THE
Dorridge 204-6 lost by 4 wkts
On a gloriously sunny day, skipper
Terry Wheddon hoped to win the toss, bat first and set an intimidating target.
He got 2 out of 3 right (the toss again being beyond him).
After being put in, Dorridge started
steadily but cautiously against the usual accurate Grafton attack. The need not
to lose early wickets was vital, and it was pleasing to see out 12 overs before
John Wright was bowled by a shooter.
(Not that it was pleasing to see John bowled by a shooter !)
Mark Hewston was going well,
however, and with Kevin Wright took the score to 65 before both were out trying
to force the pace. Following the end of Ben Joyce’s niggardly spell (10 overs
for 12), Dorridge found runs much easier to come by. Jez Butt and Mickey Perrin
put on 63 for the fourth wicket with Jez in particular hitting boundaries all
round the ground.
Grafton became more and more
frustrated particularly as they believed they had Jez caught behind before he
scored. The departure of Mickey brought Andy Darby to the crease and he was in
very aggressive mood crashing 37 runs off considerably less balls.
Jez (56) & Andy took our score
to 204 but then both were out which only left cameos from Steve Tabb (0*) and
Mike Timmins (0*) to keep the crowd enthralled.
The statistics of the innings was
most interesting – we scored 65 off our first 25 overs, 139 off the remaining
20 overs of which 67 were scored off the last 6. A lesson in what can be
achieved when you have wickets in hand!
Grafton started their innings in
determined mood, but a wicket each for Dave Dutton and Steve Tabb reduced them
to 26-2 and Dorridge were looking towards a rare victory against this
opposition. The introduction of Simon Kirk soon dissipated such aspirations. He
scorched to a rapid 50 and with solid support from Ben Joyce, these two took
the score to 137 off only 20 overs.
Kirk (67) was then caught off Mickey
Perrin’s clever full toss, but Joyce continued reaching his 50 soon afterwards.
The introduction of Rob Moran saw further wickets fall but some hard hitting
from Darren Morris with 40* (he did the same to us in our earlier meeting) took
Grafton home with 4 wickets and 13 overs in hand.
Once again Dorridge failed against
this opposition but once again we fought hard and had a taste of a possible
victory. Lots of good things out of the defeat, particularly as we were able to
bat uninhibitedly and well. Third place looks like the best we can achieve, but
we need to continue to play well to do so.
Jez was elected man of the match
despite the controversial non-dismissal.