Bailey’s Bay, 175 for five, drew with Cleveland, 249 for eightThe stage was set for an exciting finish to the Eastern Counties series at Sea Breeze Oval on Saturday, but champions Bailey’s Bay opted not to take up the challenge of scoring 250 runs at 4.29 an over.Much has been made of the 70-48 overs distribution in the competition, but this match saw an equal sharing of the overs after Cleveland declared at 57.2 overs and left the holders 58 overs to reach their victory target.It could have been an interesting run chase but the champions were never interested, choosing instead, as the format allows, to settle for a draw just like they did against Flatts in the opening round. It wasn’t negative cricket, per se, rather a case of the holders choosing the draw option in order to hold onto the cup.“People who understand cricket know it’s not always about winning, but learning how to win,” insists Eastern counties president Steven Douglas.“The challengers set a target and have to bowl out the champions. If teams prepare early enough and strategise their game plan they can manage the 70-48 rule. They have to strategise and have two plans, one if they bat first and one if they bowl first. The toss is the key to it.”The champions won the toss three times and three times sent their opponents in. In the first round six weeks ago they were set a daunting target of 294 as Flatts used up only 51 overs and gave the champions 65 overs to score at an asking rate of 4.52. After 64 overs Bay finished on 238-6, only accelerating the scoring late in the innings when in a position of safety.They were in a hole at 81-4 then and dug in their heels to save the match. On Saturday they were in an almost similar position at 62-4 and dug their heels in again as again Rodney Trott was a key man with the bat.Interestingly the team expected to give Bay their toughest challenge proved to be their easiest opponents, as St David’s could only manage 164 and were soundly beaten by seven wickets in the second round.As was the case with Flatts, Cleveland’s lacked depth in their bowling and had to wait longer for the breakthrough when Hasan Durham put down a simple chance off opener Cal Dill when he was on 15. Dill helped lay Bay’s foundation, batting for 93 minutes and scoring 28 off 64 balls before he was second out on 44, by which time Bay had already faced 20 of the 58 overs and the asking run rate had now climbed to 5.42.Cleveland did have some faint hope of a rare win when spinner Lavar Talbot removed Terryn Fray (21) and Tre Manders on successive balls to make it 62-4, but those hopes faded during a fifth-wicket stand of 54 between captain Stephen Outerbridge and Rodney Trott. The score crept up to 116 in the 41st over when Outerbridge was caught behind off Allan Douglas Jr for 35, having batted for 93 minutes and faced 67 balls.Trott played the senior role after that, taking 89 minutes to reach a top score of 68 before he pulled a leg muscle going for a swipe on the third-last ball of the match and being forced to leave the match injured.Talbot was the pick of the Cleveland bowlers with two for 47 while Hasan Durham had figures of one for six off eight overs with four maidens and Douglas one for 23 from nine. Damali Bell, who returned from school abroad to play in the match, was wicket-less in his eight overs which cost 18 overs as Cleveland eventually used eight bowlers.Earlier Dion Stovell smashed his first century in the Eastern Counties (121 off 169 balls with 12 fours and four sixes) to lead the challengers’ batting. Stovell lost opening partner Aaron Adams in the second over when colt Caleb Jean-Pierre marked his first appearance with a wicket in his first over.A second wicket stand of 72 between Stovell and Mishael Paynter (39) pulled Cleveland back into the match before Paynter was bowled by a Denniko Hollis yorker.He hit four fours and two sixes in an exciting 49-ball knock Bay fought back to take two wickets in the space of 12 runs with Kian Butterfield trapped lbw by Hodsoll for three to make it 92-3. Stovell and Mikai Young (26) added 72 for the fourth wicket as Cleveland passed the 150 mark and then Stovell added a further 73 with Shaki Darrell (42) for the sixth wicket when Stovell was finally out after batting 222 minutes.He brought up his century with a scrambled two and then put Cleveland’s 200 on the board when he lofted spinner Rodney Trott into the water next ball. Cleveland declared at Darrell’s dismissal, run out by a Terryn Fray as they tried for a second run with the declaration in mind.Kyle Hodsoll was the pick of the Bay bowlers with three for 67 off 15.2 overs.Dion Stovell was voted man of the match for his century while Stephen Outerbridge was the man of the series after scores of 94, 49 and 35. Vernon Eve of Flatts won the Stan Smith Trophy for best spinner of the series with his four for 30 from 19 overs in the first round.