Surrey Championship Division Five

Stoke D'Abernon 233- 5

Dorking 236-8

A depleted Stoke ended their first season in the Surrey Championship with a last over defeat at Dorking.

The home side gave Andy Page's men first use of their own strip, and Gavin Gresse and Will Patrick added 47 for the opening wicket before falling in successive overs; Patrick scooping to keeper Chave off Kelsey for 14; Gresse, (32), misjudged an inswinger from Chadwick and fell leg-before offering no shot.

Jack Raimondo and Will Gudgeon continued to keep the scoreboard ticking round, but Raimondo, (16), was lost to a run-out of his own creation with the total on 84.

Tom Frost joined Gudgeon and they participated in their second century stand of the season, adding a run-a-ball 120, both hitting their highest scores in league cricket in the process. Frost ran aggressively and found the boundary six times in his innings of 59.

The star of the show, however, was Gudgeon who hit a superb 93 with 11 fours and two sixes, giving little respite to the change bowling.

Frost and Gudgeon both fell to return catches from Overton, (1-50), and Chadwick, (2-31), shortly before the closure of the innings; Will Frost and Jeremy Connell moved the total to 233-5, Connell, on debut, pulling a four over square leg in the last over.

In reply, Stuart Riley made an early breakthrough when overseas bat Yabsley edged to Gudgeon at slip for 10, but Overton and Chave added 113 runs for the second wicket.

The partnership was broken when Overton (69) smashed a drive off Raimondo to Page in the covers.

Ralph Coleman returned to the attack and removed Chave for 69 when he edged to Tom Frost behind the timbers; and Jones was bowled for two to leave the game in the balance at 168-4.

Chadwick and skipper Dymond added a crucial 42 runs before Coleman yorked the latter for 30 to finish with 3-38 from his allotted 10 overs, but just twelve runs were needed and there were plenty of overs left.

Victory still seemed a formality for the home side, but Page ensured a thrilling finish when he bowled Kelsey for 15, and followed this up by taking a return catch to dismiss Halliday for a duck. Page ended with figures of 2-25 to top the bowling averages.

The score became 232-8 when Will Frost bowled Chadwick, (27), as he attempted the winning hit but young Keay pulled the first ball of the final over through mid-wicket to complete victory for the home side by two wickets.

It was a much less even contest for Stoke's second XI who slumped to defeat against Doking by 74 runs.

Dorking made 235-8 from their 50 overs before Stoke were bowled out for just 161 all out to miss out on promotion.

Dorking chose to bat on winning the toss. Despite losing Lane for nine, the next six batsmen all made double-figures; Homewood and Horton each hit 46, and Harris added 39 to boost the visitors' total. The wickets were shared. Adrian Mills, (2-22), Gary Harkett, (2-26), led the way, and there was a wicket each for Johnny Lawes, Siddhartha Lahiri and Josh Carew.

In reply, the top six Stoke batsmen all made double figures, but no one reached 20 until No 7 Matt Gottschalk cracked an unbeaten 41, left stranded as the tail didn't wag and Stoke were bowled out in the 47th over for 161.

Sunday

Twickenham 119

Stoke D'Abernon 120-3

STOKE'S Sunday XI travelled to Twickenham and repeated their 2008 victory.

The hosts chose to bat but Mike Carty, (3-24), late call up Jack Raimondo, (2-31), and Peter Phipps, (2-24), reduced them to 71-7.

Bendelow added respectability to the score with 35 before becoming one of two victims for the mercurial Roy Johns, (2-11) - Johns' wickets sandwiched a wicket for Sandy Henderson.

Just 120 to win for Stoke, and this was achieved in 31.1 overs for the loss of three wickets. Henderson carried his bat for an unbeaten 35, adding an unbroken 42 for the fourth wicket with Raimondo who hit 31 of them.

This weekend, the Sunday XI host the Thameside Wicketers in their penultimate match of the season.