JimmyMac/MaccieG opened from the south end with jimbob/james/sodes/soden, strutting his stuff from the other.
A tight opening spell held the Opposition back with any good shots along the ground tunnelling their way into the long grass before being swooped upon by Pacific’s fielders. JimmyMac opened his account by knocking the plastic stumps off the astro and then followed up with a ball that took the edge to first slip. Fortunately, waiting for said ball was the outstretched right paw of a Siddiqui, who with little fanfare expertly watched it land safely in his hand. A dive wouldn’t have hurt, but with no ‘content-creator’ on the pitch it wasn’t needed.
The aerial route seemed the only way to score and the Opposition went about this as best they could. Pandaya and Garett picked up a couple between them with Soden and Siddiqi getting one a piece. The Opposition ended on 214-9 off 35 with Pacific pondering whether this was a good score – the grass was a challenge, but the short boundaries meant maximums were easy to come by, particularly with a short-boundary on the on-side needed to avoid the wildflowers.
Worth a mention was the unusual standard of catching shown by Pacific, 6 in total with only half-chances dropped, and Siddiqui’s one-hander being the pick of the day.
Pacific set about the chase solidly, with a 47-run partnership for the first wicket before Lincoln-Gordon holed out to mid-on. Siddiqui and Humphrey pressed on however, making 60 together, before Humphrey’s flamboyance and single legged hoiks across the line saw him caught at mid-on for an excellent 61. Siddiqui pushed on to 46 before being bowled by the Opposition’s wily captain.
Luthra and Epstein showed clocked up a few to keep up a hope of the chase, but with the tail not wagging the cause was all but lost heading into the final couple of overs.
