A much tougher test for Beckenham in the second game of the season, away against a very handy Dulwich team.

Dulwich batted first and on a steady pitch, with a bit of low bounce, started well, despite decent opening spells from Laila and Ted.

The top three batsmen kept the scoreboard ticking over, with the trio all getting past 25 before retiring. There were some tidy overs from Oliver and Myles, and Sanjay and Laila each picked up a wicket, clean-bowled. The innings finished 118-2, which looked a decent score for that pitch.

In response, Beckenham were solid with both Vasco and Sanjay reaching the 20s. But some sharp bowling, and impressive fielding kept the squeeze on. The 50 came up but with overs running out, the incoming batters had to come in swinging in order to get near the target. The innings finished 78-5, and the Becks fell short by 40 runs.

How do we come back? Let’s get more aggressive with our batting by running the singles and not letting the bowlers settle into a groove. And in the field, let’s get on the front foot by stopping the singles and backing our bowlers when they bowl a good ball. We go again….