Dorking bounce back with crucial victory!

It was another baking hot day and skipper Toby Blood yet again won the toss, but this time elected to bat. It was not looking a good decision, with Dorking reduced to 4-2 with the dangerous Erasmus and Lister both falling to the impressive Lavender and Cottrell. Malden who were top of the league had their tails up and sensed a huge opportunity to kill the game early. Pitt and Douthwaite set about rebuilding the innings and did so without alarm. Both were positive and used their feet to put the Malden spinners under pressure. Douthwaite was out for 27 which included 3 fours and six. Nick Lee came to the crease and hit a very quick 30 before falling to Cottrell. Pitt carried on his merry way however and reached a fantastic 50 that included 8 fours and 1 six. The game turned again when a flurry of wickets left Dorking on 141-7. Ward and Blood were at the crease and both showed fantastic courage to battle through a difficult spell. The rate was slow to begin with, but time was off the essence. Ward looked very strong against spin and Blood struck the ball well off the seamers. Blood fell for a well made 20 and Dorking were 180-8. Corbett and Ward kept the scoreboard moving and started to put the foot on the accelerator, with Malden starting to look disheartened in the field. Ward played with fantastic application as he bullied the ball around the outfield. It was excellent to see and showed how deep we bat. Ward reached a superb 50 in testing circumstances with the final ball of the innings, as Toby declared the innings on 228-9 from 54 overs. In reply, Malden got off to a poor start with Douthwaite picking up a wicket in the third over of the innings. Hess and Young looked to rebuild and Hess in particular with extremely positively. His innings came to abrupt ending however, with man of the hour Ward having him caught on the cover boundary for 24. Erasmus came on before drinks and struck a crucial double blow with Harrison and Redmayne both falling leg before wicket. Dorking had their tails up and Corbett continued the momentum claiming the vital wicket of Young. 78-5 and the game was firmly in Dorking’s grasp. Malden knew a draw was a good result for them and they shut up shop with survival their only aim. Leg spinner Jack Myers was thrown the ball and looked a threat immediately. With overs slipping away, Myers struck a triple blow in quick succession to leave Dorking 2 wickets short of victory. Douthwaite returned with his tail up and finished the game with a burst of 2 wickets including a fantastic caught and bowled. A win that shows the real fight in this side. Half way through the season and Dorking are well placed in third. Onto Old Whitgiftians next week.

Updated 13:16 - 15 Oct 2019 by Chris Pike