Canterbury’s best summer for many years continued and we were blessed with a warm and calm day. It was great to see so many Nelson College supporters at the ground who enjoyed the occasion and the cricket.

The Willows won the toss and elected to bat but struggled right throughout the innings in the face of some tight bowling and a wicket that offered real assistance to the bowlers. The Willows batsman struggled to score more than three runs an over and none of the batsman were at any stage comfortable. The flurry in the final two overs, in particular from Jeremy Benton, pushed the score to 161/9 although there were steady contributions from David Wakefield (24), Peter Younghusband and Andrew Nuttall. The top scorer was extras with 30!

In reply the Nelson College openers started briskly and scored six runs an over for the first ten overs before losing their first wicket. The scoring rate was reduced with the introduction of spin from Peter Younghusband and Andrew Nuttall. However, the Nelson College batsmen played well, achieving the required total in the 48th over. G Black compiled an excellent 61 with very good support from fellow opener A Leonard and D Grimes in the middle order.