HAC 1st XI 232-8 (40 overs) drew with Oval Dream Boys CC 257 all out (41.3 overs) · Armoury House, City Road, London · Sunday 26 July 2026, 12:30 · HAC captain: Liam Casey

Weather: Hot and sunny with some patchy cloud. Pitch: a fresh flat road of a deck.

There are fixtures that arrive carrying a little extra weight, and Sunday's game at Armoury House was one of them. The Oval Dream Boys were playing their 100th match as a club — a landmark for any outfit, and one that lends even a friendly the feel of something worth marking. They are a club in the modern mould, diverse, energetic, and sponsored, rather wonderfully, by Glenn Maxwell's cricket sunglasses brand, which somehow feels entirely appropriate. They arrived in good spirits and, batting first on a flat deck that gave us little to work with, proceeded to show exactly why they've been at this long enough to reach a century of games.

ODB batting first and Hugh Hyslop led the way with 81 from 91 balls, and they built 257 all out from 41.3 overs — aided by a lightning-fast outfield, a short boundary on one side, and conditions that, in the blazing heat, amounted to something close to a batting paradise. But we got back into it in the middle overs. Max Shanahan and Merlin Gore bowled with real discipline, and Sam Hunt stood up to the stumps, adding that extra pressure and keeping them honest. Two sharp catches by the captain helped stem the flow. And then there was Mitra Narinesingh — five wickets, his first five-for for the club, earned on a surface that made every wicket feel like an achievement. His awards cap will be presented at the end of season dinner, and it will be thoroughly deserved.

Our reply never quite found the fluency the surface deserved. Huxtable, 58 from 54 balls, played with his customary flourish, and Carter brought real solidity — 53 from 70 — but on a deck this good, with a lightning-fast outfield and a short boundary on offer, 257 was always gettable. Some of our usual dependable batsmen didn't fire, and we were perhaps a specialist batsman short. Looking back, it was a game there for the taking — their total, in these conditions, was probably slightly under par. We closed at 232-8, the draw secured, but the feeling in the dressing room was that this one got away.

For the Oval Dream Boys, a hundredth game to remember. For us, a landmark performance from Narinesingh — the kind of afternoon that stays with a cricketer long after the season ends.

Match drawn.