Having won the toss and electing to bowl, we dismissed the hosts for 101. Some super opening bowling from Danny and Gabe meant we had them 16/5 at one point, but some good batting and wayward bowling meant the runs (mainly extras) then started to mount. On a sunny evening at the end of the long week, the Elstead boys were losing focus at times in the field but then came back strongly to finish Blackheath off in just 18.4 overs. 3 wickets for Gabe, 2 each for Danny and Harry (Danny only conceding one run from his two overs) and one for Coen who bowled very tidily. Jake also bowled two very tight overs that helped slow the run rate down and we had a smart run out from Danny and excellent catch from Harry (off Gabe's bowling) to add to celebrations in the field.

A bigger total than it perhaps should have been, but very achievable and we went out with confidence to face what seemed quite a mixed bowling attack. The lack of pace actually caused our early batters some problems: Oli going for 1, Jack for a duck (after two heroic innings previously) and then Danny for 1, who was beaten for (total lack of) pace. Coen came in and played some positive shots, although the incredibly slow outfield and long grass meant that scoring was still slow, he was joined by Harry who showed rock solid defence as he made a steady start to stem the wickets. Sadly Coen went soon after trying to strike a straight one, Gabe started beautifully and he and Harry were looking good until an unfortunate run out saw Gabe depart. Jake came to the crease and the partnership between him and Harry turned the match - they put on 37 together and we were up to 81-6 when Harry was caught for 17 having moved into more aggressive mode. Felix came in and looked calm, but when Jake soon went for 13 we were 87/7 and nerves were jangling. Charlie came in after a long wait, but was confident, and quickly got up to 6 runs with some strong hits (2s that would have been 4s on other grounds). He sadly went for a run that was never there and was run out by himself trying to return to the crease. Enter Matt as our final batsman with 5 runs still needed to win the match. With some of the better bowlers now trying to finish the job for Blackheath, Matt was resolute in his defence and rightly survived a couple of LBW appeals (mainly because they came off his bat), a wide also came - now just 3 to win. Into the 19th over, Felix back on strike, a quick single, 2 to win and Matt and strike. One more defiant dot ball with Matt going nowhere and the pressure was too much for the Blackheath bowler as he sent down a wide, giving Elstead the victory with an over and half to spare. Never in doubt....