapid 21 from 13 balls, the visitors accelerated dramatically towards the end.

Jeremy Wing picked up two late wickets, but Hounslow & Whitton finished on a daunting 302 for 9 from their 45 overs.

Still, 303 to win.

Nothing ridiculous about that.

You just need to score nearly seven an over for 45 overs without losing ten wickets. Simple.

Ascot made a pretty decent attempt at it.

James Docker got the chase moving with 23 before being run out, while Ryan Koopowitz played an excellent innings of 48 from 51 balls, including eight fours.

At 92 for 1, Ascot were very much in the contest.

Koopowitz fell just short of his half-century and Razwan Hanif followed for 11, leaving the hosts 99 for 3.

The rebuild came from Jeremy Wing and Matthew Lambert, before Lambert departed for 10 with Ascot on 125 for 4.

That brought Jonah Lambert to the crease.

And for a while, the two Wings and Lamberts combination began to make an improbable chase look rather less improbable.

Jeremy Wing played a fine innings of 57 from 68 balls, striking six fours, while Jonah was much more aggressive, hitting 44 from just 37 deliveries, including three fours and a six.

Together they took Ascot all the way to 212 for 4.

With 91 still required, it wasn’t exactly comfortable.

But it was interesting.

Unfortunately, Hounslow & Whitton then removed Wing, and the innings unravelled quickly afterwards. Jonah was run out almost immediately, Ashwin Vasudevan followed for 7, and the lower order couldn’t produce the miracle required.

Ascot were eventually bowled out for 238 in 43 overs, giving Hounslow & Whitton victory by 64 runs.

A defeat, but there was plenty to like in the chase. Ryan Koopowitz, Jeremy Wing and Jonah Lambert all made substantial contributions, while Razwan’s 2 for 24 was an outstanding effort in an innings containing more than 300 runs.

Ultimately, though, conceding 302 left Ascot needing something exceptional.

They gave it a decent go.

3s v Emmbrook & Bearwood 3

The 3rd XI welcomed Emmbrook & Bearwood to Ascot and, after winning the toss, decided to field first.

The visitors made a solid start, largely thanks to their opener, Aditya Kuchimanchi, who dug in for an excellent 78 from 101 balls, including 13 fours and a six.

Ascot had to be patient, but once the breakthroughs arrived they began to put the brakes on.

The chief destroyers were Abdul Rehman Raja and Amit Singh, who both finished with three wickets apiece. Raja returned 3 for 29 from eight overs, while Singh took 3 for 31 from six, including a maiden.

Emmbrook’s lower order managed to keep the total moving, with an unbeaten 24 from captain Matt Whiddett helping them reach 188 for 7 from their 40 overs.

Ascot required 189.

Not tiny, not enormous and almost exactly the sort of target designed to ensure nobody could relax for the next couple of hours.

The chase did not begin perfectly.

Murray Barter went for 6, before Dirk Benneyworth and Muhammad Saria began repairing the early damage. Benneyworth made 20 and Saria a valuable 37 from 52 balls, including six boundaries and a six.

But the innings really changed when Shivam Sinha and Abdul Rehman Raja got together.

Sinha produced a superb 49 from 53 balls, hitting nine fours, while Raja took a rather less subtle approach.

He hammered 43 from just 30 deliveries, including seven fours and a six, as the pair dragged Ascot towards the finishing line.

Sinha’s dismissal one short of a deserved half-century left Ascot 148 for 4.

And because this is cricket — and apparently winning comfortably isn’t always permitted — things then became considerably more complicated.

Harry Winning went for 1, Raja departed at 178, Yeshas Vijay followed at 182 and Martin Kay was dismissed without scoring.

Suddenly Ascot were 182 for 8.

Seven required.

Two wickets remaining.

Perfectly calm. Nobody concerned whatsoever.

Fortunately Naeem Mohammad appeared entirely uninterested in the developing drama. He hit two boundaries for 8 not out, to take Ascot past the target.

Ascot finished on 190 for 8 from 34.5 overs, completing a thoroughly entertaining two-wicket victory.

A superb all-round performance from Raja — three wickets followed by 43 from 30 balls — while Sinha’s 49 provided the backbone of the chase.

It perhaps ended rather closer than everyone would have liked.

But a two-wicket victory is still a victory.

The scorecard doesn’t record how many fingernails were lost getting there.

Aldershot 5 v 4s

The 4th XI travelled to Aldershot looking to bounce back from their narrow defeat to Cove the previous week and, after being inserted, set about putting together a competitive total.

It wasn’t an innings built on one enormous contribution. Instead, several Ascot batters got themselves in and kept the score moving.

Captain Ishaan Banerjee provided the foundation with a patient 37 from 68 balls, while Raf Bocchio contributed a quickfire 39 from 52, including six fours and a six.

The pair took Ascot to 92 before Bocchio departed, but wickets then began to arrive rather more frequently than anyone would have liked.

From 92 for 2, Ascot slipped to 104 for 6, leaving the innings in considerable danger of petering out.

Fortunately, Aizaz Hussain had absolutely no interest in petering.

He launched a spectacular little cameo of 17 from just six balls, including a four and two sixes, achieving the sort of strike rate normally associated with somebody who has somewhere else to be.

Then came a crucial innings from Heston Charlton.

Charlton held the lower order together with an unbeaten 38 from 36 balls, striking seven fours, while Suraj Regmi added a useful 15 from 13.

There was also considerable assistance from Aldershot, who generously contributed 47 extras.

Forty-seven.

The result was a rather healthier total than had looked likely at 104 for 6, with Ascot eventually dismissed for 211 in 34.3 overs.

Aldershot therefore needed 212.

And Ascot’s bowlers made sure the chase never really settled.

Raf Bocchio followed his 39 with a miserly spell of 1 for 15 from eight overs, while Cedric Cooray was similarly economical, conceding just 12 runs from his six overs and also picking up a wicket.

With runs proving difficult to find, the pressure began producing wickets.

Sam Tucker and Aizaz Hussain picked up two wickets apiece, while Suraj Regmi, Arun Chandrasekaran and Heston Charlton also got amongst the wickets.

Aldershot’s main resistance came from Jon Ford, who battled his way to 43 from 63 balls, while Andrew Shurlock made an unbeaten 30.

But Ascot continued to chip away.

Aldershot were eventually dismissed for 162 in 38 overs, giving Ascot an excellent 49-run victory and maximum points.

After the previous week’s clean sweep of defeats, Week 15 produced a dramatic reversal: victories for the 1st, 3rd and 4th XIs and three wins from four across the club.

And perhaps the most pleasing thing about the 4th XI victory was that it wasn’t dependent on one player. Runs came from throughout the order, wickets were shared around and Ascot turned what had looked a slightly precarious batting position into a convincing win.

Although we shouldn’t overlook the contribution of Saturday’s most effective all-rounder:

Extras – 47.