Charterhouse  244-5   (50 overs) (Hughes 75*, Gonszor 63)
Tonbridge       157
Charterhouse won by 87 runs

For the second time in three days Charterhouse made an hour’s journey through unremitting rain on May 5th unable to believe that they would bowl a ball leave alone play a full game. For the second time, a full day’s play was possible despite the bitterly cold conditions and this time Charterhouse came out on top.

The result was by no means a foregone conclusion, however, and when Charterhouse found themselves 64-4 after an hour’s play the future looked as bleak as the battleship grey clouds on the horizon. Thereafter, Jonny Gonszor, continuing his splendid form from the Harrow match, and Robbie Hughes steadied the ship and established a strong base from which to attack the final few overs. They put on 94 runs in 25 overs with a minimum of fuss and without taking any risks.

When Gonszor was run out for a well-made 63, there were still nine overs to go and a score in the region of 200 looked on the cards as long as Charterhouse did not collapse. In fact nothing could have been further from the truth as Tom Gordon-Martin’s arrival at the crease heralded a real change of pace. Hughes rushed past a maiden 1st XI fifty, but it was Gordon-Martin who caught the eye as he dispatched the ball to all parts in a whirlwind innings which saw him score 38 off just 24 balls. With 34 runs coming off the last two overs Charterhouse almost reached 250 and Tonbridge were facing a major task.

The home team needed a solid start but things could scarcely have gone worse. Charlie Kimmins had O’Neill caught at slip in the first over and then Tom Gallyer produced two ‘jaffas’ in consecutive overs to leave Tonbridge teetering at 19-3 after 8 overs.

At this point Ward joined the solid-looking King and they set about repairing the damage. This they did to great effect, running sharply and batting with great circumspection and good shot-selection. At tea, after 20 overs, they had put on 70 runs and, at 89-3, they were very much back in the hunt and had the momentum on their side. Two overs after tea they were 90-5 and had a mountain to climb.

Brandt and Withers tried to keep the rate up but, when Brandt slipped while pulling Tom Hurley into the deep and was out hit wicket and Withers was caught in the covers off Hurley’s next over, the game was up. Hurley and Gonszor bowled 20 overs in the middle of the innings during which time five wickets fell for just 55 runs and they game swung unerringly towards the visitors.

It was all over four overs later and Charterhouse had a deserved victory. The day belonged to Gonszor who must relish playing on The Head. He scored 80 in a lost cause last year and this year added bowling figures of 1-27 in ten overs to a run out and 63 more runs. He was not the only Charterhouse hero, however, and the contributions of Hughes, Gordon-Martin and Hurley were all very important.