On another overcast day Ives were put into bat in a time game and made steady progress against nagging bowling from the Mathews openers. Helped by some missed catches Den (30) & Bob (26) put on 51 for the opening stand which was the starter before the main course as first Raj Shah in his debut game for the club and then Richard upped the pace putting on 70 for the 3rd wicket in quick time before Raj was bowled for a fine 52. Richard carried on to score an excellent 59 helped first by Matthew (21) and then Malcolm (22) as the runs piled up and Ives declared on 228 – 7 with 1 ball remaining.
In reply Tim took the first early wicket to a fine catch by Ciaran but Mathews accumulated runs at a quick rate as wickets failed to come. Andy H and Raj plugged away and Raj took the 2nd wicket but this failed to stem the flow entirely and 109 were required off the last 20 overs with 8 wickets in hand. Eventually Richard removed the dangerous Mathews No 3 for 91 to a catch by Tim and with Den, and then at the end of the innings, Andy H joining Richard the last over came with Mathews requiring 7 to win. Thanks to excellent fielding by Ciaran turning what looked like being a 4 into 2 and a run out by Malcolm only 5 were conceded by Richard for the tightest of draws as the game finished with Mathews on 227 for 5 and a memo to Bob not to declare with 1 ball remaining next time!