MacRobertson Shield Day 10 - The Brave and the Bold

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Mark Avery and Jack Good celebrating England's victory over USA (Photo: Samir Patel)

Going into the penultimate day of the second test, we knew a 3-0 win would seal the test a day early. We kept expectations realistic with our 'win the day' mantra.

Final round of doubles gave us James & Samir against Tom & Zack, Mark & Jamie against Matt & Ben, and Rob & Jack against Stephen & Kyle.

A quick +26 win by James & Samir put the early pressure onto the Americans, but Mark and Jamie weren't far behind winning their first game as well.

Tom & Zack fought back in game 2 but an error at 2 back allowed Samir to play a captain's knock and finish with a bold triple (one of only three today) to put our first point on the board before lunch.

After lunch Rob & Jack took their first game as well putting us ahead across the board.

The USA continued fighting back with Matt and Ben pressuring Mark & Jamie by first equalising and then taking the first ball round in the decider until an error allowed Jamie round and a missed lift gave Mark a chance at a triple of his own. The straight rover peel was jawsed, jumped over and later cannoned through but he couldn't quite complete the pegout. One pegged out and a few turns later, a missed shot from the USA gave Jamie the easiest of finishes.

Stephen & Kyle kept Rob & Jack at bay for several hours winning the second game and having control early in the third before Rob had a chance to go round and Jack followed with a brave 40-yard roquet into corner 4 followed by a break to the peg. Eventually another missed shot gave Rob a finishing break to seal the test late in the evening.

Six singles tomorrow before we move onto Surbiton starting on Wednesday for the deciding test against New Zealand.

Livestream: YouTube

Details: Website

Results: Croquet Scores