We elected to bowl first on a glorious day down at Hollowdene. Puttenham started slowly thanks to some superb opening spells from Hilton and Pow: swing, control, and some decent carry on what looked to be a good batting track! Pow was rewarded with two wickets in his opening spell, including a great caught and bowled. Hilton's figures of 9 overs, 0 for 15, were superb, and he was unlucky not to be rewarded for his efforts for a second week in a row (sorry Hilts, I'll catch the next one...). As the innings progressed and the early movement disappeared, Puttenham began to accelerate. We mixed up the attack in the second half and did a good job of containing them to 207 on a good, hard deck and a rapid outfield. Special mention to James Goldsworth, who made his 1st team debut, picking up a wicket and taking a good catch in the deep. As we have been saying across all teams this year, it's great to have such a big pool of young talent coming through the club, and it's especially exciting to now be thinking about those guys in the 1st team section.

Our batting didn't start as we had hoped, with Boyle nicking off on the third ball. Unlucky Boyley. Luckily, at the other end, Moore set about his work with some glorious drives, capitalizing on the new hard ball. Leon gave us a glimpse of what we know and love, with some lusty blows through and over extra cover before eventually departing. Moore and I continued to build a solid foundation, putting away the bad balls and running well to keep the momentum building. I was dismissed for LBW, bringing Nathan to the crease. He and Moore continued the chase in front of the three already victorious teams. These two executed the perfect run chase, balancing big hitting with working the fielders for singles and twos. The result? A comfortable seven-wicket win. Huge congratulations to Phil, who batted superbly, carrying his bat and finishing just short of a well-deserved century! On to the next one.