The King’s High School side had already been in town for a week playing in the Gillette Cup and any thoughts that the team may have been battle weary were quickly forgotten as they bowled and fielded exceptionally well. Having won the toss The Willows elected to bat on what looked like a hard flat surface.

With a youthful looking side I was confident we could post a competitive score and with a strong start this looked likely. However after the openers departed we struggled to form any meaningful partnerships and were eventually dismissed for 169 in the 47th over. On what looked very much like a 200 plus pitch it was clear we were somewhat short and only a very strong bowling performance would enable us to restrict King’s to under our total.

Although we did pick up a couple of early wickets, with Nigel Marsh bowling with real venom and purpose, opening bat D Kinney scored quickly and freely and at tea after 19 overs had personally scored 65 runs with the team well placed at 100 for 4. We picked up two quick wickets straight after the break to give us some hope, but their 7 and 8 continued the momentum and bought their side home to a very well deserved victory.

So with a win in their first Gillette Cup game, and the win over The Willows the King’s side ended their tour nicely.