Teams
Saturday 2nd XI
Merstham Saturday 2nd XI vs. Haslemere
June 5th 2010There are no players listed for this fixture
Match Report:
Merstham 2nd Eleven returned to winning ways with a thrilling win at 2nd placed Haslemere this weekend.
Having lost the toss Merstham were put into bat by a confident Haslemere side and quickly found themselves reduced to 28-4 and struggling to post a challenging score.
Jason Drewett continued his good form and shared a 71 run partnership with keeper Neil Maplesden (26) that took the visitors to 112-6 and gave them an opportunity to post a more respectable score.
When Drewett was caught on the boundary for 52 off the bowling of Futcher (3-53) there was concern that some of this momentum would be lost but the Merstham lower order had other ideas.
Imran Aslam joined the solid Will Preston (28) at the crease and together they built a potential match winning partnership of 91 for the 8th wicket. Aslam batted very aggresively taking the attack to the shell-shocked Haslemere bowlers who quickly went on the defensive to try and restrain the visitors score. This proved unsuccessful as Aslam blasted a quickfire 63 and helped Merstham post a very respectable total of 223 off 48 overs. E Anand (3-21) and skipper N Cooper (3-51) were the pick of the Haslemere bowlers.
With a target of 224 from 47 overs Haslemere knew with their batsmen they were in with a chance of victory and the visitors bowlers went on the attack from the start.
Merstham opening bowlers Will Preston (1-6) and Imran Aslam (3-47) continued where they left off with the bat as the home team failed to get them away and struggled to 26-3. Unfortunately Will Preston limped off with an injury and was forced to be withdrawn from the attack.
The Haslemere batsmen fought back with opener J Larbey (40) and I Futcher (77) making the major contributions that had guided the home side to 175-7 and within 49 runs of victory. When Futcher was finally removed by Merstham skipper Rob Young (2-61) Merstham once again began a push for victory.
The Haslemere lower order were providing tough resistance with D Boxall (28) and J Macaulay (19) both pushing hard for victory. At 216-8 and needing just 6 runs for victory, David Loader (3-51) removed Boxall to set up a tense finish.
With four overs remaining victory was to be decided on who could hold their nerve and take their opportunity, fittingly it was left to man-of-the-match Imran Aslam to bowl Macauley out and secure a fantastic 6 run victory for the visitors. The victory saw Merstham replace Haslemere in 2nd place in the league table.