Here’s the latest from your correspondent on the spot in Cheltenham:

The day started with a grey, leaden sky which eventually burst into torrential rain about 3O mins into South Africa’s match against Spain. The team struggled on valiantly in their not-so waterproof waterproofs, until the tournament manager called a halt. The lawns were flooded and photos will prove how uneven are these seemingly perfect lawns. 9O mins later, play resumed – Victor made short work of his still sodden opponent, William defeated his Spaniard but sadly Judith’s opponent showed superb form on the now slow, damp lawns.

After lunch, SA played a friendly match against Jersey, just as a filler because Ireland pulled out at the last moment. Victor and Judith won their matches but William took advantage of the fact that tbe match didn’t count and allowed his opponent to beat him!

The final match of the day against Switzerland started at 19h3O in brilliant sunshine. Victor beat his opponent at golf croquet very qiuckly. William’s opponent missed his rover peel when William was still on 2 and 4 back. William then managed to peg out both his balls to win the match, despite a couple of tricky moments which had the fan club sitting on the edge of their seats! As I write Judith is still battling it out with her Swiss opponent and it is almost 1Opm and we are driving home. We know that we have won the match in any case and will definitely go through to the knockout tomorrow.

Final results:

SA – Spain: 2-1
SA – Jersey: 2-1
SA – Switzerland: 2- 1

More news tomorrow…