TheWillows won the toss and on a pitch that had a bit more grass than usual, had a bowl first. With Canterbury Reps Sharpe and Owens opening, Mobil must have wondered how many to pad up. However, they survived the initial barrage only to succumb to the mystery of Brad Doody’s long hops and full tosses. Brad’s five wickets threatened the early lighting of the barbecue but Colvin, Ewart and Bell came back and helped post a more than useful score of 216.

Matt Lancaster and Graeme lnglis gaveThe Willows a steady start with an opening stand of 67. However, mid-innings failures by ‘The Statesmen” of the side and the run-out of Doody had Mike Dormer pacing and promising the losing Captain all sorts of things!

Thank goodness for extras, ‘keepers and tail-enders! Michael Owens and Sam Davis put on 32 for the last wicket to guide us to victory in the last over, helped by some extras and a couple of overs by the ‘keeper.

An exciting finish to an evenly contested match with many thanks going to Mobil New Zealand – a $1,500 cheque presented to the Umpires Association and $1,500 to Canterbury Country Schoolboys’ Cricket.