Sat 5th Sept - Ist XI v Weybridge

DULWICH 262-1 (44.3) beat WEYBRIDGE 258 (49.1) by 9 wickets

A superb unbroken second wicket partnership of 240 powered Dulwich to a convincing nine wicket victory over Weybridge in their final M.Zaidi & Co. Surrey Cricket Championship fixture of the season. But Malden Wanderers’ defeat of leaders Sunbury meant that Malden would take the second promotion slot and restrict Dulwich to third place in the table.  

Dulwich elected to field but saw the Weybridge openers put on 38 off the first six overs before Will O’Donnell took a return catch with his first ball. The second wicket pair added 60 before Akito Jacques struck in the 17^th over, but Weybridge still seemed set for a commanding score. However Jacques, O’Donnell, Tommy Clout and Lucas Parry all kept up the pressure and steadily worked their way through the Weybridge batting, reducing them to 224-9 in the 46^th over. A spirited last wicket partnership of 34 in four overs lifted them to 258, with the final wicket falling off the first ball of the 50^th over. The wickets were shared around, with Clout and O’Donnell each taking three and Jacques and Parry two each. Skipper Ollie Steele held five catches behind the stumps.

Jacob Rhodes and Peter Frettingham launched the Dulwich reply, and the score had reached 22 in the fifth over, assisted by a stream of wides, when Rhodes fell for two. Tommy Wright joined Frettingham, and the pair proceeded steadily at a rate of around five an over for 20 overs before increasing the pace to reach the target with 5.3 overs to spare. 18 year old Wright took the lead, reaching his fifty off 49 balls and his hundred off 90, before finishing on 137 off 122 balls, his second century of the season. Frettingham played the anchor role at first, taking 93 balls over his first fifty, before accelerating to reach 93 off 133 balls, his highest score for the Club.

So Dulwich’s promotion hopes foundered in the rain at Malden last week, but they still won six of their last seven completed matches. Kiwi overseas player O’Donnell stood out with 739 runs and 28 wickets, but he was well supported with both bat and ball throughout the side. This will hopefully stand them in good stead for another promotion push next season.

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