Surrey Championship Division 5
Chipstead Coulsdon & Walcountians 294 for 6 dec (51 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 201 for 8 (54 overs)
Chipstead Coulsdon & Walcountians, (5 points), drew with Stoke D’Abernon, (1 point)
Winning Draw to Chipstead Coulsdon & Walcountians
Set a daunting total of 295 to win by Chipstead Coulsdon & Walcountians, Stoke’s 1st XI made a good start in reply but the loss of wickets in bunches necessitated rearguard action in the closing overs, the draw they settled for keeping them top of the Division 5 table.
Siddhartha Lahiri won the toss and asked his opposite number Nick Woods to bat. Woods and overseas partner Zak Elkin took strike on a pitch that offered little seam movement and minimal turn.
The pair set off at a run ball, finding the short boundaries to their liking, and with aggressive running, notably from Elkin, the pair were not parted until the 43rd over with the score on 240; Woods the man to go for a career best 137 to back up his century for the League representative side in the week.
Lahiri made the breakthrough when Woods was stumped by Tom Frost the ball after hitting his fifth six to go with twelve fours.
Elkin departed immediately after completing his own hundred when he was bowled by Ralph Coleman. This prompted the loss of a number of wickets to the chase as Coleman, (3 for 43 from 14 overs), and Lahiri, (3 for 47 from 7), chipped away at the middle order as six wickets fell for 49 runs – the next highest scorer made 13.
The fielding effort left room for improvement, but some excellent boundary running in the closing overs, notably from Will Frost and late call up Jay Stevenson, cut off the supply of boundaries to delay the declaration. Tom Frost was his usual self behind the timbers and was faultless standing up to the four spinners deployed by Lahiri.
After tea Hiken Shah and Tom Frost took on seamers Noble and Padfield, scoring runs all around the wicket, adding 74 in just eleven overs to force the introduction of spin.
The change of pace brought instant reward as Shah, who hit a classy 51, mis-pulled to the only man in the deep off Brewster; then Frost, (21), steered a ball from Oberoi to the solitary slip. 74 for 2 was soon 75 for 3 when Lahiri and Tim Handel ended up at the same end as Handel skied a chance, (not taken), in the deep but did not run through. Lahiri was beaten by a direct hit from the deep as he tried to get back.
With depth in the batting to keep the run chase alive, Handel hit Oberoi for a six and a four, but perished after skying another chance. 89-4.
Will Gudgeon and Jack Raimondo continued to play positively despite having a lot of company around the bat and moved the total to 150. Woods introduced left-arm paceman Padfield and the decision paid instant dividends as Gudgeon, (45), was hit in front by a yorker; then Hopton flashed hard at a delivery only for the slip fielder to parry the ball up in the air then fall underneath it.
With defence now the order of the day, Raimondo batted superbly against a fired up Padfield; and he found a brave ally in Stevenson. Together they negotiated another ten overs before Raimondo, (33), fell leg before sweeping Brewster. Brewster would end with figures of 17-7-37-2.
Stevenson and Jake Lavender continued to chalk off the overs, but Lavender was yorked by Oberoi, (15-3-45-3); to add more voice to an enthusiastic fielding cordon. Stevenson continued to play on merit, and registered his highest score for Stoke, (20 not out), to deny the hosts who had to settle for a draw as one last effort from Padfield, (12-2-45-2), was seen off…just.
So Stoke remain top of the table, and next week travel to Kingstonian hoping to reverse their defeat in the corresponding fixture last season.
Scorecard : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=10911034