A nailbiting finish gave Dulwich a one-run victory in their Surrey Championship Division One game against Brook.

The opposition’s last pair required 4 to win off the last ball but could only manage two runs handing Dulwich a hard fought victory.

Dulwich chose to bat first with Steve Hale and Ed Matten adding 42 for the first wicket, aided by a succession of wides. Hale fell for 3, Matten for 32, Tom Howe for 13 and Mark Kelly for 6, to reduce Dulwich to 101-4 in the 25th over.

Skipper Richard Farrow led the recovery, putting on 84 for the 5th wicket in 20 overs with James Balmforth.

The latter’s dismissal for 17 in the 45th over led to a flurry of wickets as the later batsmen tried to push the score along in the last 5 overs.

Farrow remained unbeaten on 74 from 105 balls, as his side totalled 223-8 off their 50 overs.

Extras had continued to mount throughout the innings, finally reaching an unprecedented 68 - of which 54 were wides.

In reply, Kelly and Arshad Iftikhar repeatedly beat the bat without success, and Harry Schofield and Oli Pike survived for 20 overs adding 65 for the first wicket.

Pike fell to Dominic Tuohey for 21, but James Wood then joined Schofield to take the score to 108. Schofield eventually fell to Richard Beeching for 50.

Wood and James Hall took the score to 139 but Stuart Ferguson then dismissed both in 3 balls, Hall for 10 and Wood for 44.

At 148-4 Brook now needed 85 off 12 overs, but an enterprising innings by teenager Jack Austin, who hit 25 off 18 balls, kept them in touch.

Kelly returned to dismiss Austin and finish with 1-23 off his 10 overs. Brook now needed 43 off 34 balls, but 2 wickets in 3 balls from Tom Peacock pegged them back to 200-7, now needing 33 off 24 balls.

Nick Wood fell to Peacock for 11 with the score on 212 and Ferguson got James King for 10 off the last ball of the 49th over making the score 233-9.

Peacock was entrusted with the last over, with 10 runs still needed.

He proved equal to the task, conceding only 6 off the first 5 balls and keeping the batsmen down to 2 off the last ball to give his side their first victory of the season.

Peacock and Ferguson finished with 3 wickets each. Next week Dulwich visit East Molesey.