Away to Middlesex Titans this week, a ground we've played at plenty of times before and normally seem to end up having a close game on.
When we arrived, they were still getting the ground ready and with about five minutes to go before the start, the boundary rope was still on a massive roller being wheeled around the outfield. It all looked a little chaotic, but they got there in the end and we got started.
I won the toss and chose to bowl first.
Will and Dan opened the bowling for us.
Dan had only just recovered from being ill, although judging by the coughing and sniffing, "recovered" might be a bit generous. Halfway through his run up you'd hear a cough, a groan or some other strange noise, but somehow he still came charging in and gave absolutely everything.
Dan: 4 overs, 1 for 17
Will was really good at the other end. He kept things tight and made the batsmen work for their runs.
It was only once we'd started bowling that we realised just how unpredictable the wicket was. Some balls were getting up, others were staying really low and there wasn't much warning as to which one you were going to get. Will found that out in the best possible way when one stayed low and got him his first wicket.
Will: 9 overs, 2 maidens, 1 for 37
Their batsmen pretty much all seemed to have the same idea. Come in, have a swing, hit a four or a six and then have another go.
The important thing for us was not getting carried away when they did connect with a couple. That was the chat all the way through. If one goes over your head, so what. Get back into position and concentrate on the next ball because another chance will come.
And it did.
Every time they started getting a partnership going, we managed to break it.
Shrikant bowled really well and kept picking up wickets at important times.
Shrikant: 9 overs, 3 for 37
Bloyce also bowled a really good spell and was very unlucky not to get a wicket. Four overs for five runs on that wicket was a great little spell and he gave them absolutely nothing.
Bloyce: 4 overs, 2 maidens, 0 for 5
Coxy kept things under control through the middle and gave us another really good spell.
Coxy: 8 overs, 2 maidens, 1 for 35
Then we had Collo.
Collo has torn ligaments in his bowling arm. Not his other arm. His actual bowling arm.
He still somehow produced the best figures of the day.
Collo: 7.5 overs, 2 maidens, 3 for 18
I'm not quite sure how that works, but maybe when he's fully fit we'll ask him to bowl left handed just to keep things fair.
Dan spent most of the rest of the innings coughing and spluttering away at fine leg. Nobody really needed to ask where he was fielding because you could hear him from the other side of the ground.
The fielding was good as well. We caught everything that came to us and everyone kept geeing each other on. The outfield was bumpy, but to be fair I don't think there are many outfields around at the moment that aren't.
We kept picking up wickets whenever they threatened to get away from us and Tigers finished on 164 all out from 41,5 overs.
We'd got through their innings quicker than expected and tea wasn't ready, so we had around 15 overs to bat before the break.
My team talk was very simple.
Don't do anything stupid. Don't give your wicket away. Just get us through to tea.
We were short of our normal openers, so I decided I'd step up and open.
I followed my own instructions perfectly for three balls. Then on the fourth I completely lost my head, tried to biff one over extra cover and spooned it straight into cover's hands.
Sam: 0
I was absolutely fuming with myself walking off. Not just because it was such a poor shot, but because after spending the team talk telling everyone not to give their wicket away, I'd gone out and done exactly that. More than anything, I was frustrated that I'd let the side down when we had a very gettable target in front of us.
Amila followed and the whole idea of calmly getting through those opening overs wasn't exactly going to plan.
Amila: 0
Tea eventually arrived and, to be fair to them, it was decent. A good selection of sandwiches, which at least gave me something positive to think about after my four ball masterclass.
After tea Liam and Rehan started getting us going again.
Liam batted really nicely. Nothing silly, just kept nurdling it around, finding the gaps and timing the ball well.
Liam: 26 from 28 balls
Rehan played some lovely shots, especially through the covers and a couple of really nice on drives. Unfortunately he eventually got one that stayed low and that was him gone.
Rehan: 30 from 33 balls
Coxy then did exactly what was needed. With the ball still going up and down, he just made sure they weren't getting through him. He batted sensibly, held an end up and kept us moving towards the target.
Coxy: 33 from 36 balls
Will came in and didn't hang around too long, getting a boundary away before receiving a very good yorker which did for him.
Will: 4 from 6 balls
They had their first eleven bowler playing in the twos because apparently he'd been struggling with his back. His back seemed to improve considerably once we started playing him comfortably, as suddenly there was a bit more pace coming down.
To be fair, he ended up bowling well and, along with another bowler who used the wicket really well and kept getting his yorkers in, they started to put us under pressure and wickets began to fall.
That's when Shrikant played probably the most important innings of the day for us.
It was completely different to last week. Last week he came out and tried to smash everything everywhere. This time he realised exactly what we needed.
He didn't try to win the game in an over. He just kept rotating the strike, knocking singles around and waiting for the bad ball. When it came, he put it away, including a couple of really nice shots over extra cover.
Shrikant: 29 from 47 balls
Dan then came in and tried to stick around with Shrikant. After everything he'd put into the bowling earlier, he battled for 13 balls and added a few valuable runs before eventually being bowled.
Dan: 6 from 13 balls
George Bloyce was next and his job was pretty obvious. Stay there, support Shrikant and try to help us get this over the line. He battled away for 13 balls and did his best to hang around before eventually being bowled.
George Bloyce: 2 from 13 balls
Shrikant kept slowly bringing the target down until suddenly the game was right there.
Then he got hit on the pads and their umpire gave him LBW.
Let's just say there were a few of us who weren't completely convinced.
Collo then came in and, even with the dodgy bowling arm, tried to get us those last few runs. He managed a couple before he was bowled.
Collo: 2 from 3 balls
We somehow got ourselves to the point where we only needed six runs to win. Their first eleven bowler then took the final two wickets and that was that.
Divyan was left stranded at the other end, not out, having only faced two balls and not really getting the chance to do anything about it.
Divyan: 0 not out
Five runs.
That was all that was in it.
Southgate 159 all out
Middlesex Tigers won by 5 runs
That's the frustrating thing about losing by five. You can look back at so many little moments. A single we didn't take, a boundary we could have stopped, one extra, one bad ball or one shot we didn't need to play. Any of them could have been the difference.
But we stayed in the game right until the end. We bowled well, caught our catches, kept going when they attacked us and then fought our way right back into the chase after a poor start.
We've already played Headstone Manor and beaten them, but we still have Peshwa, Perivale Phoenicians and Willow Leather, all above us in the table, still to play.
It's 10 points for a win and we've used up our second chances now.
The good thing is the teams we need to catch are still there for us to play.
So it's pretty simple from here.
We have to win.
