Dulwich second in Surrey Championship Division Two after victory over Chessington

BY JOHN LEWIS

Dulwich are second in Surrey Championship Division Two after five victories in their opening seven matches.

The South Londoners resisted a remarkable recovery by Chessington to win by two wickets on Saturday.

Dulwich won the toss and inserted their opponents on a damp pitch in overcast conditions, and reaped the rewards when a devastating opening spell by Hugo Peterson, who took four wickets in successive overs, reduced Chessington to 18-4 after 11 overs.

The recovery was led by number three bat Karl Thorns, who came in after 4.2 overs and stayed until the end of the innings, remaining undefeated with 62, scored off 121 balls. He took part in three major stands, starting with 36 for the fifth wicket with James Woolman, who was happy to hold up an end, contributing just four runs off 31 balls.

Niall Burke then dominated the sixth wicket stand, making 41 off 56 balls, in a partnership of 55 in 14 overs. Colin Watson also batted belligerently, making 27 off 31 balls in a stand of 39 in seven overs for the eighth wicket. Their joint efforts lifted the score to 164, with the last wicket falling to the third ball of the 50th over. Peterson finished with 4-19 off his 10 overs, while skipper Jon Lodwick, Nick Gunning and Frankie Brown took two wickets each.

Only three batsmen in the Chessington innings had scored more than five runs, whereas the Dulwich batsmen contributed all down the order, with none of them being dismissed for less than seven.

Ollie Steele and Lachlan Skinner resisted the opening salvo by Burke and Watson to post 43 on the board in 17.4 overs before Steele fell to skipper Luke Barnard for 21.

The batsmen continued to find scoring difficult as Barnard bowled his 10 overs straight through to take 1-17, while Conor McElligott bowled 10 overs for 28 runs and the wickets of Skinner for 27 and Paul Selvey-Clinton for 13.

Brown was the fourth wicket to fall, having made 24, with the score on 109 in the 39th over. Mark Marfani proceeded to play a composed innings while wickets fell at the other end. Will Bancroft went for seven to make it 116-5 after 40 overs, Lodwick for 10 at 133-6 in the 44th, George Pearson for seven at 142-7 after 45, and Peterson for eight at 157-8. Gunning joined Marfani with eight still needed off 17 balls, but it took just five more balls to secure the victory with two overs to spare.

Marfani finished with 37 not out off 37 balls, while Gunning had one off one.

The format changes to timed games as Dulwich entertain Walton-on-Thames, who are fourth with four wins.