The Willows won the toss and batted first against the Mid-Canterbury Youth XI which was a composite side made up of players from primarily Ashburton College with a couple from Mt Hutt College in the mix. The Willows got off to a strong start with the opening partnership reaching 50 before the Mid Canterbury side starting to get into the match with some restrictive bowling thanks mainly to Bird. But with Tim Harrison anchoring the innings with 49, The Willows had laid a platform for Adam Hastilow (65) and Matthew Tait (40*) to score freely at the end of the innings and set up a very defendable total.

Adam Hastilow got The Willows off to a good start with some aggressive bowling before Ben Mably bowled very accurately to claim three wickets. The Mid-Canterbury side showed they had some aggressive hitters but with only Meyrick reaching 20, the chase never really threatened. The highlight of the day was Joe Bennett’s agile display behind the stumps claiming two catches and a stumping while providing much amusement for all those involved!