The Willows XI won the toss and elected to bat on a greenish wicket. We were soon in early trouble with both openers back in the pavilion with only 12 runs on the board. Wickets tumbled at a fast pace, and we never really recovered from the poor start. Some determined batting from Ryan Cutts and Michael Watts, our Matfen visitor, bought some hope of a middle/lower order revival. However, The Willows were dismissed for just 72 in the 26th over, a disappointing effort.

Bowling for the Mid-Canterbury side, the chief destroyer initially was captain Tom Middleton who took 3/22 and did much to put the The Willows thoroughly on the back foot. Middleton was well supported by Will Jemmett with figures of 2/17 and Angus Jemmett 2/6.

The target of 73 did not challenge the visitors. They made short work of it, getting home with 7 wickets and 38 overs to spare. The Ashburton College openers, D. Flannery and A. Jemmett put on 44 with Flannery finishing on 44 not out, setting up a very comfortable victory.

The rains came just as the match was completed, which was timely. A rained-off drawn fixture would have been unfair on the Ashburton College XI as they had completely out-played the The Willows and thoroughly deserved the victory. The College XI were a credit to their school, families and themselves.