Surrey Cricket Foundation

Weybridge v Reigate Priory
Brent Kay snatched a dramatic win for Weybridge as they beat Reigate Priory by three wickets off the final ball of the game.

The visitors, having chosen to bat first, ran up 285 all out from 66 overs with Alex Ross (76) and Angus Dahl (54) leading the way. Off-spinner Phil Mann claimed 4-89 on his return from school duties, hard-working seamer Harshil Patel’s 24 overs netting him 3-81.

Having lost Odge Davey and Nathan Tilley early on, Weybridge were relying on South African Test opener Sarel Erwee to get them close. He led the chase with 77 but his departure at 155-4 was a serious blow for the hosts.

Steven Reeves (47) was joined fifth wicket partnership of 61, though, by 17-year-old Stuart Van Der Merwe – a pupil at Reed’s School – who underlined his immense promise by cracking 57 in 60 balls, which kept the chase alive. It was Kay who seized the moment by blasting leg-spinner Michael Munday for six off the penultimate ball and then cracking another four to snatch the win and put his side into second place. Priory are by no means out of the chase despite their disappointment.

East Molesey v Esher
Defeat by 57 runs at Esher’s hands trimmed East Molesey’s hopes of taking another step towards a hat-trick of titles.

Will Edwards and his side thoroughly deserved their second success at Graburn Way this week, having already seen off Moles in the league T20 competition in midweek.

They had to work hard for their 250 all out in the 63rd over, David Brent’s 40 the highest score, but solid batting down the order including an enterprising 29 from 30 balls late on from Freddie Harrison. Seamer Andy Westphal claimed 4-75 from 18 overs but the home side’s outfielding was shoddy at times.

With 57 overs back, they were given a breezy start by Jake Kings (23) and skipper Nick Stevens (41), both being removed by Justin Broad who also claimed the prize wicket of Tasmanian Mac Wright, snapped up first ball by a fine slip catch from Nicholas Smit.
Esher had lost seamer Ollie Sheen to a foot injury, Broad and Brent compensating with fine spells which maintained the pressure on Moles, who increasingly came to rely on left-hander Matt Tigg (47) to keep them in the game. Broad’s 5-55 from 15 overs swung the game irrevocably towards the visitors, Brent (3-45) finishing off East Molesey to earn his side a fine victory which keeps them in sixth place.

It cut the defending champions’ lead at the summit from 15 to seven points.

Sutton v Normandy
Just when Sutton looked set for a morale-boosting victory to ease their relegation worries, it all went horribly wrong as Normandy won by 11 runs.

Chasing 190 for victory, the hosts looked favourites at 158-4 only to lose their last six wickets for 20 runs. Now they find themselves 24 points adrift at the bottom.

Having been sent in, Normandy lost in-form opener Olly Batchelor to the first ball of the match and were in dreadful trouble at 108-7. Skipper Viggy Venkateswaran rescued them by cracking 55, aided by Will Pereira (21) in an eighth wicket stand worth 50, finally being dismissed in the 64th over for 190. Sam Blake (4-27) and Aneesh Jhalla (3-52) were the most successful bowlers.

Sutton were given a strong start of 61 by openers Rehan Ratnasapabathy and Sam Seadon (39) but the major innings they needed to claim that first win of the season was absent against a side who have long specialised in defending small totals. It was spinners Chris Jones (5-55) and Venkateswaran (4-75) who proved the key and, with five wins from nine games, Normandy thoroughly deserve their place in the top half of the table.

Ashtead v Wimbledon
If Ashtead were celebrating the return to Surrey of their most famous graduate – England opener Dominic Sibley’s move from Warwickshire having been announced last week – then Wimbledon happily played the role of party-poopers.

Their break from the hurly-burly of SW19 proved short but action-packed, winning by four wickets in a low-scoring match.

Ashtead’s decision to bat first backfired when they were bowled out for 115 in the 42nd over, Matthew Breetzke’s 33 the outstanding contribution and Jonathan Dewes’s 4-26 from 13 overs doing the most damage.

Ryan Patel’s desire for batting practice during a break from the LV County Championship was thwarted by departing for six, Ben Coddington (49no) and Jack Boyle (28) adding 54 for the second wicket. It wasn’t quite over as a flurry of wickets fell to Tom Homes (3-15) and Sam Homes (2-29) but Wimbledon brought up victory in the 34th over to end a run of two defeats, leaving them just 13 points off the pace in third.

Malden Wanderers v Sunbury
Acclimatising to the Premier Division after nine years away has not been easy for Malden Wanderers but they will take encouragement from a 66-run victory over Sunbury.

Alarm bells will equally be ringing for their opponents, who have won just twice this season and find themselves 11 points off the relegation zone.

Inevitably, Wanderers had South African opener Zac Elkin to thank for leading the batting, his unbeaten 130 out of 254-8 in the maximum 66 overs ensuring they had a strong total to defend and taking him to 572 runs so far.

This time he had support from Dan Euston (42) in an opening stand worth 92 while Surrey’s Cameron Steel chipped in with 27, also watching county colleague Amar Virdi snare two wickets.

Sunbury’s faltering batting struggled again, Surrey’s Nico Reifer making 32 and Subhan Ramzan finishing unbeaten on the same score, James Rimmer’s 4-43 from 12 the best bowling figures.
Wanderers remain in the relegation zone but are have closed the gap to safety to just 11 points and they have opened up a 24-point advantage on bottom side Sutton.

Best of the rest
Carrying his bat through the Dulwich innings was not enough for Frankie Brown to prevent Division One leaders Cranleigh making it eight out of nine.

They maintained a 24-point advantage on the back of a 126-run victory over Dulwich, who inserted the hosts and saw them run up 255-7dec from 57 overs thanks to Lewis Bedford (59), Clyde Fortuin (52) and captain Bruno Broughton’s 69no. Opener Brown’s unbeaten 50 off 144 balls could find little back-up as his side were dismissed for 129 by Jack Scriven (4-49) and Fortuin (3-29).

Guildford remain in dogged pursuit following a quickfire victory at Valley End, who collapsed from 73-4 to 78 all out against Olly Birts (4-21) and James McMillan (4-27). Jacques Sharam’s 46 from 40 balls ensured the runs were knocked off in 14.3 overs to win by eight wickets.

They now lead Spencer by 25 points after the third-placed side drew with scores level at Banstead. Neil Baker’s 107 drove the hosts to 217 all out despite the best efforts of Max Hunt, who claimed 8-75 from 26.4 overs.

Tim Young (67) and Freddie Horler (49) were responsible for leading the reply but once they were separated it became very tight. Spencer looked certain winners with one run needed and three wickets left at the start of the final over. But captain Gus Grant fell, followed by Hunt from the final ball of the match – both captured by Arsalan Abbas as claimed the second eight-wicket haul of the match with 8-51 – and although last man Lloyd Patternott was unfit to bat, the result counted as a draw rather than a tie.