On a weekend of torrential rain over most of Lombardy, the troops that set off with Tony Sample for Mantua held little hope that the game would actually take place. Having driven through several belts of rain, they were therefore pleasantly surprised to find bright sunshine on arrival.  Massimbona is an attractive little village & the local lads had obviously worked hard to prepare the ground, even remembering to include in one corner the pile of manure now apparently mandatory throughout Italy & many parts of the continent. The pitch played well, the only drawback being the gravel incomprehensibly left at each end which left the bowlers struggling to stay upright.

Ayubowan won the toss & confidently elected to bat. Indeed most of the selection of Mantuan Singhs proved to be more than competent with the willow. Of the Euratom bowlers only talented all-rounder Nadeem Iqbal was able to contain the opposition, bowling a very tidy 1 for 17 off 7 overs.  For Ayubowan Sarbjeet Singh shone above the rest & powered his way to a well-deserved 103 before being caught off Vipul’s bowling.  Bikramjit Singh chipped in with a useful 36 before being bowled by Vipul, who then also had Kulwinder Singh caught for 22. Finally the Sri Lankan not only had Mandeep Singh caught for just 9 but then also ran out Kuljeet Singh for 1. Sathiya Dasarathan, who with a good throw had run out Dilawar Singh for a duck, then bowled Parwinder Singh for 28. At the end of the regulation 40 overs Zaheer was left on 36 with his partner Bunty on 2, Ayubowan closing on 307 for 8.

By the time Tony Sample & Arfan Butt took the field to open the Euratom reply, occasional spots of rain were already starting to hit the players.  The Ayubowan bowlers were quick but not outstanding & Satwinder Singh especially struggled to find the right line. After Tony Sample was unlucky to be run out for just 3, it was only in the 8^th over that Satwinder was able to produce a better delivery to bowl Vipul for 4 with the score on 30. Arfan was batting steadily & when he was joined at the crease by Naeem Iqbal the scoring rate rose sharply. The pair put on another 22 runs before Arfan was deceived by Palwinder’s third ball to be sent back for a solid 27. Sumith Katunayakage fell quickly for just 1 to a great slip catch off Mandeep, but then Nadeem Iqbal joined his brother in the middle & the boundaries started to flow. At 92 for 4 after 16 overs the target may have looked a long way off but it was by no means unreachable for the strong Ispra batting line-up. However the black clouds that had been threatening for some time finally rumbled & burst forth & the players ran for cover from a cold rain which quickly turned to torrential hail. After 15 minutes of shelter the two disconsolate teams agreed to call it a day.

As the side batting second hadn’t received at least half their total overs, the game was declared a draw. By the time bonus points had been added in, Ayubowan scored 11 points & Euratom 10 points, which was probably a fair reflection of the day’s play.

Match Awards:  Sarbjeet Singh’s century was outstanding for Ayubowan but for Euratom  Vipul Fernando gets the Man of the Match award for his four wickets & one run out. Naeem Ullah on the other hand, who missed his train to the match, is the first person to win the Golden Banana without actually playing! Good weather for ducks it was not & for once Mario Mallard was left unclaimed.