Glorious sunshine greeted the Dodgers for our 2024 showdown with LT Dinos, clouded only for a brief moment by our losing the toss and being put in to field first.
Fresh from their triumph last week, Abhi and Satya opened our attack with accuracy and conviction, although the Dinos top order hit out boldly, with four of their top five retiring on 25*. Chairman John replaced Satya but managed only one over before sustaining a bruised hand in an over-courageous caught-and-bowled effort that bought us our first wicket (i.e. he wasn't able to get out of the way in time). Aaron, Aamir, Ayman (on debut for Dodgers) and Ralph each contributed to keeping the score in check, although the only other wicket taken came off the last ball of the innings, when Satya bowled their no 7 bat. Dinos ended on 145 for 2, which still looked like a considerable total, given the lush outfield and fairly distant boundaries.
Matt Taylor and Mike Dollin launched our response after the break, the former falling unluckily to a dibbly dobbly delivery that trickled under his bat. Ayman showed his class with a couple of delightful straight drives before also being bowled, while Brendan succumbed to the extra pressure of playing in front of his father, visiting from the USA, and was dismissed first ball. Mike Mc joined Mike D in the middle and the two set about stabilising our innings, running well between the wickets and taking boundary opportunities when they offered themselves, so that we reached a highly promising 75 off our first ten overs. Both Mikes retired unbeaten, at which point Ralph arrived at the crease to deliver a cracking 28* and put us ahead of the required run rate. Abhi departed cheaply, but Satya and Aaron took up the challenge and carried us across the line with a welter of superb boundary shots. In a first-class team performance, Dodgers had chased down the total with a couple of overs to spare and notched up an excellent victory.
Man of the Match votes: Aaron 3, Mike Mc 3, Ralph 2, Mike D 2, Abhi 1
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