There is something about the Eastern Counties that seems to bring the very best out of Dion Stovell, the Cleveland County all-rounder.

Saturday’s rain-hit second-round clash against Bailey’s Bay at Sea Breeze Oval proved to be no exception, as Stovell produced a flawless innings under pressure that virtually saved the match for the cup-holders.

The middle-order batsman stroked a polished 102 from 148 balls, with 14 boundaries, to rescue Cleveland from a precarious 20 for four.

Stovell’s knock went a long way towards Cleveland retaining the Eastern Counties trophy after a heavy downpour forced the match to be abandoned as a draw with Bay poised at 98 for three with 17.3 overs left in reply to the cup-holders’ 228 for nine.

Stovell was the glue that held the Cleveland innings together and, along with Damali Bell, he added 87 runs for the fifth wicket to repair the early damage and a further 53 runs with Aaron Adams down the order to give his team’s bowlers a decent total to defend.

The right-hander produced some exquisite shots down the ground and either side of the wicket whenever the Bay bowlers overpitched or dropped short of a length.

Stovell reached his half-century off 78 balls in 105 minutes with his second Eastern Counties hundred coming off a further 63 balls and 65 minutes.

“Dion’s innings showed a lot of character,” Clay Smith, the Cleveland coach, said. “It was controlled aggression at its best. He showed Bermuda why many rate him as the best batsman on the Island. To score a hundred under that type of pressure showed remarkable character.”

As for his team’s early wobble after being asked to bat, Smith said: “We didn’t panic as we knew we had a deep batting line-up. The players lower in the order did their job.”

Cleveland also received useful contributions from Bell, who made 20, Adams, who blasted 34 from 35 balls, and Shaki Darrell, who hit 24 from only 17.

But their top-order bats failed to cope with the swing and bounce on offer for Lateef Trott, Ryan Steede and Kyle Hodsoll, who made the most of the new ball on a grassy track.

Steede made the breakthrough in the second over when opening bat Jason Anderson got an edge flashing at a short-pitched ball outside off stump and was held by Lateef Trott at gully. Hodsoll removed remaining opener Courtney Trott in the next over after the left-hander pushed forward and edged a regulation catch to Cal Dill at first slip.

Treadwell Gibbons Jr nudged 14 runs from 48 balls before Lateef Trott got him to snick off to wicketkeeper Sinclair Smith.

Things went from bad to worse for Cleveland when Mishael Paynter was trapped in front by a Lateef Trott ball that jagged back sharply.

However, in Stovell, Bay hit a brick wall. The Southampton Rangers stalwart, who appears for Cleveland as a guest player, put up the shutters and made the bowlers toil until he was the ninth and final Cleveland wicket to fall in the last over of the innings.

Lateef Trott was rewarded for a good shift with five for 50 from 16 overs. Hodsoll took three for 103 from 21 overs.

Wicketkeeper Smith enjoyed a tidy afternoon, with a catch and no byes conceded until a solitary one in the 55th over — the only bye of the innings.

Set a target of 229 in 41 overs, Bay got off to a shaky start after losing opener Dill cheaply in the third over of the innings.

A second-wicket stand of 85 between opener Terryn Fray and Tre Manders kept Bay in the hunt, as ominous clouds began to move in.

But with the weather deteriorating, the overs running out and the run-rate climbing, the challengers were forced to take risks, which resulted in the soft dismissals of Manders, who was brilliantly run out by Stovell for 36, and Stephen Outerbridge, the Bay captain, who was caught for a duck by Stovell on the mid-wicket boundary attempting to hit Peter Philpott, the left-arm spinner, out of the park.

Unbeaten at the crease when heavy rain sent the players off the field for good was opener Fray with 56 and Rodney Trott with two.

Fray showed tremendous character to battle through the pain barrier after being struck on the leg by a blast from the bat of Bell while fielding at short leg. The Cup Match most valuable player went to the hospital for treatment then returned to play the sort of innings that carried Somerset to victory a fortnight ago.

His polished knock contained two sixes and a four, with the fifty arriving off 59 balls.

Philpott, with one for 16, and Dennis Musson, with one for 23, were Cleveland’s only wicket-takers.