After a drubbing in the field at the hands of HWG's opener Faisal (160), Pacific came close to an unlikely win as Sam and Tom put on 206 for the third wicket, chasing 291.

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A new-look HWG took advantage of Ally Pally's short boundary from the off and a flying start became a flying first 25 overs. Opener Faisal pumelled an almost chanceless 160, with Shaz's wobble and Sheldon's pace becalming him briefly and taking wickets at the other end. The slower bowlers took the brunt of the punishment as HWG looked like they would easily hit 300.

After two balls of Tom's new look dobblers the dangerman was out and HWG called it a day on 291 for 7. Despite feeling unwell, skipper Steve kept Pacific positive in the field during the onslaught and the 314 scored on the adjacent pitch showed it was a day for big totals.

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After tea Pacific's openers set out to play their normal game without a chase or a draw in mind. Unfortunately Steve and James' normal games left us 6 for 2 after seven overs. Tom survived a big shout for caught behind thanks to Tony's hearing loss, but Sam looked in good nick from the start.

With the pressure on Pacific and HWG's 19 year old paceman's tail up, Sam turned up the heat in a supreme display of counter-attacking batting. All of HWG's very useful bowlers were dispatched over the ropes at some point, and as the last 20 arrived, an unlikely win came into view. 

Sam's brilliant 111 and Tom's streaky 74 took Pacific from 6-2 to 212-4. Unfortunately when the pair fell with around 10 overs left Pacific's batsmen lost momentum, and despite some entertaining swishing from Sheldon and Shaz, the game ended in a comfortable draw at 8pm.

Post match drinks were minimal as Steve squirmed off to take a stool sample, and everyone was generally knackered after a day of ball-fetching.

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Records corner -

Entries on the list for -

Most runs in a game

Highest total batting second for a draw

2nd highest partnership for 3rd wicket (only 7 short of all time all wicket record)