Forced to rearrange the home venue from Oakhill Park due to vandalism, to
this exposed ground near Junction 2 of the M1.
P : 142-9 dec. D Murray 62. S Lay 25. Williams 15-5-27-4
B : 132-8. T Dutton 43*. A Palmer 9-0-38-3
The pitch had not been cut &
was under prepared as spinners especially, Birkbeck's Courtney Williams
extracted prodigious spin. The early loss of opener Jonathan Hardisty for a
duck left 1st John Baglivi (15) then Captain Steve Lay (25) to rebuild
cautiously around key batter David Murray (62) who topped scored in this
match through dogged determination & resisting the urge to play a more
typical flowing innings. Indeed, Williams was the pick of the bowlers
(15-5-27-4) giving the batters less than 2 per over in this miserly spell.
The final 10 overs saw the loss of 7 wickets as Pacific struggled to
accelerate to a position that could be defended.
Despite never seeming to find his rhythm opening seamer Adrian Palmer picked
up 3 wickets as Birkbeck put on 66 shortly before the final hour.
John Baglivi & spinner Allan Roberts were introduced but the turning point
came as the dangerous looking Choudhary was run out by David Murray. This
was 1 of 2 run outs which belied Pacific's fielding which tended to be tepid
at best with the exception of Jay Mitchell who continually pressurised the
batters & saved several runs as a result. A further 4 wickets fell as
Birkbeck tried to keep on their target of 4 an over. Tim Dutton (43*) kept
the visiting side within reach & Pacific had hopes of picking up the last 2
wickets but with 17 needed of the final over, they were still 10 short when
time ran out.
P : JDH JB DM SL* AR SB JM IL FB+ NW AP
