A beautifully paced maiden hundred from Kieran Mullens was the highlight of an ultimately frustrating day for Pacific as they came within a single wicket of beating the seven men of Black Rose.  

Mullens had steadied the Pacific innings after a faltering start, putting on 95 for the sixth wicket with Navid Chowdhury, who fell one run short of his 50. But as the tail perished in quick succession, Mullens was on 48 as he was joined in the middle by number 11 Ahmed Hussain with the score on 164.  

The pair were not content, as many would have been, with seeing Mullens to his 50 and adding a few bonus runs. With Mullens taking judicious risks to occupy the majority of the strike and Hussain offering steadfast resistance when called upon, they set about building a strong total.  

As the 200 mark approached, Mullens but pedal to metal and accelerated to take the team well past 200, which from 67–5 was no mean achievement, and to take the tenth wicket partnership to an unbroken 59. Moreover, how many batsmen can have scored a ton without having passed 50 when the ninth wicket fell?  

After an onslaught in the last two overs of the innings, Mullens finished on 101* and the team on 223 – a daunting total for Black Rose's seven. Apart from Mullens, Chowdhury and Hussain, the only noteworthy contribution was from opener Paul Rajkumar who raced to a fluent 37 before holing out to mid-on.  

Despite Black Rose's depleted numbers, Pacific knew that they faced a tough ask to take the six wickets required – a combination of a torpid over rate and a late start meant that they would only have a little over 30 overs to get through a solid Black Rose top order.  

Undeterred, they set about their task with gusto and were rewarded when Oli Haill snaffled a sharp chance at square leg off the bowling of Chowdhury to remove opener Ali. Another wicket soon followed in a déjà vu-style repeat of the first wicket, c Haill b Chowdhury, to give Pacific real hope.  

With the match well into its last 20 overs Haill, who had been bowling some very tidy left-arm spin, induced a false shot from Gourav and Ben Stockton snaffled the catch to keep Pacific on track.  

However, while the openers had been prepared to play shots in pursuit of an unlikely victory, number 4 Joe Jones was determined not to throw away his wicket, accumulating dot balls with the unabashed glee of a teenager collecting Pokemon.  

Having notched just a single from 50 balls, though, he failed to 'Pikachu' a tweaker from Haill, and keeper Rajkumar claimed the catch. A third wicket from Haill, with the number six caught by Aly Duncan at mid-on brought the final pair together and Pacific one wicket from victory.  

But stoic resistance from the last batsman Dave Tossell, along with a mixture of solid defence and big-hitting from skipper and old adversary Andre Mishra was enough to provide the final frustration of the day and deny the visitors victory in a match that will be remembered chiefly for Mullens's well-crafted ton.