Shahid the hero as Ashbourne take win in last wicket drama

ASHBOURNE landed their first win of the season – and their first in Division Five South – when they edged home by one wicket away to Draycott & Hanbury.

It was also the first win for Charith De Silva as captain – and a personal triumph for Shahid Ali.

The all-rounder took 6-21 from 10 overs as Draycott collapsed to 115 all out.

De Silva won the toss, put Draycott in, then took the first wicket with the second ball of the game.

Draycott then added 50 for the second wicket and reached 93-2 before folding in the face of Ali.

Ashbourne soon found batting difficult too.

Opener Marcus Bateman, out for nought, said: “The bowling was very tight and there was variable bounce, so it was hard to score.”

The innings limped along to 33-4 from 22 overs but the run rate itself was not such an issue with a small target.

Wickets continued to go and when De Silva was out at 80-8 Draycott were favourites.

Ali kept going, though, adding 33 with Allan Kumar, who made 11.

Kumar was out with three needed, last man Deshanthan Sureshkumar blocked out the rest of the over, then Ali lifted the ball over square leg for four to complete the win and leave him on 26 not out.

Ashbourne seconds fell to a heavy Division Nine South West defeat to a strong Dunstall thirds side.

Andrew Noakes hit 118 not out in a challenging 237-8 and Ashbourne had no answer, being bowled out for 95.

CLIFTON fell to a disappointing home defeat to Dunstall, losing by six wickets after being bowled out for123.

Former England batsman Usman Afzaal was the only Clifton man to hold Dunstall up for long as he made 41 from 87 balls but George Martin and Tom Bunting took three wickets each for Dunstall.

Jamie Benstead anchored Dunstall’s reply and by the time he was out for 45 they were closing in on victory, which was achieved with captain Dan Welch on 31 not out in the 26th over.

Captain Simon Moore took 2-28 from eight overs.

BRAILSFORD won a thriller away to Winshill in Division Three by four runs after posting 222-9 in their 45 overs.

It was a remarkable innings in which 10 of Brailsford’s batsmen reached double figures but no-one scored more than the 35 from 35 balls added by Shahid Nazir towards the end.

Last man Hassan Khan added 21 not out and those were to prove crucial.

Duncan Player, Matt Dowling and Adam Randall also all got past 20, while Matthew Clarke took 3-24 for Winshill.

Player struck two early blows in the reply to put the home side on 6-2, then took a third wicket to make it 34-3 but Steve Watson (51) and Jake Smith (41) added 69.

Thirty from Clarke kept Winshill in the chase but wickets kept falling and, at the end, Alexander Reid took 4-33 from only four overs as the home side were bowled out four short from the last ball of the innings.

Brailsford seconds enjoyed a good seven-wicket win over Clifton seconds.

Clifton were put in and Phil Marsh (40) and Josh Hewitt (48) gave them a good start but Ben Walker accounted for both of them in a tight spell of 2-27.

Veteran Ian Clarke’s spin was equally miserly in a return of 2-22 from 10 overs and Maqbool Shah took 3-33 as Clifton, with George Riley adding 35, got only as far as 179 all out.

Mitchell Coxon, with 41, and Aaron Buckler, with 79, then put on 102 for the first wicket to put Brailsford in the driving seat and they reached their target in the 41st over.

Fortunes were reversed in the game between the two clubs’ third teams at Osmaston, where Clifton prevailed by five runs in another tight game.

Ben King scored 39 and Oliver Mccurrach 28 as Clifton made 165-8 from their 40 overs.

Taj Shazad set Brailsford off quickly with 27 from 12 balls and at 136-3, they looked favourites to chase the target down.

But Mccurrach (3-18) began a collapse with the fourth wicket and Robert Archer had top scorer Ayaz Shazad leg before on his way to 3-24 as Brailsford were seen off for 160 with four balls left.