Hi folks,

We're back. I didn't actually go anywhere, but was enjoying catching up with Strat and having a pepper steak pie.

Lawn 1 Greg Fletcher v Samir Patel, Samir leads 1-0

1. Samir to east boundary
2. Greg black to about a foot south of corner 2.

With Jose v James gone, this will be our feature match

Lawn 4 Paddy Chapman game all vs David Maloof

Paddy had hit early, but first go at hoop 1 appeared to be an unsuccessful attempt by Maloof - Paddy now on 1back on the first break of the game.

Lawn 5 Aiken Hakes v Stephen Mulliner, Aiken leads 1-0

LAwn 1: Samir shoots from the end of A baulk - hits!
Take-off to Greg in corner 2 is travelling... he has a rush!!!

Sorry Lawn 5... Aiken has had an equalising break and an NSL

Stephen checking things out... shooting from where red lies near hoop 2 - must be a big target! - hits black!! (that's the inlawn ball)

Samir rushed to 1, made it, rushed to east boundary, but played a slightly wimpy croquet stroke (my specialty) not getting a rush to 2 - tries to roll off hoop 2... doesnt get in tront - runs to peg high on the east boundary

Greg Fletcher has his choice of a couple of 11 yarders. Shooting at yellow west of hoop 2.

Paddy has completed the first break and has a spread.

Lawn 5 Stephen didn't get going, and has had a leave

Lawn 1: Turn 4: Greg shooting... hits.

Lawn 4: Maloof lifts red from the west boundary

Three games is a much easier pace.

LAwn 4. Maloof shooting... good follow-through, head down... looks up to watch hopefully - slips past the edge of something. Paddy with a delayed TP for the match

Meanwhile, Lawn 5: I think Aiken must have shot at something, but misses toward the middle of the north boundary. Stephen now taking off from black to blue along that boundary - looks a 5 yard takeoff, maybe 4 - needs to hit it hard enough. Yellow is at hoop 2, so there'll be nowhere to run to this time.

from south of hoop 3 - looks like the rush is pointing at hoop 4, so needs a bit of a cut.

Rushes black (partner) to a couple of yards north and west of the end of A baulk.

(that was greg fletcher - sorry - aline of commentary got lost there.

LAwn 5: Stephen down in a press up - he can run 1 to peg high (blue), hoop 2 (yellow) or off the north boundary (black) - nice to have some options.
Third re-stalk - "he's been on his belly three times". Fourth time...

Runs hoop 1 hard with a lot of wire - he's about 4 yards east of corner 2 - that makes the shot at black (mid north boundary) a bit longer!

Meanwhile, Greg Fletcher has failed to approach hoop 1 on lawn 1, and bounced off to the west boundary.
Samir with an 8 yarder (turn 5) ... misses to south of hoop 4.

Im' gonna change to italics... Greg Fletcher v Samir - henceforth italics.

7. Greg with his own 8 yarder... black hits blue., about quarter ball

rats. italics

LAwn 3: Briant v Carter.. looks like Carter wtih a supershot, Bryant to max position on the east boundary, Carter misses from corner 3 into corner 4, and Greg has missed partner from A baulk.

Lawn 4: Paddy is approaching 3. His hoop 4 pioneer is very short, and he has to play a decent cut to get yellow in front of three.

*Greg Fletcher rolls blue to the east boundary level with hoop 4, hits yellow on the south boundary, and it'll be a very big roll if he wants to try to do anything clever. Red is NW of hoop 3. *

Rolls to hoop 1 off yellow

Lawn 5 Stephen seems to have coped.. he is approaching 3 with a standard TP in front of him!! - quick press-up and runs hoop 3 past partner - it's a standard TP

Greg Fletcher has played an ok approach, but bounces out of hoop 1 -remember these are the new holes

Disaster on lawn 4.. Paddy takes off from hoop 3 to corner 4 "most difficult shot in the game" - gets a 3-4 yarder on the ball in corner 4 - misses!

Strat enquiring after the difficulty of the takeoff - why so hard?

"well firstly, you shouldn't even be playing it as you can get a rush out of hoop 3"

"secondly, if you hit it you will win the game"

"thirdly, it's a hell of a long way to move your striker's ball -up to 25 yards"

Greg Fletcher had a bit of luck - Samir can't see him and is shooting at partner near hoop 3. Misses. He should be able to smash through 1, as it looks fairly straight

Mulliner has made 4, rushed back up, and his peelee is well through 4back. Can he avoid an error here?

Greg Fletcher running hoop 1 hard... third time lucky at hoop 1? - no - huge rejection - bounces back about 4 yards.

John Prince is here!!!

This is why I'm not in the Bowl - miss all the action and spend a few days at Paraparaumu, or catch up with Strat, and John, and spend time with Michael and James and lots of others here... I hope JP is doing well at Para though.

Ok.. Samir hits the short shot at partner, takes off to blue, black is a nice looking 1b pioneer...

Maloof approaching hoop 1 from deep, off partner. I got distracted by John Prince's arrival and didn't see what he did to establish that opportunity for break. Racey player Mr Maloof - while i typed that he approached 1, ran 1, and has now rushed partner to the east boundary level with 4.

He won't be TPOing - Paddy has a fabulous record agaisnt TPOs.

Samir through hoop 1 with all the balls

Lawn 5: Stephen looks to have made 6, peeled penult, and puts black well to 2b, getting a rush to 1back that he'll have to cut a little. Pauses for a drink.

Samir's red ball is on 2 from that heroic third turn takeoff, and he's looking completely comfortable with all the balls at hoop 2 on a 4 ball break with yellow

Samir's hoop 4 pioneer is a shocker - about 3 yards SSE of hoop 4

Lawn 3: It looks like Greg Bryant failed hoop 1 to gift Christian a 4bb.

Samir puts red down as a shorter pioneer at 4, all good

Lawn 5: Stephen peels rover going to his 3back pioneer, and it's a quick pressup and through 3back.

Michael and James are back from lunch.

Someone has come and sat next to me... decided it's a bit hot, and tries to steal the chair. In defence of the chair - the chap is staying in the sun. Ho hum. Michael and James wander past

Samir up to hoop 5 on his break

Stephen has a long and angled 4back.. this looks very angled.

Fails 4back!!! - Chance for Aiken to take this match!!

Christian is through hoop 3 and has full control on lawn 3

Maloof still going.on lawn 4.

I wonder who this person next to me is - might be a croquet great I have not yet met. Lots of really interesting people turning up here.

Aiken has a great chance here - has a 4 yard lift, red will rush to yellow, yellow is north of hoop 1!

Hits.

Samir will have his same leave. My companion is off to watch Greg play.- I hope he gets to see him hit some balls!

Right..update...

LAwn 5: Aiken jawses black early, red to hoop 2, rushes to hoop 1... approaches badly - it's long and angled, is he havnig a jumpy go at it? - fails hoop off yellow.

Lawn 4: Maloof appears to have failed 1back, off partner. Blue and black are about 14 yards apart.

Lawn1: Samir's leave is turning a bit rough ... or was that deliberate???. Black is nice at hoop 2, but blue is directly east of hoop 4. He is for hoop 2, so it won't rush for Greg Fletcher to hoop 1, but I'm not sure he can get it to 2 either, and it gives something else of interest to shoot at.

Lawn 5: Stephen hits with his peg ball, is having a leave... blue off the south bouundary south of hoop 1, black towards hoop 2, and red and yellow will be in corner 3, offering Aiken a death shot.

LAwn 4: Paddy misses his 14 yarder.

It looks like Maloof is going to finish his break

Greg lifting blue from hoop 4 again. Why????

"Isn't that the most astonishing choice of lift shot you've ever seen?" - it seems I'm not alone

Greg Fletcher misses the long lift into a corner 4.

Aiken shooting - from hoop 2 towards corner 3.. misses - that should be it.

Stephen makes 4back, gets a rush to penult, approahces it well, and has a quick pressup.

Lawn 1: Samir grateful for Greg's choice of shot - rushes across, puts yellow to hoop 3, makes 2 and has a rush towards corner 4.

Hits it well, and pops black out a few yards from corner 4, getting a cut to hoop 3. Kindly warns us - there's a big verge and it's not my ankles I'm worried about. Fortunately doesn't go all out, and rushes to hoop 3.

Samir now has a standard TP for the match. Black is 3 yards out of corner 4, but he has full control

Peelee won't cooperate, but he rushes very well to near corner 4

Meanwhile, Maloof has equalised... 1 and 4back plays 4 and 4back (remember PAddy took off short from hoop 3 and missed)

Lawn 5: all the balls are off the lawn and Stephen is striding back towards us - Stephen wins game 2 26-9

Lawn 1: Samir doesn't look to be peeling anything - approaches 5 from a bit of distance

runs it cleanly, sorry we lost track - completely lost track!!!! - trying to get Andrew online for some commentary to split things up

Samir stuck in 6!

Lawn 3: Not sure who Greg got in but he's on hoop 4.

And in a break... that's Greg Bryant. Against Christian Carter, who has a ball around

Samir was trying to get some control through hoop 6. He sailed through 5. - was trying to get the peel after 6. "I shoulda just gone to the peg"

Lawn 4: Paddy must have missed some sort of lift, and Maloof is in play... nibbles his long rush on partner to hoop 2... he has misapproached hoop 2!! - will be leaving himself a rush to 2 from the north boundary.

lawn 1... Greg sails through. Samir confirm blue did rush to 2 - a very good leave then. The only explanation we can think for Greg Fletcher's choice of lifting blue from next to hoop 4 is that he forgot which hoop he was for.

Hakes v Mulliner game 3: they've started with a a corner 2 opening, and please head to a new commentary thread from Andrew Gregory for that match, and likely for Paddy v Maloof (Paddy has hit!!!)

!Lawn 1: Greg Fletcher has a 4 ball break. he's for hoop 2*

Lawn 3: Greg Bryant has rushed red off the north boundary, he's approaching his 1-back pioneer.

Not doing very well here on teh drinks front - I gave James Death $10 over an hour ago... where's that beer James??

Greg B through 1back, Greg F up to hoop 3. Both in full control

OK, I've still got Paddy v Maloof

Lawn 4: Paddy is sitting down again. Maloof has play with his hoop 1 ball

__Greg Fletcher has misapproached hoop 4 - he's past the hoop! - plays an excellent scatter... blue to west boundary next to hoop 2, black (striker ball) __

Sorry about that -Pete Trimmer turned up with some delicious mint Magnums. Very distracting, very yum.

Samir shot from in front of hoop 5 to south of hoop 4 - misses

Greg Fletcher shot at Samir's balls - misses

remember Samir is 6 and 4back, having stuck in 6 trying to run it with control to have a go at peeling 4back before 1back

yellow is on the west boundary level with hoop 2, has a longish approach to 6, not going to stick in that one! Doesn't hit much of his return roquet - he was trying to rush that off the south boundary to get to black which is about 4 yard north of the end of A baulk

Meanwhile...

Lawn 3: Christian hit the short lift and had to jump through hoop 1 - a good croquet stroke would give him a shot at a standard TP

Lawn 4

David Maloof is on a standard TP! Sorry I lost track of that - communication error and I'm not sure how Maloof got back into the balls.maybe a missed lift.

Had a tight peel of 4back after 3, and is now setting to run 6 and peel penultimate

Lawn 5: Check out Andrew Gregory's commentary. all I can say here is... Stephen is striding purposefully after a ball.

Lawn 1 Samir rushes to 2back. No peels coming here, but, disasters aside, Samir will finish up on 4b and the peg here

LAwn 4: Maloof's peel has bounced off to the side.

Yup, it looks a bit like a disaster - Samir has a lot of wire running 3back, and is lining up a sweep at yellow. It'll be clean... and he makes it look very easy. Minor wrinkle, more than disaster

Lawn 3: Christian isn't peeling anything, and it's hard to tell which hoop he's even on - aah - Joe Hogan confirms he's on hoop 4 - has rushed to a nice position to approach 3back from!

Christian's blue and yellow are kind of north and west of hoop 4

Lawn 4: Maloof still has red in front of penult, makes 2back and has rushed back towarsd penult. Looks like we're having a death roll going to 3back. That's a long peel.

Tries the peel - was way too long, but gets very lucky as red bounces back to not too bad a position.

Just to close an earlier conversation off, I got the desired result on the commentary whinge about beer... Ellen saw it on her second screen, advised James - who is an excellent chap, and came out to advise that they won't hand over any alcoholic beverages until teh bar manager arrives. Aargh. Dry Kelburn.

Lawn 4... Maloof has run 3b by miles, hit blue and takes off back to black - creams it miles past 4back -has a 3 yard backward takeoff - or can surrender the TP and get a rush on red to the hoop - sensible man!

Lawn 1: Strat "This is proving to be a game worthy of the counties" - Samir sticks in rover with yellow and blue at the peg.

Maloof rushes across, takes off from red 6 yards south of 4back (I hate that takeoff) ... ends up north of 4back - Paddy's alive again!!!

Lawn 3: Christian seems to be having a slightly untidy ball around. I don't believe he'll be too bothered.

Andrew Gregory is doing another lap - he's doing a commentary but needs to be in the clubhouse to get a connection (my phone is not cooperating either), and he's commentating on lawn 5!!)

Christian puts black to 4back, has a few balls to choose to make 3b off.

Lawn 1: Greg has a rush to hoop 4 from the middle of the lawn

Lawn 3: Christian is through 3back. He's heading to the peg, his other ball is no 4back, and Greg Bryant is 1 and 4back. Christian is game up.

OOps - Christian's ball heading to penult hammers into his pivot and he has to hit something a few yards away - looks relieved to hit it

Lawn 4: Paddy hits his 4 yard lift. He is 4 and 4back. Must be playing with his hoop 4 ball, as he had a choice of balls. Maloof is penult and 4back.

Wee croquet stroke and Paddy doesn't have a rush to 4.Tries to cut it - gets way too much of it, and he'll be approaching 4 from the east boundary next to it. Needs a decent croquet stroke to get things back under way.

Lawn 4: Paddy approaches 4 - it looks very angled.. bounces back. Took a bit of near wire. This is off Maloof's penult ball. It might be wired.

Lawn 1... Greg Fletcher coped well with his rush to 4 - overdid it slightly, but great line, and took off well backwards, now through

Chris Clarke wanders by to ask Joe how much the Fried Prawns and Noodles are... something about Joe's hat. Then shakes down James for last night's dinner - Beijing Chinese restaurant - was delicious. We had the duck wtih pancakes and orange beef.

LAwn 4: Maloof was cross-wired from the ball that failed 4. Joins partner near corner 2.

Paddy has a 10 yarder from hoop 4 to about the peg.

Lawn 3: Christian now 4b and peg. Looks to be having something ugly in the way of an old standard leave.

LAwn 4: Paddy hits!!! - lovely smooth shot. Too much over-hitting this tournament - some of the kiwi youngsters smashing things around. They're all good shots, but some of the huge thrashes looked ugly.

*Lawn 1: Greg Fletcher is through 1back, but he's hampered, and has a long shot at yellow. Seemed to be wanting to do something angled, but probably safer to have his fist through the hoop?

Gets a lot of action on it.. misses!

Lawn 4: Paddy approaches back from a bit of distance - crunches through and the yellow clip bounces off the hoop.

Lawn 3: Greg's facing his last shot potentially. Christian had a defensive leave... black a couple of yards in from the west boundary, blue mid east boundary, Christian tight in corner 4.

"He deserves to lose the game now because he's giving his oppo one more shot".

The gallery are not happy that Samir is playing his rover ball rather than playing to make 3 hoops and the peel.

It did look like you could get a nice rover pioneer. I reckon he'll make rover, lay up near corner 3 wired from an oppo ball and give a 30 yarder.

No - he's planning to crosswire at 1 and give a tea lady. Crunches through rover... remember he failed it last time - can see why he doesn't fancy the peel, though it does seem like a decent option

LAwn 3: Greg takes is lift, leaves blue mid east boundary...shoots, swings across it. misses. At least he missed to the right, avoiding giving a promotion, but no comfort there.

Back to plan A: blue towards the west boundary next to hoop 1, black up to hoop 3, and he'll hit behind hoop 3

hide. not hit hide.

Oh dear - battery might not survive this.

PAddy now 4 and peg. Yellow near corner 2, red mid east boundary, blue and black in corner 4. Maloof 4back and penult. Paddy now favourite for this one.

Christian has just failed 4back!!! Off a deep blue ball

Samir in trouble... seemed to choose to cannon black away a bit, now has to roll from quite a distance to get a wire.

Christian having the hoop being checked. Graeme Roberts on the lawn to assist with checking yellow. Good to see they are checking all diameters. Christian hopeful. The gallery aren't convinced even if it's too tight that the tightness caused a hoop fail.

Maloof lifts red and shoots at partner in corner 2 ... misses

*Samir looks like he has left things open... wandering around the middle of the lawn "waiting for the grass to grow to move red and yellow". James off to check (..on the bar)

LAwn 3: Greg Bryant is still in this ... there is no replay at 4back.

Paddy in play in corner 4, with Maloof joined up in corner 2. Cuts partner to hoop 4.

Greg shooting with blue from the north boundary... hits yellow out of 4back.

James advises "yellow is technically wired, but I can hit the middle of it"

Samir calls a ref and he's going to do some sort of scatter. This doesn't look possible... Ian Vincent on to watch

Paddy through 4 and he has a rush to 5. Takes the rush, but it's a bit short!

Greg rushes to hoop 1, but it's with his 4back ball, so this is a leave

Approaches 5 sending black just past the peg. Bit angly... and he bounces back. gets a bit of near wire.

Greg Fletcher now has a ball and a third.

Lawn 4: Maloof rushes partner down, puts it to rover, rushes blue to the side (that'll make getting the rush from peg to penult a little harder...)

LAwn 4: Maloof croqueting blue towards corner 3 - he's doing a lot here. Has to cut black to penult now.... creams it to north of hoop 2 - pressure getting on there!!

Lawn 5: Greg B's having a leave

Remember Greg's game down, PAddy and Maloof in the decider

Lawn 4 Maloof takes off to penult. It's straight, but long. TAkes care, hits it smoothly... it's off the south boundary! - he has a looong return at his partner at rover. Dribbles back at partner. And he's now joined up in the middle of the lawn...

Maloof is 4b and rover. And he's joined up at hoop 5 - Paddy's hoop.

Shooting for the match... misses...

Lawn 3: Christian shooting from hoop 1... misses.

David hits partner, approaches rover... creams through (again!) to the boundary - he has a very long return roquet - 8 yards?

Misses!!!

That should be it. Paddy has a 7 yarder with blue, at black at hoop 2, red is on the north boundary, yellow is 2-3 yards south of hoop 5

Paddy... hits!!!

Top, top time to have the battery run out.

Paddy takes off, makes 5, through 6 to the boundary - he has a 4 ball break for the match!!

Bryant through 1, has creamed through 3, middles his return roquet - it's a delayed TP

Greg Fletcher runs 1back, has a hampered stroke? - has a leave at 2back - seems to have a nice leave - he's on 3back, red is NE of hoop 5, and yellow a few yards south of corner 3. Samir shooting with yellow - looking at it - looks interested... misses!

Greg F has a quad to equalise

Paddy through 2back on a 4 ball break

Greg F doesn't fancy picking off yellow in corner 1, makes 1 off partner, rushes it across to red, croquets it to well south of three, getting a rush to hoop 2.

Greg F approaching 2 from miles away - runs a long hoop very cleanly.

Paddy finishing. He's on penult and peg. very tight break.

Greg B has peeld 4back.

Approaches 6. He's jumping it!!! - he's good at these... not that one. Fails hoop 6.

Brian Boutel wanders past the south boundary - Aiken had taken off and was shooting into corner 4 at oppo ball.. Brian wanders further... Aiken comes over for a chat... needs to cool down and reset.

Greg F through 3, hits black, has a roll, yellow still in corner 1.

Christian has a short shot with red (for the peg) or a long one with yellow (4back).. plays yellow and hits red... he'll finish from here

Christian rolls red to penult, rushes black to blue, and rushes blue... into the back of 4back!!! - it's bad - it's a backward takeoff, just avoids position A, I think, but not the best option

Takes off... sticks in 4back again - looking carefully at things, but Greg is pouncing onto the lawn

Lawn 1. Greg Fletcher still on a 3 ball break - runs hoop 5 carefully... no wire.. it's up to red at hoop 6! ... now it's a 1.5 ball break

JAmes has a lovely option for Greg Bryant
... leave yellow there, play blue, take it to the peg, peg red out, and lay up south of 3back - that would leave no shot for yellow.

No - he can see yellow - hits yellow. can go to the peg, have red off, and be 6 and peg vs 4back alone, with no lift.

Paddy Chapman wins round 2!!!

I'd use bigger markup, but Chris's keyboard is whacky and I can't find the right symbol

Lawn 3: Greg B making penult
.

LAwn 1: Greg Fletcher ran 1back down to hoop 5, hit black, which is now near the east boundary. He hits red - rushing it off the west boundary more than peg high, and remember he's conceding a lift and yellow is still in corner 1.

A slightly dejected looking David Maloof and his two mallets coming back. Paddy will be pleased to turn things around from last time and play in the quarter final tomorrow

*Greg Fletcher approaching 2back from corner 1. He took off from red. Yellow's going along the south boundary, but it's yellow that wants to play, so he only stands to lose the innings if he doesn't approach it... he doesn't approach it "it's a pathetic shot really" (that gallery - sheesh)

He's well short, doesn't even have a shot at 2back. He's off into corner 2, and will need to hit in again

*
Samir can have a go at rushing yellow to peeling position, and retire into corner 3 if that doesn't work*

Lawn 3: Greg Bryant rushing to sort out his leave, rushes yellow into the peg! - it's red that's for the peg, so not that big a disaster, but it's messy. Red is north of penult, black is next to rover. He'll need some good shots to get a leave here.

LAwn 1: Deja vu! - Samir rushing yellow across the lawn to sort out some kind of leave, rushes yellow onto the peg!

Greg and Samir both taking croquet near the peg, off yellow (different striker's balls)

*
Samir croquets yellow to corner 3, nowhere near black which is NE of hoop 4... doesn't fancy that and plays to partner.. blue might have a monster double there!*

*
Samir croquets yellow to corner 3, nowhere near black which is NE of hoop 4... doesn't fancy that and plays to partner.. blue might have a monster double there!*

Lawn 3: Greg B puts yellow really deep next to hoop 4. leaves red at hoop 6, and lays up on the west boundary just north of hoop 1.

*Lawn 1: Greg Fletcher shoots from corner 2 at Samir in corner 3. Misses - that should be that - Samir is for 4back and peg.

Stops blue north of 4back, rushes short of 4back, stops red halfway to penult, and crashes through 4back off the boundary

SAmir through 4back, hits blue, and it's not a bad place to put it to rover from. He's approaching penult from a bit far away... will be running a straight penult from a little distant.. red's at the peg.. yellow -- gets a stack of wire... but it has flopped to the side a bit - he has a 6.5 yarder, with a slightly hampered backswing.. hits it in the middle, and that should be that.

Lawn 3.. Christian shooting with his peg ball (from hoop 6) at Greg Bryant's balls (north of hoop 1). Hits!!!

Christian hits Greg's hoop 6 ball, rushing blue to the peg... it's a looong pegout...

Samir wins game 2 26-15 and therefore the match 2-0

Just the one match
to focus on now, and it could be a cracker

Christian pegging out from 5 yards... nails it. nearly rolls onto the peg.

Greg Bryant is game down, and hoop 6 and box. Christian is 4back and peg

No lift for Greg, and he has the width of the court for the game, or he can wait and see if he gets a lift (i.e. if Christian can make 4b and fail to finish)

Christian retired to partner. Greg shooting at red.. (the northmost ball)... watching..hits!

Not only hits - he cuts it back behind yellow. Great chance to finish now.

When I say "finish", I mean force a decider.

It's 4.09 pm. We're in game 2.

Stops red out south of hoop 4. Has a good rush towards hoop 6.

Rushes it a bit short. Approaches it well short... runs a long hoop really well - but now he has about a 7 yard return...

He loves this sort of game

Hits it - doesn't get a lot on it and 1back and red area looong way apart.

Rolling yellow to 2back, red is south of hoop 4... needs to play this well. He's very good at croquet strokes (and hitting the ball straight, and hoop strokes.. generally very good really)

Rolls yellow well wide of hoop 1 (towards west boundary), and has a 3 yard rush on red to 1back. ... cuts it to the middle of the east boundary!

The quarter finals are here tomorrow - I really hope they move the hoops on lawn 2!!
!

Best quote I've heard today... "they're supposed to be playing best of 5 tomorrow, so they might start half an hour earlier, at 9". It's 4.16pm and they're in game 2! I'll admit, I was a very strong voice for this current
round NOT being best of five

Greg Rolls to 1back - doesn't get position, but has a squeeze - longish position at 1back. Red runs to corner 3

Greg makes an excellent 1back, but it's only halfway down the lawn, and he's looking at red in corner 3?

Resisting spoilers on lawn 5.

Greg shooting at red in corner 3... absolutely nails hoop 3, the yellow clip bounces off. Black bounces straight back. If he can see red in corner 3 he has an outstanding leave. If he can't red it's a disaster as yellow will be able to shoot into corner 3 for a killer leave. (although black is in decent position to jump 4back - that could be fatal

Nope - black can see red, as red looks like it's joining up with yellow - at 2back!

We heard from Samir that he didn't play his 4b ball when he was 4b and rover and had a choice as the fast bit on the lawn was in front of 4back, and he didn't fancy rushing there from 20 yards. He did concede that trying that was favourable to having a leave with the balls open.

Christian plays red to wired from Greg near corner 3. Yellow is at 2back.

Greg going for the jump stroke!!! 3 yards...

Lining it up - he's a man for the big strokes. ... the chap who tried to pinch my chair earlier is on a seat in firing range...

Hits it well.. almost too well... might have bounced over the top! Misses anyway

Just saying goodbye to David and Mieke Maloof (sorry about my spelling!) - they're off to tour the South Island... hopefully we'll get to see them again
before they leave NZ

Christian taps black, takes off to yellow, and rolls them towards corner 4.

Greg lining up his shot from corner 3 to corner 4.

Does he have a target??

Looking... gives up as the ball passes hoop 4 as it has wandered off.

Aiken's very unhappy with an interaction he had when disrupted in his break. I do feel for him, as I find people moving around really distracting (women's worlds 2011 comes to mind... - I think they were supporting me, but they wanted to watch where the shot went... from the other end of it. .. good grief!)

Aiken's very unhappy with an interaction he had when disrupted in his break. I do feel for him, as I find people moving around really distracting (women's worlds 2011 comes to mind... - I think they were supporting me, but they wanted to watch where the shot went... from the other end of it. .. good grief!)

Meanwhile.. Christian takes croquet from black, rushes red to 4back... nope - he's laying up (very) tight in corner .. it's a reverse rush... great spot Joe

Greg spotted it too.. plays to.... trying to take position at 2back! Various opinions on what to do - no one fancied taking posi, and it's a really poor shot.

Samir "position's alright, but it's hard to get". Going into corner 2 was interesting - gets you a shorter shot, and hard to wire from. mid west boundary I think has many options to get a wire.

Samir "position's alright, but it's hard to get". Going into corner 2 was interesting - gets you a shorter shot, and hard to wire from. mid west boundary I think has many options to get a wire.

Christian turns his rush around, must be wired too

Greg plays to above peg high on the east boundary – threatening – remember Christian has stuck in this twice.

Christian rushes red to 4back… he has smashed this! – approaches from about 3 yards.. puts red deep – that’s a good red – and he runs 4back off the lawn to get a nice rush pointing at penult…

Having a few internet issues at this crucial juncture. Anyway, rushes to penult, approaches pretty well – about a foot and a half and 10 degrees. He’s contemplating this – might be more angly. Christian has conceded a lift. He shoots yellow off the west boundary peg high.

Joe Hogan hates this – gives a free shot up from A baulk at yellow – then another back down. I’m with Joe!

Strat "Joe, do you have
a lyre bird in NZ". Joe "no, and that's the truth!" (you have to read it out to get that!)

Greg's down in corner 1, taking his lift, shooting at yellow - hitting this is a finish.

Hits it to massive applause - he has rushed it off corner 2! - hoop 2 is now slightly in play, but he'll be happy to be taking croquet again.

Greg rolls out, has a 5 yard rush to 2back, and a very good 3back pioneer.

Casting,,,hits strikers ball 3 yards. Has to replace it... Stalking... great rush - rushes it a foot to the side. Takes off to position, runs 2back to the boundary, hits the 6 yarder. Red 7 yards short of 4back going to yellow - had a difficult angle to get it any higher. Greg's such an awesome big game player

Makes 3back, rushes yellow up, should finish here. Good God - Joe is ecstatic at the idea of a third game after 5pm. We might not have a commentary on that sorry!

Yellow well to penult, has a rush to 4back. Rushes red a little poorly and he's a couple of yards to the side of 4back. Approaching 4back. Not a great shot - bit of angle here - don't want this at this stage.

Runs 4b smoothly? - nooo - firmly sticks in 4back. It was that rush to 4back. The only saving grace is that red and yellow are the useful way around. Christian will play his red ball.

They are on lawn 3 and Christian is up from the shelter... and striding back to the clubhouse to get his mallet. He knows he's in NZ - kiwi great Bob Jackson was well known for putting his mallet away and thereby extracting a platinum stopping bisque.

Christian is a tad faster than Greg (once he gets his mallet!), and has rushed black off near corner 4, taking off back to partner north of penult. Remember it's his peg ball. Greg for 4back and box, Christian for penult (yellow) and peg (red)

Takes off to yellow - he has smashed that... but hits his roquet on partner - and he's rolling into corner 2.

Chris's recommendations... always shoot when oppo is past 4back.

Greg lining up a very very long shot.

Shooting - he's watching that!!! - hits the middle of red from about 37 yards!!!

Hi Eugene, Tobi and Fiona, and many others who have written very kind comments. Sorry to everyone for me not playing in the Bowl. I withdrew last night, felt some regret, but really enjoy doing commentaries. And twisted my back a little last night, so not that keen to go up to Paraparaumu and be out of the action. But relaly sorry to everyone who was kind enough to pick me in their fantasy team - I really did intend to be there!

Meanwhile Greg has underhit his rush to 4back -he's 3-4 yards west of 4back. Playing his croquet stroke - he has a 2 yarder, and seems to be standing on the east boundary peg high lining it up...

the kiwi youngsters will go nuts if he runs it...

nope - Atkins hoops determined to have the final say - I believe it may have bounced out to dead in front

Christian shooting at partner. But can Greg run to have a shot at a double? Christian is now 10 yards apart...what can Greg do?

Lots of Bowl and Plate people have returned. I'm sitting with Annabel who is reminiscing with Joe - she's just lovely. Such a really really really lovely person :) (no, I'm not trying to get a round!)

Greg's mallet is in the air - what's he after? - hard to tell - he doesn't look very happy, He has asked for the hoop to be reset... yellow is clearly the biggest ball on the paddock - Ian Vincent is there - he's chatting to Christian - Christian won't be happy - he's already through 4b. Ian has yellow and is checking - nope - that hoop won't be reset.

Josh F "That's an AC jump shot - he could have run that flat" - anyway, Greg plays a nice wee hop to get through 4back. What now though? - Joe Hogan fancies going into corner 2.

Good grief - half a Tui and Joe's singing!

And... Greg's into corner 2. Good advice Joe.

16% battery on Chris's device now.

Christian contemplating his options... plays red to near corner 4

Greg has a 17 yarder at yellow down the west boundary

Shoots... hits!

Trying to croquet yellow to rover taking position at penult from the middle of west boundary - looks excellent, and Joe leads the applause! He's angled, but he's fancying it

Stalking... runs penult by 2 yards ... can shoot at yellow at rover (12 yards) or red (about 17 yards and it's the peg ball and you win if you hit it)

Just misses.

Christian rushes black into corner 4. takes off to partner. He must be wondering if there's anywhere at the venue he can hide there Greg can't hit him

Just heard the sad news from Joe Hogan that Geoff Young is in hospital with some health concerns. Best wishes to Geoff and Phyllis and their family for a swift recovery for Geoff.

Greg now in corner 4. Christian in corner 2. He'll have another go at this - hit the l
ast one in the middle

Shoots... doesn't look that happy, and watches it sail harmlessly between red and yellow

Can Christian hold his nerve and finish from here??

First croquet stroke isn't great. Black to halfway between 1 and 2, but not a great rush on red.
Has to cut it ... plays an excellent shot to rush red to in front of penult.

Runs penult calmly to get a rush on red to black - red to the peg, rushes black to rover.. rush of blood - he's a yard SE of rover.

Taking off... has a 1 yard hoop! .. Maloof ran rover and missed a return roquet to go out of the worlds... Christian..

... has bounced out of rover... and will now find himself in a decider.

Christian rover and peg, Greg is on rover alone, has a 3 yarder for the game. To take us into a decider.

Wasn't nerves I reckon - was just a longish angled hoop I think.

Greg rushes yellow to red. has a rush on red to rover, having croqueted yellow to hoop 2. Rushes really well to rover - that rush to rover is the shot Christian will rue badly.

Greg rushed to 2 feet in front of rover - approaches to a foot - runs it smoothly to give a 3 yard rush to the peg.. Annabel wants a grievous! - Greg doesn't, and has a 6 yard take off to win game 2 +3

It's 5.32 pm. Two games are completed. Best of 5. Yeah, right.

12% battery. The work laptop is in the clubhouse charging, but it has been a long time... Chris is coming.. Andrew is coming... the verdict... it looks like we're off for dinner and might return for the end.

Noooo... the quarter finals are indeed best of 5... but they will have utterly ridiculous time limits of... 2.5 4.5 6.5 8.5 10.5 So the worlds quarter finals could be decided on golf croquet scores. awful. really awful.

Surely best of three with no time limits is preferable??

The decision is... we're going to go out to eat, to a Thai on Taranaki street, and we'll be back to pick up the action if they are still going, when we get back. Someone might keep you updated. Back tomorrow if not later tonight!