Dalby Dismantle Third XI Before Rain Comes Down

Old Dalby defeated Ellerslie’s 3rd XI to overtake them on the league table in the Division H fixture on Saturday.

The match was curtailed to 36 overs a side on the back of persistent showers in the morning. Captain Jack Webb won the toss and elected to bowl first on a green wicket at Old Dalby. He opened the bowling as Joakim Gant and Will Gent set off. The batsmen exploited the short square boundaries repeatedly to plunder 61 runs in the first six overs. Laura Wilson created an early opportunity in her second over when Gant mistimed her into the air and straight to backward point, but the catch was put down. Although Ellerslie bowled with pace, the batsmen harnessed this celerity to make the fielders watch as the ball raced to the fence.

Webb brought Mihir Patel into the attack at the end of the 8th over as the scoreboard read 73/0, and the 12-year-old spinner rose to the occasion. Bowling with consistent precision, Patel curbed the run rate immediately, conceding merely a run in his first over and another in his second. However, the batsmen pressed on relentlessly taking their side past 100 in the 16th over and reached their fifties soon after. They survived a lively spell from Oliver Jenkinson during their opening partnership of 142 runs before Jenkinson caught Gent at long on as Ethan Scott took the first wicket in the 24th over. Then, Patel bowled Ben Wass to complete his nine overs at an impressive economy of 3.45.

With 10 overs left, Wilson came back to bowl the first and only maiden over in the entire innings. After Gant brought up his ton, Webb returned to dismiss David Greaves on 17 in the 32nd over. The hosts reached 200 three balls later, but Wilson reigned them in with three quick wickets in five deliveries. She had Alex Purcell caught in her penultimate over, and then bowled centurion Gant before smashing Tom Allen’s stumps. The innings was concluded by a tidy over from Webb in which he bowled Michael Coulter for nought to contain Dalby to 240/7.

Ominous clouds darted into the sky after lunch as Tom Davey and Nadeem Akhtar strode out to chase a tall order in unfavourable conditions. They began cautiously rotating the strike at the start of the innings, and Akhtar found the boundary soon. But, the first wicket fell early on when Simon Silverwood bowled Davey on 4 in the 5th over. Martin Foulds batted with his signature brand of defiance while the belligerent Akhtar kept the required run-rate in check. Akthar hammered Silverwood for consecutive boundaries before sending the ball straight into the nets in a productive 7th over that took Ellerslie to 44/1.

However, Dalby slowed the batsmen down in the following overs as Akhtar entered the forties. The scoreboard was on 57/1 in the 13th over when Silverwood crippled the chase. He bowled Akhtar on 47 before dismissing Alex Fortescue and Alex Noon respectively in a similar fashion as the drizzle grew stronger. Matthew Lindley got Patel in the next over to bring Sachin Mathivanan to the crease. For 8 overs, Foulds and Mathivanan resisted the hosts, but David Greaves eventually bowled Foulds on 14. Skipper Webb was in next and he pushed the fielders with his rapid running till Mathivanan threw his wicket to silly mid-off, having scored 1 from 32 balls. Wilson gave Ellerslie reason to cheer with a couple of majestic strokes to the ropes. However, Greaves bowled Webb on 8 before an equivocal runout decision ended Wilson’s knock. Four balls later, Jenkinson was caught and Dalby won by 148 runs with 7 overs to spare just as the heavens opened.

The 3rd XI will hope for finer weather when they host Chilwell at East Leake next Saturday.