Dulwich finish fifth in Surrey Championship Division 1

Dulwich completed their season in Division 1 of the Surrey Championship with victory by two wickets at home to Malden Wanderers to secure a fifth-place finish.

Dulwich put their opponents in to bat on a lively pitch and were rewarded with a devastating opening spell by Harvey Booth.

He bowled his 10 overs straight through, conceding just 17 runs and taking the first four wickets to reduce Wanderers to 44-4 in the 15th over.

Three of the wickets had been caught behind by Robbie Keaton, while the other fell to a catch at backward point.

Fellow opener Jacob Emler beat the bat on several occasions without much luck, and gave way after bowling six overs to Kaif Ramzan, who took two wickets, both bowled, in his third over to further reduce Wanderers to 51-6 after 18 overs.

Skipper Andrew Carson had held on grimly while the wickets fell around him, and now began to go on the attack. The seventh wicket fell to Ramzan, also bowled, with the score on 73, and Isaac Eustance claimed the eighth on 106. Carson became the ninth wicket to fall, caught at slip off Apoorv Wankhade, on 131, having held his side together with 58 off 98 balls. Ahmed Khan claimed the last wicket via a Keaton stumping to dismiss Wanderers for 144 in the 43rd over.

The Dulwich reply was led in cavalier fashion by 18-year-old opener Ollie Sykes, who put on 30 in 4.1 overs for the first wicket with Ollie Steele (8) and 14 for the second with Wankhade (10).

James Schofield joined him with the score on 44 after just 6.3 overs and the pair added 68 in 12 overs for the third wicket.

Dulwich seemed to be cruising to victory when the belated introduction of left-arm spinner Adam Dyson saw the momentum shift. He struck with his third ball, having Schofield caught behind for a solid 26, off 49 balls. Sykes fell in the next over, having scored 66 off just 50 balls. Skipper Chris Purshouse then held on at one end while Khan, Booth and Keaton all fell cheaply at the other.

Purshouse levelled the scores in company with Ramzan, but was bowled by the next delivery. Dulwich had lost six wickets in 13 overs for 32 runs, and it was left to Emler to hit the winning run.

Dulwich achieved their sixth victory in their last six completed matches. Three of these victories were against sides who finished above them in the table.

The last five had all been achieved with four or five players under the age of 20, which bodes well for the future. Two of these players, spin twins Khan and Ramzan, appeared regularly throughout the season.

Ramzan was the leading wicket taker with 28, while Khan took 25 and also contributed 354 runs. Sykes became available after the end of the school term and hit 253 runs at 50.60. Mention should also be made of overseas player Wankhade – despite missing four games in mid-season due to injury, he still amassed 603 runs at an average of 54.82.

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD