In our 21st season we had three cliff-hanger matches which could have gone either way. One which eluded our grasp was played on 19 October 2014 against a Ken Rust-coached Otago Boys’ High School 1st XI.
The Willows stuttered at the start on a low and slow pitch losing two quick wickets. Then Fraser Hill and Chris Harris staged an admirable fight-back putting on 80 runs for the 3rd wicket. Both scored good half centuries and later Andy Macgregor chimed in with some useful runs. The Willows fell just short of what should have been an adequate total of 200.
Over the second innings our skipper Gareth Reed reckoned both sides showed how to win, and then lose, and then win and then lose a game of cricket. When the 7th wicket fell with over 50 runs still required it looked all ours but a few crucial lapses in the field and an aggressive Cameron McAuslan innings kept the southerners in it. Jeremy Benton was given the task to bowl the final over. The Willows requiring one wicket and OBHS just six runs — it was the bat which prevailed and the Otago lads headed home with the spoils and deservedly so!
(Cameron McAuslan made his One Day International debut for Hong Kong against Scotland on 22 January 2017 –Ed.)