Unfamiliar conditions (warm, sunny) greeted the teams at Addington 1743 for the semi-final of the NEC Cup. Skipper Jalen Gravesande won the toss and asked Dulwich to bat first. Despite missing four key players on holiday and facing accomplished opposition hopes were high with a final against Old Whits beckoning.

Dulwich made a good start as the bowlers struggled to find rhythm. At 54-0 after 9 overs Dulwich seemed set for a huge score, but medium-pacers Amal Babu and Will Honeyman pegged them back. Amal was again the pick of the bowlers with accuracy and swing, and bowled the only maiden of the innings. Mustapha Ali came on late and took the only wicket. 118-1 looked a good score.

The Addiscombe innings started dramatically. Jalen pulled the first ball for four, the second ball flicked the pad, a huge appeal went up, the umpire thought about it for ten seconds then gave it out! Pavan Rao then took on the openers hitting a quick-fire 26 off 18 balls, including some sumptuous cover-drives and a huge pulled six. A rush of blood saw him lose his stumps and then the Dulwich left-arm spinner took over. Bowling a teasing length he ripped the heart out of the middle order with 3-2 off four overs. Sachin Parkash (17) held things together and Akhil Dua (13) hit three consecutive fours to give the boys some hope. Stephen Hall and Michael Priest gave it a go at the end but the boys finished 15 runs short and a great cup run was brought to an end.

Man of the match: Pavan Rao