Surrey Championship Division Five

CC&W 213

Stoke D'Abernon 65

A SPECTACULAR bowling performance from Nick Woods helped Chipstead rip through Stoke D'Abernon's middle order and cruise to an important championship win.

With Aussie pace ace Shaun Tait back in the international frame and team stalwarts Richard Brewster and Ben Watson representing the MCC it meant a number of players who had been part of the second XI were given a chance to shine.

Initially, visiting captain Andrew Pag's decision to put Chipstead in on a carpet of flattened moss looked to be a good one, his opposite number Steve Hirst chopping a wide ball onto his stumps in the second over.

But Daryl Hattingh and Woods rattled the score along to 58 before Stuart Riley found the perfect yorker to remove Woods.

But despite the total increasing at a run a ball, wickets began to tumble. Jarrad Tait failed to trouble the scorers before Alan Clark suffered a rush of blood, and Hattingh disappointingly fell two short of a deserved 50.

At 109-5 the situation called for experience - a commodity much traded by Blackburn and Barber.

They took the score to 150 before Barber's timing eluded him and Blackburn was well caught 13 runs later for 43, looking for his ninth boundary.

The tail continued to wag, Elliott Noble (16) mowing the day's only six before Bradley added useful runs for the last wicket with Leigh Padfield chipping in with an unbeaten 30.

A target of 214 was always going to be a challenge, but Stoke's relatively lowly league position has not been due to lack of runs.

Luck also seemed to be with them when opener Gavin Gresse was dropped at slip from the first ball of the innings.

His partner Jack Raimondo was not so fortunate in fending off Padfield to Jarrad Tait in the same position.

That brought the league's leading run scorer, Tim Handel, to the crease.

And despite dropping him twice, Chipstead continued to make good progress.

The introduction of Tait and tricksy left-armer Woods signalled the beginning of a remarkable collapse.

First, Tait induced a fatal nick from Gresse to the keeper. Next over, Handel succeeded in running himself out by a yard.

His 31 was to be Stoke's only double-figure score. With Tait maintaining an unwavering line and length to finish with figures of 3-9, Woods tweaked and twirled his way through the middle order.

Keeper Ray Baldrick made no mistake in taking a sharp chance off Woods to dismiss Tom Frost while Ian Hopton was well caught by Hattingh.

It was fitting that Tait and Woods should combine for the coup de grace, Tait snapping up Riley at slip to give the boy from Blackpool his fifth wicket.

Shaun Tait returned to Australia on Monday after being re-awarded his Cricket Australia contract for 2009 after Andrew Symonds' was withdrawn after he was sent home before the Twenty20 World Cup.