Hambledon arrived for a match against 2nd placed Sarisbury without their Captain, two opening bowlers, and needing to find a new number six batsman. Without a win against Sarisbury in 3 years this was looking like a pretty tough day when stand in skipper Atkins lost the toss and the hosts were inserted on an interesting ridge meadow wicket. The opening pair struggled to find fluency but put on a crucial 41 before Humphrey departed to a trademark LBW dismissal. Collings-Wells then fell for 22 as the dons struggled to build momentum. Cycling enthusiast Rob Atkins was then on his bike, run out, as wickets started to fall. As wickets continued to fall Nono Pongolo was hitting the ball nicely, however was running out of partners. He put on a crucial 30 with John Barrett for the 9th wicket before being stranded on 37 not out.
After a disappointing batting display, a comeback tea from Sue Turner cheered everyone up, and as usual received rave reviews from the opposition, great tea.
Sarisbury seemed in a bit of a rush early doors and Nono Pongolo blasted both openers out with a quick and accurate spell. Mark Woodman then showed all of his village cup form in an exceptional spell, which saw him take 3 wickets, all clean bowled. Shinn followed Pongolo and bowled a spell of 8 overs for 9 runs, outrageous. This included the crucial wicket of their skipper, who was trying to juggle his batting role with a part time commentary stint. Sarisbury then dug in and the dons went for a spell without a wicket, however kept the scoring to a minimum. Will Mann then bowled an exceptional wide and the batsman attempted a two, only to be fooled by Kyle Shinn's lazy appearance at fine leg, and was run out with a great throw. Collings-Wells then dismissed the number 9 with Will Mann taking a steepling catch. The next pair batted really well and the dons struggled for a break though. Pongolo finished his spell and was seen off by the opposition and CW and Marshall desperately searched for the final wickets. CW got the 9th wicket when it looked as if the dons were heading for defeat, before miserly bowling from Marshall and Shinn forced Sarisbury into a close run, and renowned bottler D. Humphrey ran out the number 11 to raucous celebration. Top two sides beaten in consecutive weeks, great stuff from the dons!