Datchet’s title hopes damaged by Slough defeat
Datchet's hopes of taking this season's Home Counties Premier Division 1 title have been damaged, probably irreparably, by Slough's dominant 118-run victory on Saturday.
In one of the most congested title races in recent memory, a host of teams went into the final five matches with a realistic chance of lifting silverware, however, Datchet's form has faltered of late, and this defeat probably puts the final nail in their coffin with four matches left to play.
There's still a chance they could pull off a surprise in the final few weeks, as they remain just 25 points adrift of Aston Rowant, however, their disappointing form of late would suggest otherwise.
Slough, meanwhile, who sit below fifth placed Datchet in seventh, have had a very satisfactory first season back in the top division.
Nadeem Syed’s side have won six of their 14 matches to date and, with the rub of the green in one or two of their closer defeats, might have been in with a shout of the title themselves.
This was an especially impressive victory for them given they were missing a raft of key players and Syed had to promote players from the club’s second and third XIs.
After winning the toss at home, Syed opted to have a bat and it turned out to be the right decision.
While the top order wobbled again with Rahim Akhtar falling for one and Mohammed Avas Anwar departing for four, they recovered well through the middle order, with Mishan Silva striking a brilliant 94 before being run out by former Slough player Bobby Sher. Goutham Shrikrishna added 37 from 57 balls while Aashir Zaib made 42 before he was run out by Sulaiman Akhtar.
Ben Brookes did best for
Datchet with the ball, taking 5-78, but Slough had a defendable score on the board and Joe Barrett’s side weren't able to match it. The captain managed 28, a total only eclipsed by Billy Mead who made 32, but wickets fell at regular intervals and the visitors were eventually dispatched for 146 in the 35th over. Brookes hit 26 on a decent day individually for him, but collectively the visitors couldn't match their hosts.
Naveed Akhtar took his side's best figures with the ball, finishing with four wickets for 22 while Silva (2-32) and Hamza Arif (2-33) each took a couple of wickets in what Syed described as his side’s best all-round display of the season.
W Wargrave are now looking for favours from other sides after narrowly losing by 14 runs to leaders Harefield in Division 2 on Saturday.
The two sides have been shadowing each other step for step this season, but Saturday’s win has given the leaders a bit of daylight over Neal Robinson's men in second, heading into the final four games of the season.
Seventeen points might not seem the biggest advantage, but for a Harefield team that’s won nine of its 14 matches so far, it may just be enough of a gap to see the season out for silverware.
Having won the toss and elected to bat, Harefield reached 229-9 from 58 overs, with Nick Kelly (58) and Stephen Croft (47) managing to elude the Wargrave bowlers to contribute vital runs. Joe
Priestley took 3-57 to keep the home side in the hunt, but Wargrave lost momentum quickly after a fast start with the bat.
Opener Rhodri Lewis scored 35 and Euan Woods made 73 from 100 balls as the hosts passed the 100 mark for the loss of two wicket.
However, they lost their last eight wickets for the addition of just 92 runs. Matthew Ogden was their biggest enemy, taking 6-47.