Rocking up to the beautiful Botany Bay is always a delight, no matter how long it takes to get there - which can be quite a while. Our visit to Hadley Wood Green started well, with the toss won and Pacific electing to field. Unfortunately from there on in, things took a slight turn for the worse. The hyper aggresive openers wasted no time in getting stuck into the Pacific attack, and 73 runs were on the board before we broke the partnership, Manav bowling the number 2. The number one proved harder to get rid of, eventually falling to a good catch in the deep from Harry Rogers off the bowling of Tim. By the time he trudged back to the pavillion, he'd struck 112 off only 60 balls, and HWG were closer to 200 than 100. Noor struck with a wicket, as did Mohan after surrendering the pads to Tim, with his first ball no less. A few bowlers seemed keener to avoid a spell than bowl against well set and aggressive batters, which hampered options somewhat. Set 303 to win, the Pacific chase was always going to be a long shot for success. 

In reply, Ben OC and Harry Rogers gamely tried to get the rate up - Ben fell early, but thankfully the bar was already open. Harry stuck around for his maiden Pacific 50, looking assured against some hostile bowling. Mohan looked in good nick early on, but fell quickly to some good fielding, and Saqib started well for his innings before being called through for a fairly suicidal run. Riz sauntered to a strong 76, but by then the RRR was too high to be feasible, and the game petered out into a draw, as so many MEIL games will.

Drinks were enjoyed in front of the scenic clubhouse, and Pacific wondered back southwards towards home.