Sat 24th May - 1st XI v Spencer

SPENCER 233 (47.1) lost to DULWICH 263-9 (50) by 30 runs

Dulwich bounced back from last week’s defeat in the Premier Division of the AJ Sports Surrey Championship with victory by 30 runs in a closely fought match at Spencer.

Dulwich were put in to bat on an overcast day, but started strongly as James Schofield and Harrison Perry put on 47 for the first wicket in 10.3 overs. Perry’s dismissal for 24, off 29 balls, sparked a change in fortune. Schofield fell in the next over for 25, off 39 balls, skipper Ollie Steele went for 2, newcomer Tim Raglan for 7, and overseas player KS Bharat for 25, off 37 balls. Dulwich had lost five wickets in 12.4 overs for just 40 runs.

Will Jenkins and Kaif Ramzan thus came together with the score on 87-5 after 23.1 overs, and put on a partnership of 111 in 18 overs for the sixth wicket, while both recording their highest scores for Dulwich. Jenkins was first to go, having made 59 off 64 balls. Ramzan went on to his own half-century and added 14 for the seventh wicket with Ahmed Khan (7 off nine), and 28 for the eighth with newcomer Parvez Amin (16 off 13), taking the score to 240-8 off 47.1. He then scored 13 of the next 15 runs in partnership with Jacob Emler, before falling to the first ball of the final over for 77, off 72 balls. This was the first time he had been dismissed in the Championship this season for an aggregate (and average!) of 143. Emler (7 off four) and Felix Watson-Smyth (1) added eight more to take the total to 263-9 after their 50 overs.

Dulwich launched their attack with the spin of Watson-Smyth and pace of Emler, and were rewarded when each took a wicket within the first three overs of the innings, both caught behind. The third wicket pair thus came together with the score on 8-2 and they put on 55 before Khan dismissed both of them in consecutive overs and picked up another in his next to reduce Spencer to 77-5 in the 19th over.

Will De Cani and Freddie Horler then rebuilt the innings as the sixth wicket pair emulated their opponents by putting on a century partnership. The stand had reached exactly 100 when Jenkins broke it by dismissing De Cani, who had played a solid support innings of 36 off 60 balls without hitting a boundary. Jenkins struck again in his next over, taking the vital wicket of Horler for 72, off 68 balls. At 189-7 Spencer still needed 75 off 10.5 overs, but although the tail end batsmen all made a contribution they were unable to maintain the rate as wickets fell. Khan picked up the eighth and finished with 4-41 off his ten overs, while Ramzan claimed the last two to dismiss Spencer for 233 after 47.1 overs. Ramzan finished with 2-38 off 6.1 overs while Jenkins took 2-37 off nine, and keeper Bharat took three catches and a stumping. Unusually the highest score in both innings had been in the seventies and had been made by the number seven batsman.

Dulwich have now won two of their first three matches and climb to third place in the table, just three points behind Spencer who remain top. Next week Dulwich have a home fixture against Sunbury, who finished seventh last year and who are currently sixth.