As the old saying goes, "the best offence is a good defence." Or something like that... Dodgers certainly made a courageous effort to prove the adage true in our showing against the Defra All Stars.
To save the blemishes of several Dodgers batters, and to keep the match summary concise, our opening innings can best be summarised as sub-par. We were all out with several overs to spare and only 71 runs to our name. Special mentions for top scorer Jatinder (stabilising the middle order against collapse) and opener Dave (surviving longer than most) as the only two to break into double-digit scores amidst other disappointintments. Extras was our third best score; nothing more to report here.
Low morale threatened to derail our defence of what felt a measly total. Captain Ralph wouldn't stand for it, however, and his words to bolster us as we took to the field seemed to prove prophetic when Abhi opened the bowling with a beautiful wicket maiden over. Amit, on debut for Dodgers, was slightly more expensive, but Abhi took another to round out a superb spell. Satya and Jack arrived at first change to keep the pressure on, and the three key wickets between them kept the opposition pinned back. At the halfway stage they found themselves almost unbelievably behind the required rate! Tight fielding from Dodgers saw everyone bar Brendan (contending with some worryingly territorial Egyptian geese in the outfield) sharply stopping any singles, with Ralph notching some key stops behind the stumps and Aamir busy chasing the odd shot which pierced the ring. Our second change brought NJ and Matt into the attack: both bowled valiantly but a set Defra pair was growing in confidence and ultimately claimed victory on a decisively-hit six which landed well into the neighbouring pitch.
Although we may not have troubled the sunset, concluding comfortably early, we could at least walk off with our heads held high knowing we had pushed a strong side despite such a low total. Perhaps a few more runs on the board would've been enough to represent a real threat but let it be said that Dodgers are a side more than happy to go down swinging!
Man of the Match votes: Abhi 6, Satya 3, Ralph 1
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