Playing Churt in Hindhead on Sunday, a close match was anticipated. Elstead won the toss and elected to field on a pitch that required the field setting to be lopsided to utilise the slope as an additional fielder in the one direction. Rufus (3/16 in 2.2 overs), horrified at the coach telling him to bowl uphill to start, opened the bowling with the, now accustomed, slow start, pulling it back with a wicket, caught brilliantly by wicket keeper Jack, in his second over. Ollie (0/14 off 2 overs) kept it relatively tight, given the short boundaries and steep hill, by pitching the ball outside off consistently. It was in the 5th over, when Caol started with a wicket and a wicket maiden, that things started to swing in Elstead’s favour. Will (1/5 off 2 overs) followed with a wicket on his 5th ball to leave the opposition on 30/3 after 6 overs. When Caol took another wicket on the first ball of the next over and another two balls later to finish with 3/1 off 2, the opportunity had opened up to allow everyone, except Jack, a chance to bowl. Jake (0/6 off 2 overs) and Harry RS (0/1 off 1 over) kept things tight. Nathan’s first over, now bowling down the hill, was expensive as a big swinging batter came short on Nathan’s last ball of the over but Nathan pulled this back a few overs later to finish with 1/10 off his 2 overs. Danny narrowly missed the stumps a few times in his first over but was finally rewarded in his second, to finish with 1/5 off his 2, with another great catch by Jack behind the stumps. Seb did well in his debut over and Harry H picked up the wicket of Churt’s top scorer to finish with 1/5 off 1 over.

With a relatively low score on the board, the batting line up was juggled around to give those who are normally lower down the order a chance to come in earlier to chase the 70 runs required. To start though, Rufus (22 out after going for a big shot knowing he was about to be retired early) and Jack (retired on 28) got the scoreboard going. Before departing, Rufus used the hill to his advantage playing straight down the ground to pick up 5 fours, while Jack, knowing he was about to be retired, scoped the ball up the hill for 3 runs. A boundary off a scoop would have earned him more than just the runs. Harry RS (3) was in next and played some nice straight shots and Ollie, with a quick fire 6 at a 100% strike rate, put Elstead in a strong position at 63/3 after 7.4 overs. Harry H picked up 2 before playing the ball straight back to the bowler, while Seb’s venture up the order was short lived as he went to a good straight ball. This left Danny (9 not out) and Will (1 not out) to bring it home for Elstead in 9.2 overs.

A comprehensive win for the team to move them into the top half of the table.