Hadleigh had the better of a confidence-boosting draw at Colchester, where they topped the 250 mark for the first time this season.

Inserted on a good batting track, Hadleigh's makeshift opening pair of wicketkeeper Duncan Paveling (41) and Chiraq Desai (20) put on 68 and solid contributions down the order helped them to 266-5.

Skipper Dev Ghandi made 52, Paul Corps came in at No5 and found his form with a top score of 65 and Hasess Quershi made a solid and unbeaten 62.

"The application in the batting was fantastic," said Ghandi.

His side took ten points from the draw to Colchester's eight, but the hosts looked likely to surpass Hadleigh's total when they raced to 68-1 in ten overs at tea.

Opener John Ibulich piled on 128 as Colchester moved to 140-2, but the visitors dug deep to restrict them to 214-7.

Vice captain Steve Brown said: "In five years at the club that is probably the best all-round fielding and bowling performance I've seen."

Thirds skipper Jon Wagstaff, enjoying an extended run in the firsts, added: "They went off at a great rate of knots, but we attacked with our bowling and fielding positions and got our rewards."

Published Monday, June 16, 2003

Brought to you by the Evening Echo