Pacific had a score to settle, having been bowled out for just 59 by London Fields a couple of weeks earlier in our league opener. Thankfully things would be different today, thanks to the power hitting of Sumeet as he unleashed another Sharmaggedon.

Earlier Pacific had lost the toss and been forced to take the field with nine men due to a couple of stragglers in the usual suspects of Ben Burnham, who, in his defence, had had a long week and suffered the indignity of being eaten alive by the Wapping Dolphins in a wet Victoria Park the previous evening, and our esteemed treasurer Shaz Timbadia, who battled his way through his man cold to get to the ground, eventually turning up about five overs in to the game.

When some rain fell early in the match the two skippers had a quick chat and agreed to reduce the game to 35 overs (down from 40). This would prove to be an inspired move as there would be a heavy downpour five minutes after the game's conclusion.

The bowling was opened by Ben Stockton, from the Playground End, and Arsalan Syed, from the Basketball Court End. Both bowled with good control but weren't always helped by the sloppy ground fielding, which can perhaps in part be put down to the cold and wet conditions. But, in homage to John Ormesher, we held the majority of our catches. At one point Stocko sustained a black eye by opting to catch the ball off his face at cow corner. They say they only hurt when you drop 'em, but this one hurt Stocko even though he clung on. For the rest of the day the Yorkshireman looked 10% more miserable than usual.

Replacing Stocko at the Playground End had been Shaz, who lured Fields opener A Turner into the mid-on trap with a full-toss which was gratefully plucked out of the sky by a backpeddling Chasseaud. Nick Epstein, one of five Pacificos – the others being Oli Haill, Ben Haley, Kieran Mullens and Toby Chasseaud – to emerge from the cricketing hot spot of 92a Upper Tollington Park, and playing his first Pacific match for a few years, twirled his Chinaman magic from the basketball court end, unfazed by the Fields batsmen's aggressive intent. As he comes into bowl Eppy is a whirlpool of energy, his arms and legs spinning around to unleash his devilish wrist spin.

At the other end Shaz was by now getting a bit of tap so the skipper called on match manager Tim Garrett to exert some control on proceedings. And Garrett did not disappoint, as he ripped the heart out of the Fields top and middle order to finish with four wickets from his seven overs, thought to be his best Pacific haul. After this performance, Tim's current average and strike rate for the season are hovering around 9, Walt informs us.

So at the halfway point, it looked like honours were even. But given two consecutive Pacific Saturday collapses, you'd have been forgiven had you put your money on Fields to win. 

A good tea was had, with Fields impressed by the generous cuisine on offer from the stumpy-legged table, much of it cooked up by head chef Robert Dinsey. They say you shouldn't mix too much salt with your food, but this didn't prevent the Chef and debutant Harry Salter striding out together to open the batting. Dinsey kept the food theme going by creaming his second ball for a delicious four through extra cover. Salter, having managed to commandeer a helmet, gave firm resistance for five balls before being undone by a quick yorker from the menacing L Sayer.

This brought social secretary Burnham to the crease, wearing his long-sleeved Slazenger jumper. Having survived a chance to gully, you will not be surprised to read that his ten came at a run a ball. Burnham doesn't mess around. When he had his stumps clattered, he was replaced by Captain Chasseaud, who would start his innings with four layers on top, before commencing with a very slow strip show which absolutely no one would pay money to see. He and Dinsey put on a steady partnership, keeping Pacific wickets in hand. Rob was to make 22, his top score of the season so far, an assured innings which can perhaps in part be put down to not showing the bowler all of his stumps, though he was eventually bowled. 

The stage was then set for Pacific's Dhoni. Sumeet has played a fair few match-winning innings in his time, and this was up there with the best of them. In a game in which the Fields batsmen had scored at a run a ball, and Pacific's batsmen, with the exception of the hard-hitting Burnham, had struggled do so (though they weren't helped at times by umpires not giving wides), Sumeet redressed the balance, with a destructive 73 off 46 balls, and a whopping 62 of his runs coming in boundaries. 

Midway through his reign of terror, Sharma complained that his bat was broken, and indeed it was split at the handle, yet still he carried on smashing boundaries. His batting partner suggested the broken bat was probably due to the way he smashes it repeatedly on the ground as the bowler is running in, but the Sharma fan club – the Sharmy Army – insisted it was simply because he hits the ball so hard. He was perhaps lucky not to have been bowled a couple of times with his head up in the air, but it was a controversial LB appeal that was to be his undoing.

The veteran league cricketer Mutz Siddiqui used all his experience to keep up the scoring rate. By this point, Chasseaud was down to one layer. He brought up his fifty by managing to drive a full ball into his own ankle and then seemed less keen on taking the quick singles that Mutz would call him for, opting instead to launch a length ball for six over long-on. But it was Siddiqui who hit the winning runs, though he did not immediately realise he had done so due to the lack of a working scoreboard. Still, many thanks to Chris Clayton for scoring. Note that he has even recorded the number of minutes batted by each batsman – a nice touch.

Shaz put the Pacific card reader into action and then, because the WB Yeats was too busy, we decamped to the World's End, where a discussion of the intricacies of the Pacific Fantasy Cricket League appeared to make the match manager lose the will to live. Still, cycling home in his yellow fisherman's jacket, he could reflect on his own four wickets and a glorious match-winning knock by Sharma. No doubt these happy memories put a smile on his face as he peddled through the evening chill back to the warmth of the Man Cave.