The less said about this game the better. And from your trusty match reporter, not exactly known for being concise, that's a rare claim. Apologies if not everyone gets a shoutout below as usual, but I am fairly confident you won't mind.
Roehampton's eleven looked suspiciously different from years past, and sure enough their new gun bat raced to his 52* off of only 33 balls, destroying even the good deliveries from opening bowlers Will and Jack. One six went above the tree line... and even the 'weaker' players batting at one and three finished on 26 and 25, respectively. Those wickets, courtesy of spells from our first change bowlers (a Satya LBW and a quicker ball from NJ), had us briefly back in the game- especially combined with another NJ wicket where Will took a great one-handed catch at full speed, covering some ground in the process, that any pro would've been proud of. Sadly after that moment, at 107-3, Roehampton proceeded relatively comfortably to 261-4. In the mix we had a tidy spell from Stockers, including a delectable maiden over (which he thinks qualifies as the only one of our innings, since NJ switching from spin to pace should disqualify him- no comment from me on this dispute), four overs from Sudhir and another two from Aamir- who was unlucky to be dropped by Brendan running in from the boundary and wearing the red mark of shame on his whites for his efforts. Dave and Jack took a bowled wicket apiece in the closing stages, following two more retirements, but Roehampton still reached the fairly lofty total of 267.
Could we manage a competitive reply? In short, no. Pacey young bowler Oz Power (great name tbf) bowled through his full seven-over spell, much to the chagrin of all Dodgers unlucky enough to face him, and finished with figures of 3-18 with three (!) maidens. He took the wickets of both of our top scorers, NJ (21) and Sat (20), as well. The other opener scalped both Mike and Will, so when Hamad came on to bowl at first change we were in dire straits. Luckily this lad was just as good as the rest, and despite cameos from Dodgers debutant Sudhir, Jack, and Dave, he took four wickets of his own in just four overs bowled. Five, if you count the LBW that his teammates rejected, only to bowl Stockers with the next ball. Six if you count his run out of Brendan for the final wicket- better that than fall to a seam bowler who switched to wonky leg spin for banter.
A disappointing 183-run loss in the end then. And if the loss wasn't bad enough, the manner in which the oppo went about it (including some bizarrely out of place sledging for a fun Sunday fixture, not to mention bowling through Oz) truly left a bad taste in our mouths. Mike couldn't help himself from a few words to their skipper at the end, so who knows what side we'll see in this fixture next year? Also, amusingly if unbelievably, we capitulated so quickly in the chase that they decided to have a scrimmage amongst their own side after the game, proving that they'd rather play with themselves than us.
Man of the Match
Jack 3
Will 3
Sat 3
NJ 2
Editor's note that NJ switched votes from Sat to Will since he like the symmetry of three players finishing on equal votes- should they end up tied in the end of season tally I think Sat should therefore get the tiebreaker
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