CRANLEIGH 139 (38) lost to DULWICH 265 (49.5) by 126 runs
Dulwich took a huge stride towards gaining promotion from Division 1 of the AJ Sports Surrey Championship by travelling to Cranleigh and defeating the third placed side by 126 runs.
Dulwich chose to bat, and after the loss of Harrison Perry in the first over James Schofield and Rob Gibson put on 59 in 13.2 overs for the second wicket. Gibson’s dismissal for 32, off 40 balls, brought together Schofield and Apoorv Wankhade, who proceeded to put together a century stand for the third wicket for the second successive week. Wankhade took the bowling apart, scoring 71 off just 50 balls, out of a stand of 114 in 15 overs which took the total to 175 in the 30th over. This was his ninth score of 50 or more this season and takes his aggregate to 898. Schofield fell 13 runs later having accumulated steadily in reaching his third half century of the season and taking his score to 69, off 98 balls. The later batsmen could not sustain the momentum, but a breezy innings of 33 off 29 balls by Sam Seecharan and a late cameo of 24 off 30 balls by Kaif Ramzan helped keep the scoreboard moving. The innings ended with a run out off the penultimate ball to see Dulwich all out for 265.
If Cranleigh were to chase down this formidable total they would need a substantial innings from one or both of their star batsmen. But both were gone within the first three overs of the innings. Jack Scriven fell to a diving catch by Ahmed Khan off Felix Watson-Smyth off the last ball of the second over, and South African overseas player Clyde Fortuin was bowled by Harvey Booth in the next over. This virtually assured victory for Dulwich, as the remaining batsmen were unable to score quickly enough or stay long enough to challenge their score. Skipper Lewis Bedford battled gamely for 45 off 81 balls before becoming the sixth wicket to fall with the score on 96 in the 28th over, but Max Bell, with 22 not out off 29 balls, was the only other batsman to score more than 16. The others were steadily picked off one by one to see Cranleigh dismissed for 139 after 38 overs. Watson-Smyth finished with 4-33 off nine overs, while Booth had 3-17 off eight, and Ramzan, Khan and Wankhade took a wicket apiece.
Spencer also won, so Dulwich are still in second place. But with just three matches to go they have opened up a lead of 39 points over Cranleigh, who remain third. Next week Dulwich have a home fixture against Valley End, who won the first match between the sides but are now languishing in eighth place.
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