NO PROFIT IN DEFEATS
05/05/05: Dayalan Doraisamy's half-century could not prevent the OLCC suffering back-to-back defeats on the East Midlands tour.
Doraisamy's battling 80-ball innings came as the OLCC launched a rearguard action after hosts Elvaston had rattled up 226-7 from their 40-over allocation in the grounds of Elvaston Castle on Bank Holiday Monday. The OLs' reply ultimately fell short by 56 runs, with only Doraisamy (59), John Acland-Hood (38) and guest Charlie Ault (20) managing to reach double figures.
It was a second successive defeat for the tourists, who were unfortunate to have to bat in trickier conditions than their opponents at Woodhouse Eaves on Sunday.
Inserted on a slow, damp-ish pitch, the OLs found the going tough and their eventual total of 152 for eight declared, underpinned by Acland-Hood's 49, was overhauled by the home side with five wickets and nearly eight overs to spare.
There were, however, some on-field highlights to accompany the usual top-quality off-field joviality. The trip to Woodhouse Eaves saw Derek Brewer return to the OLCC side for the first time in nearly nine years (bringing with him son Jonathan, a promising leg-spinner), while Paul Newell Price defied a calf injury to launch two mighty sixes, bowl a miserly spell of 1-14 from 10 overs and take a stunning catch at midwicket.
Although the injury finally took its toll and ruled Newell Price out of the action on Monday, the highlights kept coming. Doraisamy, in his 52nd innings, passed 1,000 runs for the club, before Graham Carter drew a prolonged standing ovation from the crowd by crashing a ball to the long-on boundary to reach the 3,000-run milestone. Tom Gillmor had earlier taken his 50th catch for the OLCC.
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