Sea Breeze Oval (Cleveland won the toss) – Flatts Victoria 200-9 declared, Cleveland 185-8. Match drawn.

As unsatisfactory as the Eastern County Cup has been so far this season, it became even more so on Saturday.

Holders who have yet to win a game, challengers who were unaware of the cut-off time, and a match that occasionally promised much ended in confusion and disappointment.

Neither side come out of the weekend with much credit, and if Cleveland go into the final round against Bailey's Bay in two weeks time as holders, it is in name only.

Certainly they didn't act like a team that wanted to justify having their name on the trophy. And if batting for 21 overs for a measly 40 runs, when you have five wickets in hand, is something to be celebrated, then there is more wrong with the competition than just the loss of one of its strongest teams.

Cleveland will argue that they produced a valiant rear-guard action to secure a trophy that they hadn't won, and have still yet to win, for the first time in 30 years.

However, at 140 for five, needing 201 to win, and with more than 20 overs remaining, shutting up shop at that point seemed to suggest that the fear of losing was stronger than the desire to win.

It was hardly as if the challengers had a bowling attack to strike fear into the opposition, Cleveland captain Dennis Musson Jnr said as much himself after the game, and Dwayne Leverock aside, no Flatts bowler really threatened to win the game.

Kijuan Franks' team even let Cleveland off the hook twice, when Regino Smith made a mess of two stumping chances that could potentially have won the match.

The first came in the final over before tea, when Cleveland opener Dion Stovell missed a David Bedard delivery down his leg side, and Smith's lightning fast reflexes saw him whip the bails off.

Stovell would have been out, for single figures, unfortunately Smith didn't have the ball in his hands when he took the bails off and so Stovell escaped, going on to make 44, before he holed out to Logan Phillips at long-on.

Smith's next miss came with Cleveland 103 for two, and like the first chance, he missed the ball entirely. This time however, batsman Mishael Paynter not only edged a Leverock delivery that looped and turned, but he was also out of his ground. In his excitement, Smith neither caught the ball, nor managed the stumping.

And while Paynter (30) was out soon after, with the score on 124, the extra four overs he stayed at the crease ended up being crucial.

Curtis Jackson (22) and Musson (six), followed shortly after, but at 140 for five, the game was still Cleveland's to win. They retreated into their shells though, and the last three wickets to fall came at regular intervals.

Damali Bell and Makai Young gave glimpses of what might have been when they briefly emerged from behind their wall to hit Vernon Eve for six, and at 185 for eight, the game could still have gone either way, until time ran out.

Flatts might still have won if they hadn't misunderstood the cut-off time. Having declared at 200 for nine after batting for 59 overs, Flatts left themselves a maximum of 56 overs to bowl Cleveland out.

At 6.50 p.m., the scheduled cut-off time, the umpires extended the game for 30 minutes, and Flatts finished the 52 over at 7.23 p.m. The umpires called time, and the challengers, whose lack of urgency throughout the final hour ultimately cost them, were left to wonder what might have been.

That Flatts were even still in the game with an hour to go was an achievement in itself, especially given the awful start they made to proceedings.

Inspired bowling from Bell helped reduce the challengers to 50 for five in the 18 over, and facing a Cleveland team that included Southampton Rangers duo Stovell and Jackson, the chances of them posting a competitive total seemed remote.

Bell finished with figures of four for 40 from 14 overs, and was the most threatening of the Cleveland bowlers, unfortunately his support was less threatening, and so Rahji Edness (31), Leverock (43), and Phillips (29) were able to give their side a more respectable score.

Bowlers Ryan Belboda (21*) and Bedard (eight*) even got in on the act, putting on 31 for the final wicket, before Franks declared just before tea.

Even then, 200 should have been no match for Cleveland, but once they lost their guest batsmen, the belief went out of the holders, and they eventually settled for a draw in a game they should have won comfortably.