Ten drops will lose you matches, 3s learn

Ten drops. At least. Maybe 11 if you include one of the ones where the fielder inexplicably got nowhere near the ball. Twelve if you include the new skipper’s frail back-peddling effort on the boundary rope that he probably should have got a hand near. Oh, and a fumbled run-out. Well we were hardly going to win from there….

The 3s had done well with the ball. Shaking off concerns over a player shortage, Dulwich were being held under control by some tight bowling from the excellent Mobeen (1-40), rhythmical Wickham (1-39), frugal Cossey (1-26) and impressive leg-spinning debutant Abhi Lohokare (1-42).

The dropping epidemic was already well underway, but despite this, Dulwich had only made it to around 95-4 at the half way mark, and RPCC were arguably on top. Then the wheels came off. If you drop a biffer enough times, you will be biffed, and the unfortunate Brickley (1-42) and Gavigan (0-37) were the fall guys. Dulwich's number five smashed an ungainly 50 off not many, while their number 3 upped the tempo in his anchor role. The pair but on 100+, followed by an even quicker 50 partnership from the next blokes (by now losing count of how many chances we had squandered)... and when the dust settled Dulwich had racked up a well-over-par 238-5.

The Llama reply started reasonably well, though Dulwich took their chances and chipped away at the top order. Srikanth (39) got some sweet revenge with some lusty blows, Rambo (26) looked imperious before nicking off, and soon the visitors were 82-4. Mobeen (19) made a start and Gavigan dug in for his 25, but just as with the fielding, we seemed determined to give Dulwich a helping hand and gifted their weakest bowler a four-for. By the time the crocked JB (13*) and Wicksy (12) came to the crease it was only bonus points in mind, and we were finally dismissed for 176, well short and ruing what might have been if we'd held even half of those darn catches. Major improvement needed next week... and some solid practice on a Thursday night methinks!