Hampstead 5s v Wembley 4s

Playing at the Met Police Ground in Bushey on an uncovered pitch that had been cut but not rolled, losing the toss and invited to bat first against a team undefeated and the top of the table, the signs looked ominous.

Nonetheless we batted resolutely with small but valuable contributions from Lodhia, Barrons and Richards at the top of the order, and Thakrar and Apar Shah lower down, eventually finishing on 121 all out in the 50th over.

On a helpful wicket, Jooma & Raghu bowled well with the new ball taking advantage of the conditions, and with the oppo on 26 for 3 after 16 overs, we were very much in the ascendancy. Khushro replaced Jooma in the search for more wickets, but Hampstead managed to steady the ship with a fourth wicket unbroken stand of 36 and finished on 62-3 after 30 overs before the rains came and ended proceedings for the day.

So we came away with 5 points from the winning draw, but what was equally satisfying was the way in which the team pulled together in extremely trying conditions!