Plucky bowling effort fails to prevent second defeat on India tour

Hampton School 114 all out (49.1 overs, Ford 29*)

Jwala Academy Mumbai 122 – 5 (26.3 overs, Seth 3-34) 

Jwala Academy win by five wickets

Hampton School’s 1st XI came up against a formidable Jwala Academy Mumbai eleven in the second match of their Indian tour, losing by five wickets.

The tourists, who lost the toss and were put in to bat, found themselves facing penetrative bowling on an early morning pitch damp with overnight dew but drying rapidly.

The result was wickets lost early on, with the tourists reduced to 29 – 4 in the ninth over. Sharp Academy bowling backed by attacking fields intensified the pressure on the batting side with three Hampton batsmen run out.

Only late hitting by Tom Chandler (16) and Mikey Ford (29 not out) brought up three figures for the tourists after the Academy invited all fourteen Hampton players to bat.

In reply, Hampton were once again indebted to their spinners for keeping them in the game, with Kyle Seth (3-34) and Matt Avant-Smith (1 – 11 off five overs) leading the fight-back after leg-spinner Gurmehar Sumra took a wicket with his first ball.

But a high-quality knock from Academy opener Henry Hamilton (45) and polished contributions from the middle order saw the home side to victory in the 27th over.

The Hampton team return tomorrow to the Mumbai Maidan for their second match against the Vengsarkar Academy, aiming to build on the lessons learned with two tough games behind them.