Keene and Sidwell put Dulwich to the sword

ASHTEAD made short work of Dulwich, beating them by eight wickets, in Saturday's Surrey Championship Premier Division game.

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Ashtead were saved the perhaps tricky decision of what to do at the toss, as Dulwich elected to make first use of a rock hard wicket and a short square boundary.

And yet it would be the visitors who were immediately on top, with overseas pro Simon Keene extracting a safely pouched edge in the very first over.

The other opener would fall just a few overs later, courtesy of the bowling of red-ball whisperer Ben Sidwell; 15-2 and well in front already.

The rebuilding came from Dulwich skipper Ollie Steele and international keeper-batter KS Bharat. Both took their time to build an innings, with cultured shots and boundaries (although running in such weather was not ideal).

The Stags rotated the bowling attack regularly, but when Tom Homes was introduced just before drinks, he began a spell that almost lasted the rest of the innings.

The hosts found it hard work to get Homes away, and therefore looked to score off the bowlers at the other end. This brought chances, and, inevitably, wickets.