Career best for Will Lander as 1st XI make short work of Thames Ditton

Surrey Championship Division 5

Thames Ditton 70 all out (20.1 overs)

Stoke D’Abernon 62 for 1 (7.1 overs) – revised target of 58

Stoke D’Abernon, (10 points), beat Thames Ditton, (0 points), by nine wickets

Having thrashed Chertsey in the previous week’s match, Stoke’s 1st XI took their good form in to this week’s match at Thames Ditton, comprehensively outplaying their opponents to secure a 9 wicket victory.

The wicket was green and spongy and there were plenty of rain clouds on view, so, on winning the toss, Stoke skipper Sid Lahiri had no hesitation in opting to field first.

18 year old Will Lander was given the new ball and wasted no time in exploiting the bowler-friendly conditions to devastating effect. Tim Handel provided excellent support from the other end and the pair accounted for 8 of the wickets to fall.

Thames Ditton lost their first wicket in Lander’s second over with only 9 runs on the board and there was a steady stream of dismissals which saw the score on 36-6, (after twelve overs), and 70 all out in the 21st over.

Lander finished with a hitherto career best 4 for 15 from 7 overs, including 3 wicket maidens, and Handel finished with 4 for 35 off 9 overs.

Spinners Ian Hopton and Josh Howe took a wicket apiece to clean up the innings. Wicket Keeper Tom Frost took 4 catches, headlining a fielding effort that saw Jack Raimondo and Will Gudgeon hold two catches each.

Stoke’s reply lasted one over before the heavens opened and the players beat a hasty retreat to the pavilion. After 33 minutes of lost play, an early tea was taken and play resumed at 3.55pm with Stoke facing a revised target of 58 runs from 41 overs.

Despite losing Lahiri to an excellent ball from Joe Jarvis, Stoke knocked off the runs in 7.1 overs to win by 9 wickets. Hiken Shah was unbeaten on 19 from just 10 balls faced, and Handel played a typically aggressive innings in his knock of 27 not out from 21.

Next week’s home game against leaders Chipstead Coulsdon & Walcountians is a ‘must win’ for Stoke to maintain their promotion aspirations.

Scorecard Link : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/scoreboard/scorecard.asp?id=10911107