Heartbreak for Dinton as Lord's dream is over for another year

Put into bowl first, Dinton’s seamers struggled for rhythm before Kelvin Burrows got the visitors a foothold in the game.

The introduction of Najam Ur Rehman, 3-34 from nine overs, and Tim Brooker, 1-36, slowed the scoring as wickets fell at fairly regular intervals.

At 153-7, Dinton were in an excellent position, however a late rally, including 41 from Wren and late hitting by the lower order, enabled the hosts to reach 186-9 from 40 overs.

Cheered on by excellent travelling support who made the long journey to Folkestone, Dinton overcame the loss of Ash Smith in the second over of their reply to build a solid second-wicket stand.

Brennan Gough and Faisal Al appeared unruffled and regularly found the boundary as the score raced to 84 without further loss.

When Gough was LBW to Murrell for 48, and Ali followed in the next over for 34, Dinton’s middle order frailties were exposed again and irresponsible shot selection saw the score go from 84-1 to 114-7.

Tim Brooker (35) and Alan Massey started to rebuild, but when Massey and Najam Ur Rehaman were removed within an over of each other, Dinton were staring down the barrel on 143-9.

Young Will Fisher joined Brooker and batted with excellent maturity, knocking the ball around and inching Dinton towards the target.

At the start of the final over the pair had added 37 for the final wicket and seven were required for an unlikely win.

It took an unbelievable, one handed diving catch by the Sibton wicket keeper to remove Brooker and finally end Dinton’s dream of Lord’s for another year. They fell agonisingly six runs short.

Another excellent run in the competition, Dinton will hope to take the lessons learnt from this tough loss and go further next year.

Captain Neil Roberts had a special mention for all the supporters who followed throughout the competition which was massively appreciated by the whole team.

On Saturday, Dinton stretched their lead at the top of Division One with a three-wicket defeat of Banbury IIs.

Banbury batted first and got off to a solid start before Ryan Chapman removed both openers in quick succession.

Useful contributions from Megson and Brabham aided the total which was underpinned by 59 from Lambden.

The home bowlers stuck to their task admirably in the heat, however, and broke partnerships at crucial times to restrict Banbury to a handy 196 .

Top performers with the ball were captain Adam Mould with 3-14, Ryan Chapman (3-37) and Tim Brooker (2-26).

Brennan Gough and Ash Smith (44) got the Dinton innings off to a solid start, but two quick wickets by Shortt pinned the home side back.

A steady 42 from the returning Phil Arnold steadied the ship, ably supported by Neil Roberts who made a sensible 37 not out, before some big hitting by Kelvin Burrows (22) guided Dinton most of the way home in quick time, eventually winning with three wickets and 13 overs to spare.

Dinton face a trip to Leighton Buzzard this Saturday.