Anticipation was the word of the day as the clock ticked past 17:29 on a grey Friday evening. Would Reay arrive on time after setting a 17:30 arrival time? Would Conall turn up on crutches leaving us a player short? Would Tratalos arrive before twilight? Would Leinster CC field some first team ringers? Would each team manage to get through 15 eight ball overs without the help of car headlights.

At 17:40 we were hospitably greeted by the Leinster captain, Steve Altard. After acknowledging that we were still at least four players short, he kindly offered to take his team into the field. A makeshift batting order was vocalised and Gupta and Reay donned some colour as umpires and accompanied Goldstein and Tan out to the middle. What the umpiring pair witnessed was a opening partnership to remember for the ages. Goldstein made full use of his free first ball, allowing the bails to absorb some of his nerves before slogging his second ball straight down the ground and smashing his season best score by running three. Tan, showed very few nerves, getting his eye in and then putting away four boundaries on his way to a deserved retirement.

Hill was next to the crease and after a slow start the new partnership blossomed into a series of safe singles. The partnership was interrupted by a flurry of rain showers, forcing on the covers and sending both teams into the changing rooms. With daylight fading and dark clouds circling, the captains optimistically agreed to reduce the number of overs to 14 a-side, repeating the mantra ‘It will burn off’.

In defiance of the side-line heckling, Goldstein survived the countdown to 20, holding his nerve to walk off with his bat held high, his wicket untouched and his exit pass for the ferret club in his pocket.

Mills the Elder came to the crease with a positive mindset - flying between the stumps for a number of quick singles. His enthusiasm also inspired Hill into looking for a boundary. The search resulted in a magnificent pull shot that managed to send both the boundary fielder and the ball over the rope and into the hockey goal located on the short boundary at square leg. Unfortunately Mills the Elder’s enthusiasm was short lived - he spooned a rising delivery to mid-wicket offering the LCC fielder a difficult catch, which was snapped up with relish.

Raman came out but didn’t hang around for long, his eight-ball retirement included four boundaries. Mills the Younger then entered the scene slashing at the ball as if he was wielding a foil on a fencing piste. Unfortunately, he found it hard to connect with the ball which was pitching hard and rising off the damp pitch. After getting off the mark, his innings was cruelly brought to an end by Reay’s raised finger, as a quick single went wrong.

At this point, Reay and Gupta were given the hook as umpires, handing over their colours to Tan and Goldstein. At the same time, a quick look up at the sky and a passing shower forced the captains to agree to reduce the number of overs to 13 a-piece.

In case all this action caused you to forget Hill, you were not alone - the rest of us forgot that he was still out there too. That was until a slow single allowed him to complete his Boycott-esque innings, making him the fourth retirement for DACC.

Deepak strode out to the wicket with determination. Four balls later, he joined the Mills boys - a  victim of the umpire’s raised finger (and an excellent catch in the outfield).

Sajamon and Tratalos are the final pair needed thanks to a fabulous front foot no-ball call by Goldstein that distracted Sajamon into smashing his stumps with his bat and splintering the bails. Sajamon was eventually given out, running a suicide single on the last ball of the innings. Tratalos strode off with pride, comfortable in the knowledge that he didn’t look like losing his wicket.

A very quick changeover saw Reay take the ball. His second ball caused a bail to fall off the stumps - the batsman taking advantage of his free ball. Strangely, the bails fell off following Reay’s next ball too. While a confused DACC team tried to work out what had happened, the LCC batsman walked off giving Reay his first wicket. Sajamon then took the ball to bowl a tidy over. Gupta then took the ball for the first time in three years and sent a chest-high full toss at the batsman, looking to tenderise the LCC attack. Gupta finally found his length and ended up being rewarded with a rattling of the bails on his seventh legitimate delivery.

Tan, picked up the pace and claimed a victim, forcing the batsman to play onto his stumps. Deepak and Mills the Elder and Goldstein bowled some tidy deliveries. And then came Hill - a 16-ball over and we’re not sure whether he actually got 8 legitimate ones in there. Raman bowled an amazing over, only conceding one run in his eight-ball over. Mills the Younger came on for the 10th over, bowling with pace and accuracy. At this point the only hope for LCC was that light was beginning to fade. The final three overs were bowled at limited pace, but still resulted in wickets for Tan, Reay and Mills the Younger. Hill took (at least) two excellent catches and Tratalos was exemplary behind the stumps. DACC fielded well - we didn’t give away any extra runs and there were no overthrows. The final score was LCC 84 - DACC 131.

The post-match celebrations were enjoyed by all in the upstairs lounge bar, stimulated by the all-pervading samba beats of the Zumba class being held next door. DACC awarded the MOTM bottle to Ciarán Casserley for taking two legitimate wickets and for being denied a wicket by a front foot no-ball call by Goldstein. LCC awarded their MoTM bottle to the Tan ‘boy from Sydney’, for an excellent batting and bowling effort.

[Written by Hari Gupta]