Hello and welcome back to the Ken Block trophy- 2026 edition! To prove that there's still plenty of bonhomie between rivals Dodgers and Superstars, Karan and I warmed up in the nets with two of our opposition. Although perhaps warm is the wrong word for a 32 degree evening where most of us were slick with sweat just walking out to the picnic tables, or in my case continually smudging the scorebook.
For reasons unbeknownst to me, but for which I am grateful for the sake of a simpler match report writeup, Supes insisted that batters should retire at 50* rather than the usual 25*. This gave Will the chance to face a daunting 31 deliveries- unheard of time at the crease for our rapid ramper. But he didn't disappoint as he raced towards a chanceless 51* including 10 fours to all parts of the ground and plenty of good running between the wickets. Jack was his opening partner, sticking around for a more classic strike rate just under 100 as he made 43 before being caught at extra cover trying to accelerate in the final overs. Satya came in at three, punching a pair of fours and tonking one monster six before also being caught for 23 (15) by Suleman off the bowling of James- nearly a carbon copy of Jack's wicket. Karan at four and Ed at five saw us over the line in the final over, adding an important 12 runs between them and finishing with two well-run twos off the final two balls.
Dodgers took the field in (at this point) almost pleasant conditions to defend 151, noting that the distant boundaries of Pitch A might make high scores challenging. Supes' opening pair of Arun and Vijay quickly dampened spirits as they got off to a blistering start, racing to nearly 30 in three overs and frustrating bowlers Abhi and Fin. Just when it looked like their punishing runs might get the better of us, Abhi beautifully bowled Vijay- that breakthrough was followed by a strong conclusion to Fin's spell. I will take this moment to begrudgingly mention Dodgers less-than-stellar fielding, where misfields in the ring gifted a fair few bonus runs to Arun (not that he needed further encouragement either). And there was a spilled chance or two in there as well. Eventually Arun retired at 51* with his side in a strong position, ahead of the required rate (they were on roughly 75 after 8 overs as I recall) and with wickets to spare. But without his anchor those wickets started to tumble and the run rate slipped. First change introduced Will, who followed up his batting prowess with a caught & bowled, comfortably taking a nearly-blind catch without his glasses. Chairman Stockers took up his post at the other end, finding a potent line and length and bowling both batsmen 4 & 5 to leave our rivals teetering. Both bowlers conceded only 16 runs in their respective three-over spells. With eight overs remaining Ralph brought on Aamir and Satya at second change, trusting that they would contain our opposition and keep the required rate climbing. Aamir produced a tidy four-over spell with a classy bowled wicket of his own while Satya bagged two more- one caught by Jack and the dangerous Barry edging behind to Ralph. So despite only requiring about 6 an over at Arun's retirement, Superstars needed a mammoth 22 off the final over by the time they got there. They knocked off a few, maybe a few more than we'd like, to finish on 143 and hand us a win by 8 runs.
So Dodgers take the opening fixture of the KBT this summer, continuing our good run of form in this all important fixture- well done lads! Plenty of time for banter back at the pavilion, where our contingent stayed on until the bar was closed and the lights were killed- stay tuned for our next showdown in August's afternoon follow-up.
Man of the match
Will 9
Aamir 1
Matt 1
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