Loft ton in vain as Dulwich make hay

Having hit the ejector button on his own brother's stag do in Nottingham that morning to make the game, skipper Ireland's day got off to a decent start when he won the toss and inserted the visitors Dulwich, who had been skittled for 90 the week before. It went significantly downhill from there.

Elliot Lodge (2-36 from 10) bowled with good pace and bounce and got an early reward with Dulwich at 20-1, but opener Lister and number 3 Tulsani got through Lodge and Toby Briggs' new ball spell and began to play with increasing freedom thanks to some pretty dodgy bowling and fielding from the Llama support staff. By the time Lodge was recalled and removed Tulsani, Dulwich were 141-2 with 20 overs remaining.

A slow-medium beamer - somehow deemed legal - from the increasingly discombobulated Ireland (1-25 from 5) removed Lister, but Dulwich's batting line-up continued to dominate for the next hour or so, and a big score was inevitable. By this time Ireland's brain had turned to mush and he'd handed over field placements to his vice skipper Briggs in a futile attempt to restore order and stem the tide.

Briggs, coming back from a long lay off with injury, completed his allotted overs with 2 late wickets to record a creditable 2-35 from 10 among the carnage, while Manoj Rajarethinam also claimed 2-58 from his 10.

Dulwich had set an imposing 270 to win, but Brickers' track was playing very well and there was always hope if one or two batsmen could get in and someone could go on to score a ton. That happened. Unfortunately, barely anyone else got out of single figures, so it was always an uphill struggle.

The old guard of Paul Fisher (15), Simon Brewis (5) and David Loft, did a good old fashioned job of seeing off the new ball, but Llamas were behind the rate at 52-2 from 17 overs when Ireland joined Loft at the crease. The pair hit the accelerator button and put on 88 in quick time, bringing the home side into contention. For a while, the game plan appeared to be working, and Dulwich were getting twitchy.

Ireland fell for 43 to a tight stumping ("I wasn't sure about that one," the keeper said after. Grrrr) prompting a collapse from 140-2 to 162-6. Hope was fading but in stepped good old Mr. Briggs, who hit a remarkable slapped six over cover to open his boundary account.

Loft brought up another masterful ton (well, the clap came at 101 due to Elliot's piss-poor scoring), barely breaking sweat despite scampering singles like an 18-year-old in among his 14 boundaries.

Briggs and Loft had again brought the Llamas back into the game, putting on 50 to take us to 212-6 with a stiff-but-gettable 78 needed from the last 10 overs. Briggsy fell for 25, Loft soon after for 107, and just like that it was over, all out for 215.

Not the best day at the office, certainly in the field, but good fight shown with the bat to take it relatively deep.