About to start there practice on lawn 5

T1 R 16y supershot

T2 K 1ft N of C4

T3 Y shoots at K from A-Baulk not leaving double

T4 U misses Y

Greg has a 4-ball break

Doesn't get R to hoop 3 and hasn't got a rush out of hoop 2

5 foot angled hoop 3.................very good shot

I think GB have been pretty lucky to have Lines put on lawn 1 at Bowdon (his home club) in a crucial match and Aiton put on lawn 1 at Nottingham (his home club) for a crucial match.

Looks like Greg has given up trying a pop and is going round to 4-b.

Greg has made a diagonal spread with U at the peg

This spread is very horizontal - he's laid up 15y N of C4

K lifts to B-Baulk and shoots at R.................hits fairly centrally

Rushes well to hoop 1 - TPO or popping or 1-b??????

GB are starting to wilt under the pressure on the other lawns

The match I thought GB was most likely to win at the start of the day was Aiton v Clarke and Jenny has now got a break to settle her nerves.

Meanwhile......Rutger is setting up for a TPO

Y is peeled through 4-b after hoop 3

Y is peeled through penult before 1-b

On the other 2 lawns, all I can say is..."Oh my God!"

Y hasn't been peeled through rover yet as Rutger approaches 3-b.

For the first time in the Series, I really wish I was playing

Rutger is slightly hampered after penult

Copes without a ref.

The players on lawns 1 and 2 are looking like bunnies caught in car headlights

Rutger has successfully irish peeled rover and is starting to make his contact leave. Y still needs to be rushed to the peg from 5y S of rover

Standard contact leave.

K in C2

U just N of hoop 4 on the E boundary

Bryant takes croquet from U with R and rolls up to hoop1.

U finishes 3y W of the peg.

R attempts 5 yard hoop 1.......................hits middle of the wire and bounces to the side

If only the lawns had been this little bit quicker all week

On lawn 1, Aiton sends his 2 back pioneer nearer the S boundary than 2-b

Rutger is shooting U at K.............................misses

Greg shoots R at UK.......................misses narrowly

For the first time in about 4 hours, GB have the innings on all the lawns

Rutger plays a cannon rushing R off the S boundary in front of hoop 1 and K a few yards E of C2.

Plays a stoppo approach sending R 3 y in front of hoop 2. U is overhit.....it's going to finish level with the hoop.........is it in the jaws?!?

He's called a ref. It is in the jaws. He runs hoop 1 to get a rush on K and that should be game GB

Strong sunshine is making it genuinely hot now

On lawn 1, Aiton doesn't play a supershot. I have given a round of applause.

Rutger is going round nicely and is on hoop 6

Test score goes 10-9

GB would have lost now if it had been 8-7 overnight as it could so easily have been.

Rutger fails 3-b

Fortunately, it's off partner. Greg's ball is 2y S of 4-b with a lift. U is in 3-b, K 5 feet N of 3-b

Greg is thinking about what shot to take. He really needs to hit the ball in 3-b and it's right in the middle of the hoop

Greg lifts R and walks down to A-baulk

Martin French is on the lawn to watch him shoot at U in 3-b........................

.................hits very comprehensively rushing it 9 yards N of 3-b

Overhits his take-off to get a rush to hoop 1...............misses the cut-rush

U shoots at K..............hits in the middle - can he find a wire?

He's tried to find a wire 4y N of C4 from R which is 16y N of C1

Doesn't get wire. Plays U to C3 - that's dreadful. A free shot for R at the 4-B ball in C3

Greg is shooting at the wrong ball - the peg ball....................

It's possible he's wired from U - but Rutger didn't check that before playing away

R at K...........................hits

Ignores U and rolls directly to hoop 1. U is 2y N of the peg (that's the peg) and has 5yard angled hoop 1. He's looking at taking position at hoop 1

R takes 5 foot position at 1 - that should be a 2ball game now

Wow, he's gone to C4. Rob and myself can't understand the last few turns.

R shoots at K...................misses

Croquets R 6y S of hoop 5 getting close to U in C3.

He's laying up guarded near C3

Rutger should be propping K on hoop 3

No, he's played K off the N boundary presumably wired from R.........cross fingers time

What is going on?????? R isn't shooting.

R to 1y S of C2

Rutger plays U??????? Rob isn't coping any more..............he's being comforted by Susan

U hits K, takes off in front of 4-B and he's 4 foot in front

slightly angled............

For the first time in my memory, I'm not sure that GB are the best team tactically.

U goes to C4. Rob goes to comfort himself with some cake.

R shoots at K.................hates it and it misses badly on the right

K refuses a 6yarder at R and plays 4y N of U

R shoots at K..............................misses

U croquets R 16y N and gets a rush on K to 4-b.

Rushes K off the N boundary behind 4-b

Takes off to get 2 yard slightly angled hoop.......................fails

R has a 12 yarder at U........................

R has not hit U, but it has hit K. This just needs a couple of reasonable shots for a break now

Greg has a 5 foot hoop 1 with U 16y N of the hoop.........very impressive smooth stroke sees R finish 2y N of U. K is NE of the peg.

Greg has made hoop 2 and has a 3 ball break

Makes hoop 3 but without a rush

All under control again

Greg has made 2-b - everything still ok

Greg makes 3-b without a rush North

Makes 4-b ....should be all over now

Bryant takes the first +5 OTP

Game 2

T1 U just S of C2

T2 R 1 foot N of C4

T3 K shoots at R from B-Baulk................misses

T4 Y shoots at R...........misses

Rutger rushed to C2 and is now 1 yard in front of hoop 1 off partner.......grovels through......what can he hit? Ref called

Hits left handed airborne sweep

Croquet stroke sends U to hoop 3.

K thuds into the boundary board South of Y

Meanwhile, on lawn 1, Keith has had a ball to the peg and the Kiwis have a last shot

If Jenny hits this, GB are not in good nick.

On lawn 1, GB drag themselves kicking and screaming over the winning line. For the first time ever, I'm not 100% convinced that we deserved to win. A fine performance from the Kiwis - well played. Well done to Keith for some good solid break play.

Phew!! 

Back on lawn 5, Greg had a leave and Rutger is about to shoot at 2 balls N of hoop 1.................missing

Bryant has made hoop 1, but still has a bit of work to do for a break

Greg has made hoop 2 and has a break

The lawns have just been timed at 12 seconds and they have probably slowed down a bit in the last hour

U is in the front of the jaws of 2-b

K is in NSL position at hoop 4.

and then ....he takes off back to U, rushes it in front of hoop 1, peels it through hoop 1 to between 1 and 2

He's about to dribble back to leave a rush for Y..............very long rush

Rutger lifts K and is walking towards B-Baulk.......K at Y.................

Refuses after 9 swings on attempt 1

strikes on the 13th swing..........unlucky (misses)

Greg has made hoop 1 and has a delayed TP ahead of him

Sticks in hoop 2 from 6 inches.

A big thanks to all the hoopsetters who put new holes in all the lawns after 3 days - it's made a clear difference.

U hasn't got much to shoot at with RY both being partially hidden by hoop 2, but I'd still take it

U................................misses

Y is trying to play South out of hoop 2 and hit R. He has got very little of it, but it is only 6 inches

Lots of lying down on the ground

You look silly if you miss this

........misses

Martin has just come back and reports that the hoop looked fairly straightforward. Y clipped the wire on the way to R.

U hits and has break

Rutger has very short and angled hoop 4.......calls a ref

...........through to the boundary - 6 yard return coming up............

..........hits and is back under control

Looks like it's going to be a hoop 2 1-b leave

Y is 4y S of hoop 4

R is 1y N of hoop 4

K is 4y N of 1-b

U is 1 foot in front of 1-b

This has been a long day. 5+ hours driving, a Mac meeting and the Lion King to look forward to tomorrow.

Y shoots at K..................

No, I was wrong.....Y at U is open.................hits centrally. Greg has put in a mighty fine performace in this Test.

He's not happy with his approach to hoop 2...................runs it but without a tight rush to R

Coming up to 7.30pm and they're half way through the second

He's just hit K and is opting for a delayed TP

The lawns are definitely slowing up a bit now and are fully in shade

R is peeled through 4-b before hoop 6

Poor rush to 6. He'll need a 3 yard backward take-off

Excellent take off leaves 1 foot hoop - only slightly angled

No problem.

R is sent to 2-b

Needs to approach 2-b from 8 feet

2 foot straight hoop is clubbed. Takes loads of wire and finishes 1 foot through. He's got a hampered 4 yarder on R or a 13 yarder at his 3-b pioneer

Y is looking at U which is at penult

Now he's looking at R again

It all looks very ugly

Y shoots at K..................

.............hits, cutting it nicely 2 yards in front of 3-b........he'll take that

He should be able to tidy the balls and get to a straight double from here.

Approaches 3-b and has 2 foot hoop.............it's through, but without a great rush back to R

Bryant is asking to have Y checked in 3-b

All seems ok

Y rushes K off the end of A-Baulk and now needs to get behind R for a rush N. R is 5y S of 2-b

Good shot

........but then rushes R into K which was 3y NW of rover

Coming up to 8 o'clock. There'd be another 6 hours of play left if we were in Australia.

Y rolls R 2 yards in front of penult and might have wired itself from rushing U (near penult) to 4-b.

James reports that at most he has half a ball at 7 feet.

Calls on a referee

Clips the bit he had, but now is 6y W of 4-b for his approach.

Y is 5 feet in front of 4-b..................

...........Runs it with no wire

A straight double is ahead of him

He's underhit his croquet stroke after 4-b. R is now 3 feet in front of penult at about 5 degrees

Peels it with a stop shot.......R goes 4 feet through the hoop and Y is 1 foot straight

His escape ball is due S of R so he needs to run penult with some wire

Runs it firmly and gets lucky. He's missed R and has a 3 yarder on K which is 2 yards S of the peg or a 4 yarder at U back near penult. He may be wired from K though

No, he's taking it on...............rushes it nicely 2y W of rover

Takes off back to U and hits it in the middle, cannoning R further N, possibly so that penult is in the way of the rush to rover on R

54 minutes so far for this turn. I'm confident he'll make the hour providing he makes all the hoops.

Y rushes R 5y N of rover and 1y E. This is a long peel

That's the hour!!

Perhaps I should remind readers that he started on hoop 2

Jawses R and is 4 to 5 feet straight in front of rover. He has no deep ball

Maybe slightly angled

Brilliant!!!! Half jump gets both R and Y off the South boundary. He's got a 1 footer pointing W on R or a 9 yarder at K

He's taking his 9 yarder..............

.........maybe not........still thinking.

We wouldn't want to be hasty would we?

Y hits R

17 yard peg out attempt coming up, with possible bombards to follow

R finishes 5 feet short of the peg...............he's still looking at the combo peg-out

NZ Captain is urgently wanting 1 pegged out and a leave.

James comments that GB were thinking that about 4 hours ago..........was that hours or years?

Bryant is lining up the combo - looks like about a half ball contact

I must, at this stage, admit that I told the GB team how much faster Bryant had got since the last Mac. I offer my sincere apologies.

Bryant plays a roll going to U at penult, but the contact on R is too central and it finishes 4y W of hoop 3. With Rutger on 2 and 1-b, will he keep 4 balls on the lawn?

75 minutes

Y has rushed U off the E boundary 14y N of C4.

K is 9y S of 1-b

Y plays to C4

The light is fading and that might be that

No, Rutger is out on the lawn and has lifted K - why????

What was wrong with U at R?

K hits R, rushing it to 3y E of hoop 1

K takes off to Y in C4........hits

Rolls Y to hoop 3 going up the boundary to U and rushes U 4y NE of hoop 2

I can't see properly now

K is 4 feet in front of hoop 2............runs it and gets a rush on U in front of 1-b

Snicks the rush. The peel is 3 yards straight

Fails 1-b peel and K goes off the S boundary.

R takes on 7 yarder at K...........

............hits

Takes off to get a rush on U to Y - decent shot. Lawns now quite slow

I can see the yellow ball, but not much more

Y is rushed about 2y from the peg

Bryant wins the second +18. Well done to the Kiwis on such a good performance!