Sat 8th Aug - 1st XI v Old Rutlishians

OLD RUTLISHIANS 289-9 (50) lost to DULWICH 292-5 (48.3) by 5 wickets

A superb double century opening stand by Jacob Rhodes and Tommy Wright, both of whom made hundreds, enabled Dulwich to chase down a challenging total of 289 and claim a five wicket victory in their M.Zaidi & Co. Surrey Cricket Championship Division 1 match away to Old Rutlishians.

The home side elected to bat, but lost their first wicket in the third over when former Dulwich player Ed Kilbee was run out after both batsmen found themselves at the same end. Joe Payne took the second wicket in the sixth over, and then Tommy Clout took two wickets in the seventh, the fourth consecutive match in which he has taken two wickets in an over. Rutlishians found themselves on 35-4 after seven overs.

But although the change bowlers bowled tidily they could not exert the same pressure, and Usman Khan and Dan Wallis put on 110 in 23 overs for the fifth wicket. Wallis was caught off Payne for 40 off 81 balls, but Khan was already on 74, and he continued to his century before being caught off Harrison Perry for 104, off just 91 balls, with the score on 189. The seventh wicket pair added 37 until Lucas Parry removed both of them in the same over to reduce Rutlishians to 229-8 after 42. An enterprising ninth wicket stand added 55 before Payne broke it in the last over. Five more runs came off the last two balls before the innings closed on 289-9 off their 50 overs. Payne finished with three wickets, Clout and Parry two each, and Perry one, though Will O’Donnell was the most economical bowler with 37 runs off his ten overs.

Rhodes and Wright launched the Dulwich reply confidently, and were able to proceed at close to the required rate throughout their stand together. Fifty came up in the eighth over, 100 in the 16^th, and 200 in the 33^rd. Rutlishians rotated their seven bowlers throughout the stand, but to no avail. Rhodes made the early running with a succession of boundaries during the powerplay, but Wright caught him up in the forties and they raced neck and neck until Rhodes moved ahead to reach his century first. Wright moved through the nineties with a succession of singles before also reaching three figures. They were the first centuries for both players for Dulwich in the Championship.

The score had advanced to 229 when Wright was caught in the deep for 109. Rhodes followed in similar fashion in the next over for 111. Remarkably they had each faced 120 balls. O’Donnell and skipper Ollie Steele came together at 236-2, but Steele fell leg before at 247 and O’Donnell trod on his stumps at 264. Dulwich still needed 26 off 5.2 overs, but a whirlwind innings of 17 off nine balls by Benji Marsden, making his first team debut, put the result beyond doubt. Parry and keeper Chris Purshouse saw them to their five wicket victory with nine balls to spare.

This was Dulwich’s fourth win in a row, but the team above them also won, so they remain in third place. Next week they have a home tie against Camberley, who started the season well but have tailed off into seventh place. Dulwich got a winning draw in the first match between the sides.