Dulwich 226-9 declared (66 overs) lost to Reigate Priory 227-4 (44.4 overs) by 6 wickets
A blistering century by former Somerset batsman Simon Ecclestone whose 114 not out came off only 88 balls doomed Dulwich to a six wicket defeat by Surrey Championship leaders Reigate Priory who thus avenged their early season defeat.
Put into bat, Zoheb Sharif and Steve Hale started confidently, putting on 48 for the first wicket in sixteen overs. Hale’s dismissal for 32 off 48 balls was followed by those of Sharif whose 22 had taken 85 balls (including 34 balls stuck on 8) and Ed Matten for 15 off 42 balls. Raza Ali Dar looked in prime form, hitting 20 off 20 balls before being well caught in the 33rd over with the score on 97.
Richard Farrow (87 balls) and Chris Thompson (76 balls) then added 95 for the fifth wicket in 26 overs before falling within five balls of each other. Both scored 46. Skipper Mark Kelly supervised the addition of 30 runs off 30 runs of the last seven overs before being run out off the last ball. He had made 25 off 21 balls as Dulwich closed on 226-9 off their sixty six overs. Dulwich batsmen could reflect that they had made a promising start again but the total did not seem enough. In fact a number of batsmen had seemed to gift their wickets with the main beneficiary being Stuart Hume who finished with 5-55 off 18 overs.
The Reigate innings got off to a bad start when Arshad Iftikhar dismissed skipper Alex Richards in his third over as part of an impressive spell of 1-17 in nine overs. Jamie Pettigrew chipped in with the wicket of Matt Bennett who had ridden his luck to score 20 off 27 balls. Bennett’s dismissal at 27-2 brought in Simon Ecclestone who proceeded to dominate the innings and win the match. He was joined by Surrey 2nd X1 batsman Chris Murtagh who hit 42 off 97 balls in a stand of 111 for the third wicket. Former Victoria batsman, Michael Foster carried on with the attack with Ecclestone hitting 20 off 24 balls in a stand of 39 for the fourth wicket. Finally Whitgift schoolboy Jason Roy with 21 not out off only 16 balls then stayed with Ecclestone in an unbeaten partnership of 50 in five overs as Priory romped home to a comfortable six wicket win with ten overs to spare.
Of the Dulwich bowlers only Sharif with 21 conceded off his first nine overs exercised any control after Iftikhar’s opening spell. With eight games to play, Dulwich are bottom of the league and need to find some victories. On Saturday they entertain newly promoted Cobham Avorians in the Shepherd Neame sponsored Surrey Championship Premier League. |
