"It all turned to custard" the words of New Zealand manager Charles Jones at the Civic Reception last night.

The day did indeed end well for GB but lets not forget that the Chapman & Westerby pair got off to a flyer and did not concede croquet, whilst they keep winning there will always be hope for NZ.  I thought Bryant played really well too, NZ need to win some lower singles and he certainly looks as if he has potential to win a match even against a Brit playing well.

Winning matches is what NZ need to do from here on in there was no real evidence yesterday that GB will concede them any easy wins.  If the golden duo slip up or the first bit of support from the rest of the team fails to emerge today the custard which is currently still thick with a few solid lumps will start to look decidedly watery.

Thanks to Ian for his excellent custard quote. I'll now be covering this match between my best friend and my wife (and a couple of others!!).

I anticipate that this GB pair will try and keep this match defensive in the early stages. I certainly would.

Robert tosses the coin and Jenny calls. I looks like GB has won the toss

T1 U 9 y N of C4

T2 Y 18in N of C4

T3 K misses target from B-Baulk and finishes in C4

T4 R hits K from A-baulk

Bryant didn't get a rush on Yellow and has croqueted up the boundary towards hoop 3 going to U. He is now trying to roll off hoop 1 from the E boundary

Looks like a really good effort, but it's not quite runnable and he's looking at joining Y which is 9y S and 2y W of C3

Chris has lost his connection.

R goes 2 yds S of corner 3 leaving an 8 yarder at partner.  U shoots at K in corner 4

We still have problems Linesy has just made a spread

The comment that is missing abouve is that Lines hit his 20 yarder and made a good pick up to go round immediately

Jenny is going to shoot from A baulk

Hits hoop 4 staying in the lawn 2 yards of hoop 4

Right then, back again...

Firstly, that was a really good turn from Lines. A long hit in followed by an excellent pick - everything was good.

Fulford is now on a standard TP and has peeled 4-b after hoop 3

Fulford peels penult after hoop 6

For the first time in 7 days, all three GB doubles pairs played openings that I liked today.

I must also say that Rutgers leave was also excellent

Fulford peels rover before 2-b. I've had to change computer, so won't be able to produce any graphics as GB take the first +26TP (F)

Game 2

K Clarke

U Bryant

R Fulford

Y Lines

K 11Y supershot

R just S of C2

U misses R

Y has double..............hits......unsure about which ball he hit first

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

Very good roll after hoop 1 sends K to hoop 3 going to C2

Lines has a 4 ball break now

Lines is 4-b and has made a diagonal spread with K at the peg

T5 U lifts to A-Baulk and shoots at R - this is 18 yards

...............misses

R has made hoop 1 and has all the balls with Y at hoop 2

It's almost 12 o'clock and GB have been fantastic tactically and almost as good physically. Can we convert the performance into match wins though?

Fulford peels 4-b after hoop 3

It's been raining heavily now for a while and looks like getting worse

Penult is peeled after hoop 6 and rover is jawsed before 3-b

Sorry, jawsed before 2-b and rush-peeled before 3-b. Rain is now torrential

We have a wet bunny on the lawn. Hopefully he will soon be a gleeful bunny and not suffer any terrible misfortune.

Fulford finishes.

GB wins +26TP +26TP

Test score GB 3 NZ 1