Western Province and neighbours Boland cemented their places at the top of the Super Eight log with a hard fought draw on Sunday.

Four days of keenly contested cricket were not enough to separate the two sides, but Province might just feel they let a glimmer of a chance slip on the final day.

After bowling Boland out for 255 in their second innings, Province found themselves chasing a victory target of 260 from 58 overs – eminently reachable, especially with the likes of Herschelle Gibbs, Jacques Kallis and Neil Johnson waiting to take a swing at an injury-depleted Boland bowling attack.

What nobody could have predicted - surely - is that Paul Adams would emerge at the fall of the second wicket, with Province 120-2 and still very much in the hunt. It is true that Adams used to open the batting for his school, and that he struck a career-best 42 against Natal earlier this season, but he remains very much a tail-ender.

That Province were not successful in their run-chase had little to do with Adams and more to do with the fact that Kallis, Johnson and Ashwell Prince all perished at the other end looking for quick runs. By the time captain HD Ackerman came to the wicket, Province were 175-5 and behind the asking rate - time to shut up shop.

Adams finished 61 not out, his fifty rapturously acclaimed by a small group of schoolgirls in Newlands' Railway Stand.

Earlier, Boland had slumped from 133-2 overnight to 255 all out, with Roger Telemachus picking up 6-54. Gerhard Strydom top-scored with 73 on his first-class debut, just the latest youngster to showcase his talent in this absorbing, yet ultimately undecided, encounter.

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