Man of the Match: Jack Fullicks (5 overs, 7 runs, 1 wicket & 52*)

Mug of the Day: Daniel Mackinney - Feeling “unwell” outside of Sainsbury's hours before start.

Result: Hampton Hill win by 6 wickets 

Hampton Hill came into Saturday’s game with a lot of positivity following their final over run chase the week before and the return of their leader Tom Coates. Having won the toss on a beautiful looking Hill deck, the mighty 2s headed out into the sunshine to get stuck into the Old Paulines batting line up. Jack Fullicks opened up with some tight line and length bowling but vice skipper Mike Murton stole the show with his fantastic control of swing both in and away from the batsmen. Mike picked up 3 of their top order from his 10 overs for only 19 runs. 

1st change bowlers Ryan and Kash brought some variation to keep the batsmen guessing, Ryan picked up one wicket from his 6 overs. In a bit of tactical masterclass from TC, Joe Ayley was brought on after drinks and struck with his first ball. The celebration by Joe was particularly muted as it was widely declared as one of the worst balls bowled in club history, keeping to the adage that “Crap gets wickets”. Ian Exworth also came on from the other end and metronomically stuck to his line and length much to the frustration of the Old Pauline batsmen. Ian having gone for a little bit of tap in his penultimate over was told to take a blow, but a big break through from returning jack fullicks meant that Ian felt bold enough to request to complete his 10 over spell. TC being in a generous mood, decided to grant ian’s wish. That over did not get off to the best start with the first 5 balls going for 12, fortunately Ian was able to avoid dick of the day by taking a wicket with his final ball. The hill were able to keep them to a miserly score of 124 from 40 overs. Noticeable mention to also go to Kash for taking 4 catches, 2 in the slips and 2 at long off. This led to a very dominant display in the field. 

First home tea of the season - 7/10. For the meat eaters the nuggets were a bit over done. Lack of French Fancies.

With the bat, things didn’t get off to the greatest start with JC snicking off 2nd ball, followed by Sam Rogers a few overs later. Kash looked in fine form, dispatching his third ball off his legs for a blistering 4 on quite a slot outfield. TC was a victim to good nut after only adding 5 to the score. Kash fell for 30 after pulling a bad ball straight back to the bowler, one to forget. He was the final victim to go as Joe Porter and Jack F took the 2s from 57-4 to 128-4. A great partnership with various forms of entertainment throughout. Whether it was jack being comically dropped 3 times, one fielder boldly going for a bit of a dolly with only one hand then being surprised when he shelled it. Or Joe Porter getting up to his usual antics and riling up the keeper and first slip fielder by expressing that one may benefit from re-evaluating their dietary requirements. All that matters is they sealed a solid win keeping the 2s up the top of the table, back to back wins. 

Next up is Thames Ditton who have also won back to back. Big game to come at the Surrey Dust Bowl.