The month of May was looking decidedly autumnal as Dodgers journeyed to Chiswick for the first T20 of the season, and we were lucky to avoid the forecast rain. Sadly we didn't manage to start the game much before 6pm, which left us in almost total darkness come the end.
The Ministry of Justice batted first and our problems began almost immediately. While Neil kept to his usual line and length, Chairman John was repeatedly dispatched to (and over) the short mid-wicket boundary, with the result that both MOJ openers had passed 25* and retired before we had taken breath. Captain Ralph stemmed the flow of runs to begin with, but the MOJ middle order continued to hit out with gay abandon and raced to 100 off their first ten overs. Tight bowling by Dave H, Satya and Gary rescued the situation somewhat, so that the final MOJ total was restricted to 160 off twenty. The damage had already been done, however, and with the light fading even before we had started our innings, our prospects looked as bleak as the weather.
Neil and Mike D opened bravely, the former retiring not out while the latter fell in a desperate attempt to force the pace. Satya and Harry took up the cudgels, with Satya also retiring unbeaten, but persistent MOJ bowling made it difficult to score at the rate we needed. Mike Mc, Dave and Charlie each arrived for a short cameo, but we were by now miles adrift of the target and the light was almost entirely gone. We had been well beaten by an MOJ batting performance that we should look to emulate in the rest of our own season.
Man of the Match votes: Satya 7, Neil 2, Gary 1
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Satya and Harry taking us forward |
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