Dodgers v Corinthians

Chiswick
6pm
Weather: Fair

Corinthians 68 (Lowe 5 for 8) lost to Dodgers - full details to come

Man of the Match: Lowe - 10, Lee (P-PS) - 1

Match Report by Peter Lee
 
A rare break in the late July storms saw the Dodgers taking on Belair Corinthians, eager to extract revenge for the comprehensive stuffing inflicted upon them earlier in the season.  Captain Priest, having [won/lost] the toss [elected] to field first, giving Corinthians first use of what looked like a placid wicket and Dodgers first use of an outfield strewn with its usual late-season helpings of goose droppings.  
 
Lowe was given choice of ends and, having been treated for shock, swiftly nominated the top end in order to maximise his raw pace.  The first ball whistled down at a terrifying 40 miles an hour and was dispatched disdainfully for four.  After the second ball nearly suffered the same fate, Lowe apologised and stated that “he hadn’t bowled fast for weeks”.  After briefly wondering in which parallel universe Lowe had ever bowled fast, assorted Dodgers suggested he perhaps aimed for accuracy instead. 
 
The rest, as they say, is history.  Corinthians batsmen, clearly influenced by the David Koresh-eque Messiah figure that is Mike Dollin, fell over each other to perish off his bowling.  Like depressed lemmings who, following a particularly bad day at the office, come home to find the wife in bed with the octogenarian next-door neighbour, they seemed only to eager to end it as swiftly as possible.    Barker bagged the first quack quack, dollying a simple c&b chance, swiftly followed by Dubey and Mendelsohn for similarly shaped blobs.  Dollin briefly detained the scorers and tested late arrival Fox with one swirling chance before generously offering him to chance for redemption a few balls later which he gobbled up faster than a hungry cricketer confronted by a plate of tea-time scones.  In between the Lowe-inspired carnage, Cooper bowled an excellent spell and was rewarded with the wicket of Thompson, snaffled by specialist short extra cover Westhead (OBE).  
 
Into Lowe’s last over and the tension rose with the fiver-for within touching distance.  The Corinthian batsmen seemed determined to see him off but with three balls left, he couldn’t resist a swipe which flew straight to Lee at mid-off.  Cue wild celebrations.  No Dodger has ever taken six-for and neither could Lowe as Gant blocked solidly .  Still, 4-1-8-5 was the second best-ever analysis for a Dodger and had firmly placed the home side in control.
 
The follow up bowling ensured that the boot remained firmly on the throat, Hilary was somewhat profligate, conceding an entire run off his four overs.  Fox probed away and picked a wicket from an excellent Marr catch.  A late flurry off Lee and McBarron made the score somewhat more respectable but left the Dodgers only needing 3 1/2 an over.
 
Nothing is ever easy for Dodgers though.  Hattea continued his excellent form with an unbeaten 25 but at the other end, there was a wobble as Marr, Priest and Westhead departed for low scores.  At 23-3 Corinthians were considering that the impossible could happen.  However, Hattea’s knock pushed the score along further and then a solid partnership, combining McBarron’s pragmatic nurdles and Lee’s agricultural whacks, rapidly closed things out.  A comfortable win was completed with 3.2 overs left by 7 wickets.  Over Lowe’s excellent post-match jugs, the Dodgers reflected on one of the all-time great bowling spells and some consistently strong fielding and catching.  MoM was a predictable landslide for Dodgers very own Phil Defreitas.

Scorecard

Innings of Corinthians

Thompson c Westhead b Cooper R 7
Barker c & b Lowe 0
Dubey b Lowe 0
Mendelsohn b Lowe 0
Dollin c Fox b Lowe 6
Neagle c Marr b Fox 4
Hayes c Lee (PS) b Lowe 0
Gant not out 30
Denetz run out (Hilary/McB) 5
Carter not out 6
_____________________________________
Sub-total 58
Extras 11
Total 69

Bowling of Dodgers

Lowe 4-1-8-5
Cooper R 4-0-12-1
Hilary 4-3-1-0
Fox 4-0-10-1
McBarron 2-0-15-0
Lee (P-PS) 2-0-21-0

Note: Lowe's bowling 2nd best ever
analysis for Dodgers

Innings of Dodgers

Hatteea not out 25
Marr c ? b Hayes 0
Priest c Dollin b Carter 1
Westhead run out 2
McBarron not out 12
Lee (P-PS) not out 20
_____________________________________
Sub-total 60
Extras 10
Total 70

DNB: Cooper R, Matthews, Lowe, Fox, Hilary

FoW: 1-12, 2-16, 3-23

Bowling of Corinthians

Hayes 4-0-10-1
Carter 4-1-11-1
Mendelsohn 2.4-0-9-0
Parker 3-0-14-0
Jim? 2-0-15-0
Dom? 1-0-7-0

Comments

Damian said…
One of your finer match reports Mr Lee.