It was a very good deck to bat on with strong performances from the middle order after a couple of early wickets. Hisham and Sandeep, in particular, put on a clinical partnership with quick singles to compliment the flurry of boundaries especially when the ball was pitched short.

Not to forget also our skipper who was building an innings akin to Joe Root down the road at Oval where the fifth test between England and India was reaching crescendo. The lofted drives, in particular, deserved Frogbox coverage on a batter friendly pitch with a fast outfield. Unfortunately for George, the home spinner got the ball moving on a "dime" to castle his stumps when a fast 50 was looming.

Alex G-W has been in good form with the bat this year and deservedly earnt a red inker supporting our middle and lower orders to get us past the 200 mark and push towards 250.

The tea at the clubhouse was a highlight of the visit and up there in the echelons of Gail's bakery judging by the array of pastries whipped up by the resident chef who looks after the home squads on Saturdays and Sundays; Hats off to the chef!

With tea done and dusted, our skipper gave us a brief on the plan to defend 230 runs. The key messages were to keep things tight in the field and back each other all the way.

Damon, Jon and Lewys bowled with plenty of purpose and panache despite only being rewarded with a couple of wickets. Hats off to Jon, for taking on the challenge of opening the bowling in conjunction with Damon - not an easy task to do when the ball easily flies around when fresh.

Sandeep, George and Joshua all deserve acknowledgements for keeping the asking rpo climbing. Sandeep and Joshua, in particular bowled great leg spinners which weren't easy to dispatch on that surface.

Eventually, the run chase plateaued with victory by a compelling 45 runs.

Thanks to SMCC for their hospitality and good sportsmanship. A fixture worth keeping for next year's cricket calendar.

Final words from our skipper:

"Great win today boys really enjoyed that !!! Well fielded all proper squeeze on !!! Run rate got to them and some world class catches"

Match report from Niraj Tailor