Sat 23rd August v Ashtead

ASHTEAD 185-7 (44.5) beat DULWICH 181 (44.3) by 3 wickets

Dulwich travelled to Ashtead in search of a victory that might give them an outside chance of avoiding relegation from the Premier Division of the AJ Sports Surrey Cricket Championship, but were thwarted by former England opener Mark Stoneman, who batted throughout the innings to see his side to victory by three wickets and send Dulwich down.

Dulwich elected to bat, but got off to a poor start as they lost their first four wickets in 14 overs for just 46 runs. Two of them fell to stunning diving catches by Pranav Khera off left arm spinner Tom Homes, including that of Ahmed Khan, who had made most of the running with a chancy 25 off 38 balls. The rest of the innings was held together by Kaif Ramzan. He put on 53 in eleven overs for the fifth wicket with Tommy Wright, who made 25 off 45 balls; and 56 in eleven overs for the seventh with Rayaan Hussain, making his Championship debut, who made 31 off 33. Ramzan went on to his half-century before becoming the ninth wicket with the score on 174, having made 55 off 88 balls. The Dulwich innings closed soon afterwards for 181 after 44.3 overs. Homes bowled his ten overs in two spells to finish with 5-27.

Dulwich were so depleted in pace bowling that they were forced to call on former skipper Jon Lodwick, who obliged by taking the first two wickets to reduce Ashtead to 37-2 after 8.1 overs. He was well supported by Harrison Perry, in the unaccustomed role of opening bowler, who went for just 15 runs off six overs. The quicks then gave way to the spinners, who continued to apply the pressure. But Stoneman remained resolute, and held up one end while wickets fell at the other. Khan bowled his ten overs straight through for the miserly figures of 1-19 while Ramzan took 1-45 off his ten, and Felix Watson-Smyth had 1-27 off his first seven.

The score had reached 149-5 after 41 overs when Perry, having bowled nine overs for 21, started a tenth over that went for 14 but also picked up the sixth wicket. A direct hit by Hussain took the seventh with the score on 168. But this brought in Sam Hunt who played three outrageous reverse sweeps, all of which went to the boundary. He missed an identical shot to the next ball which went for five wides to see Ashtead pass their target. Stoneman remained undefeated, having faced 128 balls for his 65. He had absorbed the threat of the spinners, notably Khan, and while he remained victory for his side had seemed almost inevitable.

This defeat leaves Dulwich 44 points behind Sunbury and confirms their relegation with two matches still to go. The first of these is a home fixture next week against Banstead, who are currently fifth