1st XI end League Season on a high with a win over Dorking

Surrey Championship Division 5
Dorking 123 all out (31 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon 124 for 4 (31.4 overs)
Stoke D’Abernon won by 6 wickets

Stoke’s 1st XI ended their season on a high against Dorking who came into the match leading the division and needing a win to clinch the title. By the time stumps were drawn, a much-changed Stoke team, including debutant Baz Medlycott and others who started the week in the original 2nd XI selection, registered a six wicket win allowing Byfleet to win the title with a victory over Old Pauline.

Dorking chose to bat first on winning the toss. Tim Handel, (2 for 15), removed Johnson and Jogia for single figures scores; but Lee, (66), and skipper Kelsey, (17), got the board moving. Will Frost, (8-2-20-1), took a return catch to account for the latter, and this started a collapse that saw Nico Spreeth, (4 for 16), and Medlycott, (2 for 5), share six of the last seven wickets, Toby Tarrant, (1 for 26), taking the other.

Ward, (13), was the only other to make double figures as Dorking were shot out for 123 in just 31 overs. Shahil Ramdin added another five dismissals to his impressive tally for the season with four catches and a stumping.

In reply, Handel, (12), was dismissed by Gregg the ball after hitting him for six; but Adrian Taylor, (29), and Ramdin moved the total to 55 before Taylor was caught off the bowling of Kelsey.

Jack Raimondo made a useful 21 with three fours before falling to Costello; but Billy Newman, (17 off 13 with four fours), took Stoke to the brink of victory before he became Miller’s 54th wicket of the season. It is rumoured Miller will play in the LV County Championship for Sussex later this month.

Ramdin, (38 not out), hit two boundaries moments later to complete the win.

So Stoke end the season with a club record number of points, a tally that would have secured promotion in any of the previous eight seasons, and would have won the division outright in all bar two of them. Here is a table of the points gained by the first and second placed teams, (the third placed team’s points tally is in brackets):

2006 – 160 and 149 (98)
2007 – 146 and 130 (115)
2008 – 135 and 122 (120)
2009 – 144 and 138 (123)
2010 – 176 and 142 (126)
2011 – 124 and 120 (114 – Stoke)
2012 – 131 and 124 (117)
2013 – 151 and 135 (125 – Stoke)
2014 – 170 and 161 (160 – Stoke)

We can look at several instances where an extra point or two could have been secured, some due to the weather removing bonus point opportunities, but congratulations to Byfleet and Dorking for staying the course and putting together a longer unbeaten run than our longest.

NEXT YEAR!!!

Scorecard Link : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/view_results_details?id=11873535

Table Link : http://sdacc.play-cricket.com/league_table?id=6728&season_id=72