You have to go back to the end of May to find an instance of Sam winning the toss. Technically, he didn’t even win the toss; his opposite number Charlie lost it. Vandals elected to field first knowing that Horley like to chase and the baking sun should have improved – or at least made more predictable – the pitch as time passed.

Vandals got into their work straight away, with Oscar and Jonny Powell removing the opening batsmen. When Jonny bowled the dangerous Baily, Horley were 32/3. Waddington survived in comical fashion, having looped up a leading edge from a full toss, only to see it land right next to the stumps at the bowler’s end. This was to be the only real case of miscommunication in the field. The Vandals fielders set an excellent standard from the first ball, which was a continuation of their good performance last week at Godalming. This allowed the bowlers to settle in and even prevented some looser deliveries being despatched.

Mark “Shark” Fenton returned to the side following a long lay-off through injury and showed the side what they had missed. He settled into his rhythm very quickly and gave the Horley batsmen nothing to feed off. Backing up Oscar’s accurate opening spell, the Shark cut through Horley, removing Waddington (12) and Barnett (18), with a Scott “Le Coq Sportif” Baker arm ball sandwiched between those wickets accounting for Nel.

Once Baker had taken the wicket of Patel, at 66/7, Vandals targeted 100 all out. Horley’s 8 and 9 looked assured and begun rebuilding ably. Oscar (11-36-3) replaced Scott (7-32-2) and took care of Derham, followed by Stephenson, both bowled out. A fine display of nerve and accuracy from the young seamer.

Robins (4*) did well to assist Gainsford, who made a quick and flashy 52 from 46 balls, including an enormous 6 towards Middlesex. His time at the crease was abruptly ended when the Shark (8.4-5-11-3), disappointed to have been taken off earlier (for his own good!) removed Gainsford’s off stump to finally bowl out Horley for 141.

Weybridge Vandals’ chase got off to a poor start when the skipper was caught at mid wicket, having not troubled the scorers. Anish Kulkarni (5) and Amandeep Singh (0) departed soon after and Vandals were 23/3. Fortunately for them, wides and a confident Dan Fenton prevented Horley from applying sustained pressure. Dan fell for a pacey 33 from 34 balls, including 6 fours. Nothing was certain at this point (54/4) but two cool heads realised they had plenty of time to bat, form a partnership and steer the match Vandals’ way. Connor Baker looked confident from the start, using his feet and his range of strokes to pick up some early runs. The returning Seb Hall used his vast experience and a deep well of competitiveness to settle in and manoeuvre the match into his team’s hands.

Vandals had every reason to be confident, despite the scoreline, given the productiveness of this batting partnership in previous seasons. The partnership did not disappoint and had the hallmarks of a Baker-Hall classic: excellent running and loud calling, confident body language and two men who love to compete (just listen to them talking about running or triathlon…).

The two ran Horley around the field, with their contrasting scoring areas making it hard for the visitors to settle. Connor (40 off 48) finally played a shot too many, arriving early at a ball and was well pouched by a retreating mid off. The pair had added 74 and Connor can be very pleased with his innings. It was a mature innings given the situation but also pleasing on the eye. Its importance and class was recognised by a standing ovation from his team mates.

Woo Powell came and went for 1, falling LBW to Gainsford, but there was no way Seb was going to finish without some red ink next to his name.

Mark (7*) finished it off with a boundary, with Subsie finishing the innings 33* and the team delighted for him and for having beaten a good opposition comfortably, in the end, by 4 wickets.

The post mortem reveals that the overriding factors contributing to the team’s win were partnerships and sustained pressure.

The bowlers bowled well together, not allowing the visitors’ batsmen to settle and importantly, the bowlers were assisted very well by the fielders. The fielding has only been improving throughout the season and Saturday was a demonstration of how good fielding keeps pressure on a batting team and can give the bowlers increased confidence.

When chasing, Vandals formed two partnerships which broke the chase; firstly Dan & Connor’s stand of 31 to keep the opposition from settling and most importantly Connor & Subsie’s 74, which gave the hosts all control.

This was one of the more satisfying victories in recent times. The side’s performances are ever-improving and Vandals should go into next week knowing that if they do the basic things well again, 20 points are there for the taking.