M.O.D. vs Dodgers

CSSG Chiswick
Wednesday 21 May 2003
18 overs (match length reduced due to poor weather)
Toss won by Dodgers
Dodgers (93-7) beat M.O.D. (81 all out) by 12 runs

Another evening of 'persistent but not quite hard enough to leave the field' rain saw the Dodgers X take on the M.O.D. XI. The match was duly reduced to 18 overs per side. Carr won the toss and elected to bat, which was a shrewd decision given the conditions.

Openers McBarron and Priest took to the field, with Dodgers setting their eyes on anything approaching 100. McBarron made 4 before being bowled by Abbot in the third over. Priest at the other end had started brightly and was looking to consolidate before he was given out lbw to Abbot in the 5th over. Hilary, in the middle with Carr, cracked three fours including 2 off Ball's first over only to be bowled by the last ball of the same over with the score on 32.

Cooper took to the middle to join Carr. The partnership lasted only 3 runs before Carr was bowled by MOD's first change bowler Ball. This brought Benn to the crease with Dodgers looking to consolidate. At this point, the run rate was satisfactory but the wickets were dropping. Cooper and Benn put on 25 runs for the 5th wicket as it continued to rain, making the outfield very slow. Cooper was bowled by the other change bowler Williams having reached 19 which included 2 fours. With the score on 60, Qureshi joined Benn. They put on a further 20 runs leaving Dodgers tantalisingly close to their desired total. Qureshi was out caught and bowled by Ball whilst Benn was given run out for 15. Cousins hit a splendid six in the last over (foretold by Priest's comment "we really need a four and a six now" from the sidelines), the first of his career, to bring up a respectable total of 93 in 18 overs (just over 5 an over).

An optimistic Dodgers team took to the field to defend their total. They got off to a good start. At the end of Cousins's first over, Donnan, having made 2, pushed the ball to extra cover and went for a quick single. However, he did not make his ground and was run out (Cooper/Cousins). Donnan's replacement, Bamber, looked threatening but was very lucky when a massive appeal for caught behind by Matthews off Benn was turned down. Bamber did himself no favours and did not endear himself to the Dodgers when he admitted shortly afterwards that he had, indeed, snicked it. Crawford (no relation, or at least we assume not), batting at the other end was making steady progress. However, he skied one off Hilary who had replaced Benn at the Fullers End and was caught by the safe hands of Matthews.

Qureshi, on for Cousins at the Pavilion End, delivered a remarkable slow-&-low long-hop to completely bamboozle Ball (2). Scribble was run out (???/Matthews) for 16. Bamber got his come-uppance and triggered a rare moment of Dodgers antagonism when he was tightly and maybe unfairly given run out (Benn/???) after a mix-up. A brief spat with Carr ensued as he departed, something along the lines of "you can't have it both ways" in reference to the aforementioned snicking incident. Fleming was then bowled for a duck by a nice Hilary delivery.

Dodgers were at this point carving away at the MOD wickets but the runs were accumulating at a fair old rate. At the beginning of the 13th over, MOD were on 73-7, requiring about 21 runs to win with 3 wickets remaining. Cooper, replacing Qureshi at the Pavilion End had Baldry caught first ball by Cousins at midwicket. Later in the same over, Qureshi caught Butlin (3) at mid-on. b replaced Hilary at the Fullers End but MOD had pushed on to 80-9 by the start of the 15th over. Last man Williams was bowled by Cooper to seal Dodgers' victory with 3 overs to spare.

Dodgers innings

McBarron b Abbot 4
Priest lbw Abbot 10
Carr b Ball 1
Hilary b Ball 14
Cooper b Williams 19
Benn run out 15
Qureshi c&b Ball 6
Matthews not out 1
Cousins not out 4
Extras (b1 lb4 w7 nb4) 16
Total 93 for 7

Fall of wickets: 1-12, 2-16, 3-32, 4-35, 5-60, 6-80, 7-85

Did not bat: Pope

Bowler O M R W
Abbot 4 1 11 2
Shaw 3 0 18 0
Ball 3 0 22 3
Williams 4 0 11 1
Butlin 4 0 25 0

M.O.D.

Donnan run out 2
Crawford c Matthews b Hilary 23
Bamber run out 14
Ducket c&b Cousins 0
Ball b Qureshi 2
Baldry c Cousins b Cooper 8
Scribble run out 16
Fleming b Hilary 0
Butlin c Qureshi b Cooper 3
Shaw not out 7
Williams b Cooper 1
Extras (lb1 w4) 5
Total 81 all out

Cousins 4 0 11 1
Benn 2 0 18 0
Hilary 4 0 22 2
Qureshi 2 0 16 1
Cooper 1.1 0 1 3
Pope 1 0 7 0


Man-of-the-match: John Cooper

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