SANDERSTEAD 128 (40.2) lost to DULWICH 168 (49.4) by 40 runs
Scorecard link https://dulwich.play-cricket.com/website/results/3754519
Dulwich staged a remarkable recovery to defeat bottom club Sanderstead by 40 runs and move into second place in Division 2 of the AJ Fordham Surrey Championship.
Dulwich were put into bat in difficult batting conditions amid very high winds, to face the pace of George Jackson and Nicky Wilson. Skipper Jackson struck with the second ball of the match in bowling Veer Patel. Sam Ellison fell to Wilson, but Chris Purshouse, who batted purposefully in making 18 off 30 balls, had added 23 in 4.2 overs with keeper Will Bancroft when Gregg McLean removed them both in his first over. Nick Gunning kept the scoreboard moving by making 21 off 30 balls, mostly in company with Elliot Miles, but both fell to Sandeep Kuckreja to make it 76-6 after 20 overs. Salaar Waqar and acting skipper Jon Lodwick added 28 before Waqar was caught behind for 15, and Simon Harwood fell two overs later to leave Dulwich precariously placed on 106-8. Six runs later Lodwick edged Simon Carter straight into the hands of the slip fielder, who dropped it. This miss was to change the course of the match.
Lodwick had been joined by Sahir Hussain, who gave him crucial support by defending obdurately in making 4 off 30 balls, while his skipper, who had spent 53 balls over his first 14 runs, now went on the attack. The stand had put on 47 in 12 overs when Hussain was caught behind off Kuckreja. Alex Gledhill helped Lodwick add 15 for the last wicket before the captain was caught in the deep to give Kuckreja his fourth wicket with two balls of the innings remaining. Lodwick’s 52, off 97 balls, was his second half century of the season and only the fourth by a Dulwich batsman this year. The last two wickets had added 62 runs to lift the score to 168 and give the bowlers something to defend.
Sanderstead decided to hold back their best batsmen, but the ploy backfired spectacularly. Lodwick conceded just six runs off his first four overs, while Hussain was even more miserly in starting with four consecutive maidens. Lodwick then made a double bowling change with devastating effect as Harwood took two wickets in his first over and Gunning struck with his first ball to leave Sanderstead reeling on 6-3 after ten overs. Carter helped Jackson add 33 for the fourth wicket before falling to Miles for 11, and the captain could only watch as three more batsmen succumbed as they declined to 78-7 after 27 overs.
Jackson was then joined by Esmatullah Zadran in a stand of 42 for the eighth wicket that threatened to put his side back in the game, but Jackson’s dismissal, caught behind off Lodwick for 47 off 86 balls, signalled the end. Miles took a return catch in the next over and last man McLean was run out to leave Zadran stranded on 37 off 49 balls. Sanderstead were all out for 128 to give Dulwich an unlikely victory by 40 runs. The wickets were shared around, with Lodwick, Harwood, Miles and Gunning taking two each and Hussain one.
With Bank of England and Stoke D’Abernon both losing, Dulwich leapfrog both of them into second place. They have another crucial match next week when they play host to Stoke D’Abernon, who have now slipped into fourth place 12 points behind them.