Hambledon lost the toss and were put into field on a hard pitch. The rain had made the outfield sluggish, however this did not stop the home side, who raced to 57-0 off 10 overs, tucking into some wayward bowling from the dons. The introduction of Zanzima Pongolo saw an upturn in fortunes for the dons, with Ian Turner taking a slip catch to dismiss the opener, with further inroads from Rupert Hetherington on his 30th birthday, Turner and Collings Wells catching in the cordon. A promising dons recovery was halted by a very good 4th wicket partnership between Norris and Journeaux, who both registered 50s. Sarisbury ended on 218-9, with wickets for Pongolo, Turner and Mann.
Tea watch! After a hard 50 overs in the field Hambledon were looking forward to tea. First impressions were questionable, with players led into a dingy room to find Sarisbury tucking in already. One of their players sheepishly said 'after you', however his kindness was somewhat undermined by their overseas player in front who was already tucking into a sausage. The tea itself saw a lack of options in the sandwiches as well as a token quiche. The tea was somewhat redeemed by fruit kebabs and pre made scones, always a winner. Looking back on things, after getting absolutely hammered by a vastly superior side, tea is the only area that the dons can claim superiority. 5/10, loved the scones however marks deducted for etiquette as well as sandwiches.
Batting. Hambledon put out a side today without their regular opener and number three batman. This was unfortunate, as the top order was up against the best bowling attack in the league. Marshall went early before Collings Wells and Hewitt both got caught second slip to identical deliveries off the annoyingly accurate Ingram, who provided an exhibition with the new ball. Nono Pongolo was batting well and hit the other opener out of the attack. The bloke who bowled first change looked like he had played cricket before and bowled Jack Dyer with a good delivery. Mann was dismissed following a run out, and it was left to Pongolo and Shinn to provide the resistance. Nono passed 50 before Shinn was dismissed trying to hit the ball into a tree. Nono followed trying to accelerate, caught long off, leaving John Barrett to roll back the years with a few boundaries before being caught to end proceedings. Unfortunately for the dons, Sarisbury were a lot better in all three disciplines today, congratulations for Nono for his efforts and well bowled Rupert on his birthday.