NORMANDY 213-8 (50)
lost to
DULWICH
215-7 (43.5) by 3 wickets
A magnificent century by overseas player Apoorv Wankhade powered Dulwich to their third successive victory in Division 1 of the AJ Sports Surrey Championship, beating Normandy by three wickets. John Lewis reports
With five first team regulars unavailable, Dulwich fielded an inexperienced side containing four players making their first team championship debuts for the club.
Normandy won the toss and batted first, and the openers put on 50 in 14 overs before James Ronay, one of the debutants, made the breakthrough. But the second wicket pair continued in the same vein, reaching 99 off 25 overs at the drinks interval and seemingly poised for an onslaught afterwards.
But the innings never picked up momentum as Harvey Booth, Ahmed Khan, Kaif Ramzan, and newcomers Harrison Perry and former Bank of England all-rounder Henry Goodwin kept a tight grip.
Khan struck in the first over after the break and Booth took the third wicket three overs later. Perry took the fourth, and a run out in the next over made it 141-5 after 35 overs.
The sixth wicket pair added 51 in 11 overs before another run out made it 192-6. Booth took the seventh wicket in the penultimate over, bowling obdurate opener Tom Haynes who had battled for 129 balls for 91 despite being restricted in the latter stages by a hamstring injury. Khan took another wicket in the last over to see Normandy close on 213-8 off their 50 overs.
Booth and Khan had taken two wickets each, Ronay and Perry one each, and the fourth newcomer, keeper Dan Damley-Jones, held two catches.
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The Dulwich reply got off to a disastrous start when Perry fell to the third ball of the innings, but this only brought in Wankhade. He got under way with a four off a no ball in the next over, followed by a six off the following free hit.
He had already reached 20 (out of 22) when Ramzan fell to the last ball of the third over. He continued to score freely while his partners resisted solidly and tried to give him as much of the strike as possible.
He enjoyed partnerships of 35 for the third wicket with skipper Ollie Steele, who made 9; 51 for the fourth wicket with Karim Marcelle (14); 42 for the fifth with Khan (10); and 28 for the sixth with Booth, who also made 10.
He had added 18 for the seventh wicket with Tom Bishop when he unexpectedly gave a sharp return catch. His first 50 had come off 39 balls, his hundred off 82, and his final score of 128 off 114.
With 18 still needed Bishop took over the main scoring role in company with Goodwin, and the pair saw their side to victory with 6.1 overs to spare. Bishop finished with 25 not out and Goodwin 4 not out. It was truly a good win!
Dulwich are one of three sides who have won their first three matches and who sit together at the top of the table. Their next game is at home to Malden Wanderers, who have also won all three games.
