Our annual encounter with St Peter's Dads CC at Battersea Park turned out to be a close game on a drizzly evening, with a bizarre twist in its tail. Dodgers batted first and got off to a quick start as Mike D and Will dispatched the ball to all corners, Mike eventually retiring unbeaten. Harry, Sid and Abhi all hit out strongly before falling prey to the variable bounce and speed of the wicket, while Satya applied himself with care and notched up an excellent 28* to steady the ship. Matt, Aamir and Ralph perished in the search for quick runs, leaving Chairman John at the crease to grind out his 12* and welcome back Mike (eventually 33*) as first retiree. We reached a total of 132 for 7 off our 20 overs, but Battersea Park is a small ground given to large totals, so we had no cause for complacency.
Abhi and Will led our bowling attack with accuracy, but the vagaries of the pitch were exposed when one of the St Peter's openers (who had chosen not to wear a helmet) took a direct hit to the forehead and retired shaken but, thankfully, unharmed. Abhi's second over was a game changer, as he clean bowled three St Peter's batters in a triple wicket maiden that set the tone for the rest of the match. As if that were not enough, he then proceeded to take three excellent catches in the deep, earning him a well deserved Man of the Match award. Matt, Satya and Aamir kept the pressure on with disciplined spells of four overs each, while John's economic first over was somewhat tarnished by an expensive second. As we came towards the closing stages, however, it looked as if we had the game in the bag.
The bizarre ending came about as Dodgers suddenly found themselves in a much closer finish than had seemed possible. It transpired that St Peter's Dads had mixed up the number of overs bowled, so that they ended up granting themselves an extra six balls to chase down our total. The fact that we still managed to win by one run while bowling 21 overs was testament to a fine team performance and some excellent captaincy (plus a smart run out) by Ralph behind the stumps. Had we finished the game after 20 overs, we would have triumphed with our nerves intact.
Man of the Match votes: Abhi 7, Mike 3
Comments