Slightly delayed by a cloudburst and some appalling West London gridlock, the last Dodgers evening game of the season got underway a little later than we had hoped, at 5.45pm. Yet the rain had cleared, we were put in to bat, and there was every prospect of a nice evening ahead.
NJ and Ben got us off to a good start, once again showing some excellent running between the wickets - perhaps the greatest innovation to have been introduced by Dodgers in this shortened season. Ben sadly departed for 7, to be replaced by Jatinder, who swiftly followed NJ back to the pavilion for their respective 25* retirements. Komal took up the chase, reaching his 700th run for Dodgers in the process, but Chairman John failed to make the 12 needed for his 2,000th, flicking a neat boundary off his legs and then holing out thoughtlessly to a rank donkey drop. Mike, returning to Dodgers colours for the first time since his dislocated finger injury, continued where he had left off earlier in the summer, and was joined at the close by Mehboob, who had graciously given up his place at the top of the order. At the end of our 16 overs we had posted a highly commendable 121 for 2.
A swift turnaround saw us back out in the field almost immediately, where Adam and David proceeded to tie up the Wanderers' openers with precision bowling from the outset. David picked up two key wickets before Jack and Captain Ralph came on as first change and tightened the screw still further. Along with a smart catch by NJ and a couple of excellent stumpings by Komal, the match's champagne moment was provided by Jack's spectacular run-out off his own bowling, a cool footballing flick into the hands leaving the non-striker miles out of his crease. By now, however, a dark cloud had appeared over Chiswick and the light was deteriorating rapidly. NJ and Jatinder came on to bowl the final overs and the wickets kept tumbling until the Wanderers' skipper Jerry, barely discernible in the gloaming, threw in the towel. They would have needed more than 40 off their last eight balls, so it's safe to say that Dodgers had already won.
Man of the Match votes: David 4; NJ 3; Ralph 2; Jatinder 1; Komal 1
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