With only seven wins from 25 years of matches against Hawkswood, this season presented The Willows with an opportunity to redress the ledger. A strong Willows side took the field made up mainly of over 35 year-olds who play in the annual Kindred Cricket competition.

Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, The Willows backed themselves to chase down any target set. When Hawkswood was 90/0 off 20 overs, we were starting to feel it could be 300 plus. However, through the middle overs The Willows dibbly-dobblers increasingly strangled Hawkswood as the pitch got lower and slower. When their last wicket fell at 186, we were quietly confident.

Openers Dave Wakefield and Adrian McFedries started positively and the runs flowed. While a couple of top order wickets fell in the first 25 overs, at the drinks break we were well positioned at 108/3. There was work to do, but with Adam Hastilow at the crease the runs continued to come.

Unfortunately, like Hawkswood, runs became tricky as the tweakers pulled back their pace and the ball didn’t come onto the bat. Wickets fell and soon it was game on. So the pressure mounted, and when the last Willows pair took the crease, 30 was required off 36 balls. However, it wasn’t to be. What looked like a very achievable total at the outset proved too much for a dejected Willows XI.

As always, it was a great day at Jaguar Oval and an exciting match with our friends from up the road. It was a disappointing result for The Willows, making it two losses from two matches in the Kindred Cup round robin. We will need to play much better in Wellington in February if we are to defend our Kindred title at the finals weekend.