The 2025 campaign to retain the Ken Block Trophy began with zeal on a breezy June night. Following a few successive years of victory over our rivals, we walked out with an attitude of quiet confidence.
Dodgers got off to a slightly slow start with the bat, as NJ fell for only 13 and Mike found the boundary less often than he’d like. A slight collapse in the middle order saw Dave, debutant Dilpreet, and Brendan lose three wickets for only 6 total runs, with Hoggins’ crisp cover drive accounting for the majority. Luckily there was plenty of runs to come down the order, as Mike, accelerating in style, and subsequently all three of Charlie, Satya, and Ralph made their way to retirement at 25* (or beyond). Stockers and Abhi also chipped in with fast contributions during the final few overs, helping us reach a respectable total of 165.
Superstars struggled early and often in reply, consistently losing wickets before any batters could establish themselves. Abhi and Charlie opened and inflicted damage almost immediately; Charlie bowled batsmen one, two, and three while Abhi bowled number four and had Gary caught off a sharp take from Brendan, surprised to find himself fielding at mid off but just about holding on. Satya came in with a mind to wrap things up quickly, and had two fast wickets: one LBW followed by a brilliant catch by Matt above his head in the covers. Brendan had a cameo over in which he took his first Dodgers wicket, thanks to Dilpreet comfortably catching Boulby at mid-on, and with much warm celebration from the team. Satya returned to clean bowl two more for good measure and so the game finished with the sun still relatively high in the sky. Extras top scored for Superstars, at 13, as they managed a total of just 40 runs.
This did mean both innings concluded before Chairman John could contribute with either bat or ball, but he made up for it by staying sharp in the field, and perhaps more importantly, getting in a round at the bar.
Man of the match: Satya 4, Brendan 3, Charlie 2, Ralph 2
(NJ tried to split his vote four ways, and Mike went 50/50, but I’ve taken the executive decision to use rounded whole numbers here instead for ease)
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