Saturday round-up: Battling sides defeated on rain-soaked afternoon

Merstham’s first team match was abandoned again on Saturday, and the second and third teams could only manage bonus points in defeat during rain interrupted matches, while the fourth team won by default.

The first team were perhaps grateful for the interception of the weather, being 69-5 when the rain forced an abandonment.

Meanwhile the second team were sent into the field by their hosts, Kingstonian, who then only put together 156 in 48.3 overs.

Safyan Aslam (2-24), Imran Aslam (2-31) and Bobby Sharp ensured Kingstonian lost wickets regularly and were reduced to 44-5 before the hosts put on 52 for the sixth wicket. Just one more run was added before the seventh fell on 97, but then Rohit Syed (54) found another stable partner in Jay Answari.

Sunny Bowry took 3-41 and Sharp returned to take his second wicket to finish with 2-19.

Merstham thought they were in with a strong chance of winning, if the weather allowed, but also lost wickets regularly in the first half of their innings. Jason Kyte (15), of the top six, was the only one to score in double figures. Former first team skipper Nav Saeed and second team captain Richard Feist put on 69 for the seventh wicket to reach 128-7 before Saeed was adjudged leg-before on 22. Feist was then caught on 37 with no further score added. Another wicket was lost on the same score and Merstham were all out on 133 when Safyan Aslam was run out after 40 overs.

In a bit of a crazy game, the third team bowled out Old Emanuel at The Ring in 19 overs, for 117, but were bowled out themselves after a rain interruption for 73 in 23 overs.

Old Emanuel knocked up 57 for the first wicket and then lost three in the 60s. Ben Carter took 2-29 and Joe Rees-Davies 3-23, with Asim Ashraf 3-20.

In reply, Zeeshan Murtaza’s men made a decent start scoring 37 before Shakir Khan (8) was bowled. The score hadn’t changed when fellow opener Finn Harris was out for 20, which turned out to be a top score in increasingly poor conditions.

The fourth team were awarded a victory when Oxted pulled out on Thursday unable to field a team.

Merstham's match reports are brought to you in conjunction with our sponsors.

North Downs Hospital is one of Surrey's leading private hospitals with an excellent reputation for delivering high quality healthcare treatments and services.

Reigate On Time are a New Licensed Taxi Service providing a prompt and reliable service for all your transport needs. You can book your next taxi by calling 01737 76 60 76!

Visit our sponsors' page for full details.