Finally the rain relented, but unfortunately the opposition didn’t turn up, so a Twenty20 game of 8 a side was hastily arranged amongst those at the club. This gave some of the younger members an opportunity to play alongside several of the 1st XI players, who were suitably impressed by the batting, bowling and fielding of the LDCC youngsters.
On Monday, after the Under 12s had completed an excellent win against Chessington, a team called K+ replaced The Optomists. In drizzle, Kay Plus won the toss and elected to bat, with half their team missing. Dave Oldham rounded up the stragglers at Long Ditton Rec and guided them to LDCC. In difficult fielding conditions, LDCC restricted Kay Plus to 87 all out, with only Kumar really troubling the scorers, making a patient 27, which really held the innings together. He wasn’t even distracted by some itinerant from Thames Ditton (Dickie Bowden) chasing his dog across the pitch, which caused much amusement to those in the club house. James Chapple and Aneesh Chityal were the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 wickets apiece.
In reply, Long Ditton found batting difficult on a pitch that was drying out and also with some sharp bowling. Tom Bennett played a determined captains’ inning,s to reach his 50. He was ably supported by Carel du Plessis, who hit a huge six back straight back into the allotments. Captain Bennett finished the game in style with a 6, to win by 6 wickets.