ACC 2nd XI vs Kempton 2nd XI

19th April 2025, Short Lane

The 2nd XI pre-season got off to the perfect start on Saturday, with a last-ball win over locals Kempton.

Mansoor lost his first of many tosses this season, and Ashford were asked to bowl first. The deck looked favorable for bowling, which was a typical green top for April, but one could be forgiven for thinking it was an end-of-May/start-of-June pitch.

Ashford made use of the new ball, reducing Kempton to 15-2 within the first five overs. Young seamer Bikramjeet Singh made the early inroads, showing his senior opening bowling partner the length to bowl on the pitch.
While Ashford maintained good pressure with the ball, they were unable to pick up the third wicket as Kempton’s Rashid Khan and Manoj Dali built an important partnership for the visitors.

At drinks, Kempton had been restricted to 75-2 from their opening 20 overs.

But straight after drinks, Kempton put the foot down and Ashford began to feel the pressure in the field. While Tahir Khan picked up the wicket of Manoj Dali for 31 off 49 balls, and then opener Rashid Khan followed shortly after for a well-made 61 off 83, the runs continued to flow. Yuvraj Dhillon (39*) and Gurjeet Singh (42) found the boundary regularly, leading to Kempton finishing on a competitive 206-6 from their 40 overs.

Young Bikramjeet was the pick of the Ashford bowlers, finishing with figures of 8-1-40-2. He was unfortunate not to add a few more wickets to his tally.

Ashford’s reply started strongly, with the opening pair of Sravan Thatta and Sidarth Parekh getting off to a flying start, ensuring the run rate never exceeded 5 an over.

Sidarth was the first to fall, caught off a top edge for a well-made 18, with the score at 43-1. Arun Selvraj joined Sravan, and the pair added another 40+ partnership before Arun was given out LBW with the score on 88.

Mahtab Rasheed came in at No. 4, and after getting a little bit of luck early on, contributed a solid 16 and, importantly, another 40+ partnership. Sravan continued to accumulate runs and provided a strong foundation for Ashford’s chase.

A mini collapse saw Ashford go from 132-3 to 170-8, which included opener Sravan Thatta, who finished with a well-made 70 from 108 balls, including 8 fours.

But every story needs a hero, and for Ashford, this came in the form of Yasir Butt. Coming in at No. 10, Yasir smashed a match-winning 30 from 22 balls, which included 2 fours and 1 very straight six.

While Ashford will be happy to start their pre-season with a win, they will hope that not every game will be such a nail-biter.