Century for Patel in triple win for Horley

The 1st XI travelled to play Cheam in Surrey Championship Division Four East and won by 37 runs, helped by Luke Smith scoring 55 not out.

Horley elected to bat and on a lightning quick outfield, mastered the conditions better, aided by poor bowling, where extras were third top scorer with 45, including 29 wides.

Horley started brightly with 20 runs on the board in the first three overs, then Ben Remfry was undone by Rashid Khan (3-56), bowled for 10. CP Singh joined Sam Remfry and a thoughtful partnership developed, rotating the strike until Singh was out for 27, brilliantly caught by Kicho Renganath, running backwards at midwicket, with the score on 72.

In the 26th over Sam Remfry, who had never looked in trouble, was adjudged lbw to Yuvraj Ranchal for 46. Captain Regan Derham struck a couple of nicely timed boundaries but was then unlucky to be out, chopping the ball downwards only to see it roll back onto the stumps.

From 125-4, Ben Davies and Luke Smith put on 47 for the fifth wicket. Davies played as sensibly as those before him but was eventually bowled by Rashid Khan for 28, including four fours. Next man in Jon Barnett was run out without troubling the scorers.

Smith batted for 22 overs taking each ball on its merit, aided by some inaccurate attempted runouts which added eight runs to his tally with two lots of four overthrows. He and Matt Gainsford put on 52 before Gainsford was bowled for 26, attempting to put the ball out of the ground and the score was 233-7.

Will Taylor made 14 before being smartly caught and bowled by Rashid Khan. Adam Stephenson (2 not out) added another 12 runs with Smith before the Innings closed at 268-6

With a fair score to defend, despite the lightning quick outfield, Horley took Cheam’s first wicket in the fifth over when Davies (4-38) caught and bowled skipper Abdul Rehan.

From the last ball of the seventh over Ishaan Shetty attempted a drive to midwicket but was brilliantly caught by Adam Stephenson off Davies. Ghufran Hassan was then joined by Bezhad Khalid and the pair took the score to 106 before Khalid (27) was dismissed by Barnett (3-45) caught by Smith, running backwards. Zahid Khan soon followed, caught behind by Derham off Barnett.

Hassan had reached a fine 60 off 72 balls (ten fours, one six) but fell when a mistimed stroke off Barnett was skied and the reliable hands of Gainsford drew cheers of delight from his team-mates, full knowing how important this wicket was.

With the score on 135-5 and the run rate required at 6.6, Rashid Khan made 25 before being caught behind off Taylor (2-33). Ali Rafique was bowled by Sam Remfry and Ahmad Baig was caught behind for 17 off Davies, and the required run rate had moved well into double figures. A few lusty blows from Kicho Renegath (11 not out) were never going to be enough and the end came when Yuvraj Ranchal was caught by Gainsford off Davies in the last over and Cheam were all out for 231.

The win moves Horley up to second in the table. A stern test awaits next week at Horley Row against Sutton who are fourth.

In the second XI match against Morden 1st XI a well-crafted century by opener Aryan Patel helped Horley to a 21-run victory.

Sitting four places above their visitors in Surrey Championship Division Eight East before the game, Horley might have expected an easier win but Morden kept fighting and set up a tense finish.

Morden put Horley in and were rewarded when Toby Davie was bowled by Hamid Khawaja in the third over. Ben Stewart and Patel pushed the score along and Stewart found the boundary with lovely cuts and drives but mistimed one and was caught for 17 just after the 50 came up.

Patel was also looking good, playing some lovely shots, and he brought up his 50 in the 17th over. He and Matt Reid put on 99 for the third wicket, taking the score to 125-2 by drinks after 23 overs, but Maloj Rao tied them down somewhat through the middle of Horley’s innings, conceding just 34 from his nine overs.

Reid fell for 48 (61 balls, seven fours) in the 29th over, looping a catch to Ranjith Bhaskaran off Onkar Jendu.

Guy Derham joined Patel and also found Rao difficult to score from but then gradually upped the pace when the spinner’s spell finished.

Patel reached a well-deserved century in the 41st over with four on the offside. It had been hot work on a scorching afternoon. Derham was hitting his straps by now, striking four fours off Jendu in the 43rd over. Patel was finally out off the first ball of the 44th, well caught at midwicket off Gyanesh Singh.

Derham hit a six off the last ball to end up on 75 not out (eight fours, one six), taking Horley’s total to 262-4 after 45 overs. Morden's poor fielding was exemplified during the final over when Derham hit the ball to short mid-off but two misfields enabled him and Dan Sired to run four.

Morden’s reply started cautiously and it took eight overs for Horley to make a breakthrough, Derham bowling Kamran Ahmed. Chris Webber had Mayur Sawant caught at slip by Stewart in the next but Horley then had to wait until the 20th over to remove Rao, caught by Webber off Sired for 33.

Derham threw in from the boundary and Sired removed the bails to run out Jendu for a duck off the first ball of the 22nd over, then Morden survived another seven overs, picking off singles but only finding the boundary once, to move on to 133-4 before Aidan Spalding bowled Imran Syad for 53.

Khawaja, at seven upped the scoring rate, hitting five fours and a six in a 30-ball 36 before he became one of the victims of a team hat-trick in Spalding’s sixth over. The bowler took an excellent, knee-height caught and bowled to dismiss Hareesh Yegineni, then Reddy drove the ball to Irfaan Baksh at extra cover and his sharp throw was gathered by Spalding to run out Khawaja.

Next ball, another caught and bowled, this time from a top edge from Reddy, had Morden suddenly reeling at 174-8.

However, number nine Prashant Prashant thought an unlikely win was still on the cards and took the attack to the bowlers. He dealt out the punishment for seven overs until Baksh ended his fun, getting him caught behind by Davie for 55 from 31 balls, including seven fours and three sixes, one of which cleared the trees to go into the road.

Having struck the key blow, Baksh then wrapped up the match, bowling Gyanesh Singh two balls later and Morden were all out for 241 from 43.4 overs.

Horley remain fourth in the table and play away at bottom-placed Salfords next Saturday.

A five-wicket haul for Abdul Razzaq and great batting by Richard Waddington (88 not out) and Khyan Patel (66) helped Horley 3rd XI maintain second place in Sussex Division Ten West with a terrific 140-run win over fourth-placed Crawley.

The visitors put Horley in and the openers, Henrick Cook and Patel looked to put Crawley on the back foot early but were denied with Abdullah Abdullah having Cook caught for eight.

Horley then put their foot on the gas, with the new batting partnership of Tom Jowett and Patel staging a great comeback and taking the score to 113 before Jowett was out at the end of the 19th over for a well-made 46.

Kieran Childs was dismissed early, caught and bowled by Huzail Griffith.

Waddington then came to the crease and put Horley in the driving seat, finding the boundary with ease and rotating the strike nicely and taking the score past 200 before Patel was unfortunately run out for a great score of 66 (95 balls, six fours).

Nick Chadwick joined Waddington and began to find the boundary early. With both batsmen looking steady and the score having moved on to 256, Horley then lost the wicket of Chadwick, caught of the bowling of Jibran Mirza.

Razzaq came and went quickly, then Dirk Douglas and Waddington batted the rest of the overs out, plundering 19 off the last over, including two sixes from Waddington.

Horley’s total of 279-6 off 40 overs was always going to be a tough ask for Crawley and the home side’s opening bowling partnership Ryan Smith and Razzaq started brilliantly, with Razzaq getting Gul Khan caught behind by Douglas for a duck and Smith taking the next Crawley scalp in the next over, having Sai Kumar Guntoju caught by Douglas for two.

Razzaq and Smith had another wicket each by the end of the fifth over, with Crawley reeling at 11-4. Smith took a catch for Razzaq’s next wicket and his fourth swiftly followed before the visitors showed some signs of life and moved the score on from 29-6 to 67. A catch from Childs enabled Razzaq to complete his five-wicket haul, with great figures of 9-4-20-5.

A bowling change for Horley brought further luck with Cook taking the wicket of Abdullah with fourth catch taken by Douglas behind the stumps.

Jack James was next to get in on the action for Horley, dismissing Griffith with a catch in close by Childs.

Childs brought himself on to bowl and found the last wicket with a great catch by Jowett dismissing Midhun Mohan for 41. Crawley were 139 all out, 140 short of Horley’s total.

Horley play away to eighth-placed Kilnwood Vale next Saturday.