Dulwich suffer late two-wicket defeat against Spencer to fall to second in the Division 1 Surrey Championship
BY JOHN LEWIS
Dulwich had a fluctuating match against Spencer, befitting the top two sides in Division 1 of the Surrey Championship, but fell to a two-wicket defeat in the last over.
Spencer put Dulwich in to bat and opened with spinner Freddie Horler, who took the first two wickets, both caught behind, in his first three overs. Opener James Schofield had batted freely at the other end and had already reached 24 off 17 balls when he was joined by Apoorv Wankhade with the score on 31 in the sixth over.
The pair added 127 in 21.3 overs for the third wicket, with Wankhade, as usual, taking the lead as he reached his eighth half-century of the season off 44 balls. Schofield was content to take a back seat but passed his own half-century before being bowled for 59, having faced 73 balls. Wankhade fell 14 runs later, having made 82 off 88 balls and taken his aggregate for the season to 827.
Sam Seecharan was now joined by skipper Ollie Steele in a stand of 73 in just seven overs for the fifth wicket. Seecharan led the way, racing to 49, off just 28 balls, before falling with the score on 245 in the 39th over.
The stage seemed set for an advance beyond 300, but the later batsmen rather lost their way. Will Jenkins struggled to score against tight bowling before falling with a score of 263 in the 43rd over. Harrison Perry made a breezy 11 off ten balls to take the score to 279 in the 47th, but his dismissal sparked a collapse in which the last four wickets went down for just seven runs. Three of them fell to catches in the deep, including Steele, who was ninth out, having also made 49 off 56 balls. Dulwich had lost their last six wickets for 41 runs in eleven overs, to be all out for 286 off the first ball of the 50th over.
The Spencer reply was built around a century by opener Hugo Darby which kept them up with the required rate. Harvey Booth picked up the first wicket in the fifth over with the score on 28, but Will Harris then joined in a stand of 47 in six overs for the second wicket before Jenkins had him caught behind by Steele for 25, off 22 balls. Darby was now joined in a stand of 88 in 18 overs for the third wicket with Richard Fleming before Ahmed Khan dismissed Fleming, who had played second fiddle in making 31 off 63 balls. Khan dismissed keeper Archie Macpherson two balls later, but Darby had already reached 90 by this time, and he advanced to his century in company with Horler. The pair added 50 in 6.3 overs before Jenkins bowled Darby for 129, off 97 balls, to make it 213-5 after 36.1 overs.
Spencer still needed 74 but moved steadily towards their target despite losing three more wickets. Felix Watson-Smyth dismissed Horler for 23 with the score on 235 off the last ball of the 40th over. Wickets for Booth with the score on 254 in the 45th over and Seecharan at 265 in the 46th left Spencer needing 22 off four overs.
Abid Jafri, with 29 off 36 balls, and skipper Gus Grant, with 13 at a run a ball, saw them home with three balls to spare. Steele used six bowlers, but only Watson-Smyth, with 1-42 off ten overs, and Khan 2-43 also off ten, went for less than five an over.
Spencer move back to the top of the table but are only three points ahead of Dulwich, who slip to second place.
PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD