Ascot in trouble despite May magic

Published 12 Aug 2010 15:00 0 Comments

A SEVEN-wicket haul by Royal Ascot’s Kevin May could not stop his side from being on the losing end of a draw in their Division 2a encounter against North Maidenhead.

Ascot fell 31 runs short of Maidenhead’s target in what was a rain-affected match that was reduced to 80 overs and remain second from bottom.

They now face four crucial ties that will decide their fate with a trip to Marlow on Saturday followed by the second teams of Finch, Beaconsfield and Basingstoke & NH.

“We’ve got four games to go and we need to win two of those,” declared skipper Nick Sweetman. “As long as we are in touch going into those games then we feel we’ve got a good chance.”

The home side lost the toss and were tasked with bowling out North Maidenhead and managed to do so in 42 overs thanks largely to Kevin May’s tremendous performance. May took a season’s best 7-93 as the visitors were dismissed for 208.

Ascot’s captain commented: “He’s been out of form lately so hopefully it will be the start of a strong end to the season. He bowled the same end for 21 overs, which was a really good effort.”

Skipper Mirban Saleem set the example for his team with an excellent quick-fire opening knock reaching 74 off just 43 balls.

He was ably supported by the steady Tom Fray who finished just two shy of his half century.

Andy English couldn’t follow last week’s heroics and was dismissed for just four runs, while his partner Deep Mohain fared slightly better with 35. The middle order remained stead until Hayden Edwards chipped in with an impressive 69 runs.

Sweetman was pleased with the young Aussie’s contribution: “We lost an early wicket which made it difficult. Hayden got us some extra bonus points at the end and I’m pleased to see he’s scoring some runs.”

He added: “Their opening batter was the difference between the sides. It was always going to be a tall order to score over 200 runs in 38 overs. But it’s frustrating that we ended up 30 runs short. We just needed somebody to click in the top order.”

Jack Summers is unavailable for the weekend while Jack Kendall could be in contention following his broken finger a few weeks ago.

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