Despite frequent rainy squalls, & a forecast which probably encouraged Washington Captain, David Walker to bat having won the toss, a positive result for Pacific was still achieved in a little more than 29 overs thanks to an unbroken stand of 93 between debutante Arjen Knottnerus (48*) & perennial scourge of Washington - Jim Davies (39*).They took the game beyond W with 15 balls remaining.
W:126-10 G Evans 28 D Gratton 13-2-32-3
P: 127-5 A Knottnerus 48*, J Davis 39*. R Pyrah 11.3-31-3
Earlier the impressive Darryl Roberts (2-13) picked up the key wicket of Peter Demetri (2) off the glove & the Washington innings never really got to grips with the variety & quality of P's bowlers, scoring at less than 3 an over; as Hollman made near full use of the bowlers at his disposal. Additionally, despite dropping Walker 3 times in the slips to sharp chances, unluckily for the reliable Mike Alexander, the former was run out to a direct hit from Dave Austin at mid off. P's ground fielding tended to excel & the run out had occurred from a misfield ironically. Another debutante, Doug Gratton, also bowled both seam up & leg spin & his control saw rewards of 3-32 including the impressive Gary Evans (28) who's fine contribution included 2 wickets & an excellent gully catch to dismiss Hollman (8) when the game could have gone either way.
Indeed , Pacific's reply was seriously faltering 34-5 but W's nemesis, Jim Davies took control again, as he did, last September in the previous match & despite fracturing his thumb to Richard Pyrah, who was the pick of the W bowlers with 3 wickets, batted on. Only Arjen Knottnerus, with a raw ability to score runs of good deliveries frustrated W out of the game & blasted P home - his 48* coming off just 39 balls.
Hollman said " They seemed to missing a few key players, but we too had quite a few regulars injured or unavailable. I think Jim really has got the sign over them & I'm certain they will see him as the key wicket on the next occasion. Meantime, I'm happy to enjoy the win & happier still that we can introduce quality players into a winning team. I was very impressed with the contributions of Doug & Arjen in particular"
Pacific: P Hollman*, M Ralph, J Campbell+, J Elliott, S Rees, J Davis, A Knottnerus, D Austin, D Gratton, D Roberts, M Alexander.
