Fuller’s League Division One

Merstham 79

Shepperton 80-7

After the euphoria of winning their 10th league match in a row, Merstham succumbed to their first league defeat of the season at home to Shepperton on Saturday.

“We were absolutely awful,” declared captain Nav Saeed, whose side were put into bat. Only three players mustered double figure scores - opener Joe Shinners (20) who was run out trying to force the run rate, Tharusha Tilakarathne (17) batting No 6 and Suliman Younis (13).

“There were two run-outs and some poor shot decisions,” exclaimed Saeed, who also felt aggrieved at a couple of umpiring decisions.

All out after 25.5 overs, they then took seven wickets in the field, the first to make the score 4-1, in what ended up being a tight game.

“They were seven wickets down and right on the ropes,” described the skipper, “and out of that they had 39 extras. We set an attacking field and it could have gone either way.”

Younis took 3-6 off seven overs (3 maidens), including the opener and two with the score on 34, to leave the visitors four down. Tilakarathne took 2-11 off 3.3 overs as Shepperton scored the winning runs in the 20th over.

“The bowlers bowled really well - it’s not their fault at the moment, it’s the batting that’s letting us down,” he said.

Merstham remain 50 points clear at the top, with Frimley second Shepperton one point behind them in third, but Saeed is taking nothing for granted at bottom place Putney next weekend, believing the division remains even, with most teams capable of beating each other.

“Defeats happen and maybe it will be a bit of a kick up the backside for us, having lost our second game in a row after the cup game last weekend,” he said.

The second team bowled out Shepperton 2s on their own ground for 86, after 27.3 overs. The hosts made a decent start, scoring 34 without loss, but then Ameer Pasha proved the thorn in their side with 6-28 off 8 (1 maiden) including bowling the troublesome opener Andy Chinn for 40.

Chat Ranawaka (1-5 off 4) was joint top of the maidens table (3) with opener Safyan Aslam (2-21 off 10). Imran Aslan took a wicket with his third ball of his only over to finish the match, having already taken three catches.

Merstham lost five wickets achieving the target in 18.3 overs, opener Jason Drewett (20), Pasha (23) and Manish Patel (15) top scoring to ensure the second team remain top of their division.

The second team were the only ones to win.

The 3s came up against fellow promotion chasers Addiscombe.

After being greeted with a pitch at The Ring that looked like a road (albeit one in rural Mongolia), skipper Mark Robson won the toss and elected to bowl.

He was rewarded for his decision by Bobby Sharp, who took a wicket in the first over.

Unfortunately, Merstham were then frustrated by Ashish Tandon and an attacking knock from Gaurav Patel, who took full advantage of loose bowling.

Introducing James Lowe into the attack broke the partnership with Patel going for one big shot too many and being caught on the boundary, with Tandon removed by Sharp the next over. Sharp finished up with six wickets, which were easier to come by after the departure of Tandon and Patel, including three in one over. Lowe finished with the remaining three wickets of 10 man Addiscombe (including a stumping from Robson) who were bowled out for 129.

Unfortunately, Merstham offered little in response with the bat, with wickets falling at regular intervals. Ben Carter hit a very resilient 30 but was ultimately run out pushing to increase the total. Merstham were eventually all out for 82, and must pick themselves up for Saturday's visit to Sinjun Grammarians, their successors atop the table on 131 points. Addiscombe have 127 and Merstham 125. 

The fourth team batted first at Addiscombe 4s and were all out for 141 in 33 overs. The hosts knocked off the runs in 29 overs for the loss of two wickets.

Merstham Sunday XI travelled to Weybridge. The hosts won the toss, chose to bat first and were immediately in trouble with Tony Rickards removing their opener for a duck.

As skipper Bill Ash rotated his eight bowlers, the home side struggled to make a real impact, with only three of their batsmen able to retire on 100+, before Rickards ripped through the lower order to leave Weybridge on a meagre 368-4 after 40 overs.

Sensing victory, Merstham openers Kashif Noon (25) and Nav Saeed (36) tore into the home attack to take the visitors past 50. Runs continued to flow as wickets fell before a nerve-jangling finish saw Ash dramatically caught at midwicket leaving Merstham tantalisingly short of the target, finishing on 128 all out, narrowly going down by a mere 240 runs.

The Sunday XI are away next weekend to Maori Oxshott, aiming for an even closer finish.