Bowlers dig 3s out of the..

The 3s showed great character to register a much needed win over Dulwich this week, turning the match around from 87-7 to somehow win by a rather comfortable 37 runs. After two defeats in a row, this was a morale-boosting victory, and as has often been the case this year - it's mainly the bowlers to thank.

The Llamas got off to a cracking start, with Srikanth slapping 46 in his own inimitable style, while Fraser McGuiness (11 from plenty) provided some excellent ground fielding practice for the Dulwich ring. At 62-0 in the 11th over and Dulwich baking in the sun, life was good.

Fast forward an hour and the home side were in tatters at 87-7. Apparently their skipper had labelled us a "team lacking in confidence who've lost games from winning positions" and it was extremely annoying for that to be happening in such comprehensive style.

But. Hang on. When there's a rebuild to be done you can do a lot worse than have Steve Cross (20) and Nick Gavigan (20) at the crease. The pair put on a slow and sensible 44 partnership to pull us into "something to bowl at I suppose" territory. Both fell in quick succession and with Manoj and Brickers at the crease, the plan was to get Manny on strike and see how many he could bomb to get us up to a total.

This went completely out the window, with Brickers stealing singles off the final balls of the over and Manny unable to get it off the square whenever he did get the chance. Thankfully Brickers' latest sleepless Friday night had done something to his genetic code and he produced a destructive counterattack from number 11, smashing 6 glorious fours to make 27 to the delight of his teammates. Manoj played second fiddle with a surprisingly dull 8*. But it was another vital partnership (39) and the Llamas were the happier of the two sides having set an unlikely 170.

Dulwich came out swinging, but the Llamas rode the storm. Shayne Cossey (2-34 from 11) and Brickers (1-49 from 9) held their nerve and the visitors slipped from 35-0 to 36-3. From this point it definitely was game on.

Nick Gavigan (2-16 from 5) continued his ridiculous strike rate from the shaggy bushes end, forcing a nick and a superb diving catch from Fraser with his second ball to at that stage have taken 3 wickets in 5 balls across three matches from that end.

At the other end, Crossy squeezed the life out Dulwich with a frugal spell of 1-8 from 7 overs, by which time they had gone from buckaneering chasers to barn door blockers, hoping to block out 54 overs for a draw. In stepped action man Srikanth Vuppala to mop up the tail with 3-15 from five overs. Oh, and Manny bowled one maiden.