While Cup Match 2004 fizzled out to a tame draw at Somerset Cricket Club yesterday, the 102nd edition of the annual mid-summer classic will forever be remembered as a tale of two innings, or more precisely the Saleem Mukuddem and Clay Smith run bonanza.

Displaying unwavering concentration, patience and near flawless batting technique in contrasting situations, the pair produced a batsman?s blueprint for generations to come before taking their rightful places in Cup Match immortality as the first batsman to score successive centuries and the first batsman to score three centuries in the classic?s illustrious history.

After Mukuddem had dominated the first day?s play with a mammoth unbeaten knock of 160 to put Somerset firmly in the driver?s seat, the stage was perfectly set for Smith to reaffirm his status as the Island?s premier batsman.

And the Bermuda skipper did just that, rescuing St.George?s from the jaws of almost certain defeat en route to becoming the first-ever batsmen to record three tons in Cup Match.

During an innings which spanned four gruelling hours, Smith repeatedly frustrated the Somerset attack, who for the second successive day, had St.George?s pinned up against the ropes from the outset.

Smith came to the crease with his team reeling at 39 for three in the 12th over ? still some 177 runs shy of the champions? first innings lead of 216 runs.

Indeed things looked bleak for a St.George?s team dismissed the previous day for a paltry 121 in 32.3 overs in only two hours and 29 minutes ? the East Enders? lowest first innings total at Somerset Cricket Club since 1991.

But when the former St.George?s skipper was the seventh wicket to fall at 4.50 p.m. yesterday, St.George?s had already erased the deficit and were well on course to salvaging an improbable draw.

Combining controlled aggression with finesse, Smith belted four fours and a six off 115 balls to go where no other batsman had ever been before, producing a moment of Cup Match memorabilia in the 89th over with a punch through the covers and scampering to the non-striker?s end to take his place in history moments before ecstatic St.George?s fans invaded the pitch.

Along with recalled veteran Charlie Marshall, who moved to within 45 runs of Wendell Smith?s all-time record for the most runs in Cup Match (1,143), Smith added 98 runs ? St.George?s highest stand of the match ? for the fifth wicket, a stand which ultimately threw cold water on Somerset?s victory plan.

Smith also featured in valuable stands for the sixth and seventh wickets, putting on 71 runs with Delyone Borden (30, four fours) and 57 with Lionel Cann (56, four fours and five sixes) who played a uncharacteristic sedate innings coming in at number eight.

In reaching the milestone, Smith took his overall Cup Match aggregate from 787 runs to 910, surpassing Somerset skipper Janeiro Tucker and Edward Swainson to become the classic?s fifth-highest run?getter of all time.

With the draw safely in the bag, tailenders Travis Smith (34, seven fours) and Herbie Bascome (seven) prolonged Somerset?s misery in the field by adding 39 runs in an unbroken ninth wicket stand which ended at 6.48 p.m. when both teams decided to finish the proceedings prematurely after 112 overs with little else at stake.

Unlike the first day?s play which saw 17 wickets fall in a pulsating 118.3 overs of play, Somerset colt Jacobi Robinson capture his first Cup Match scalp and Mukuddem?s heroics with the willow, yesterday?s final outcome left many a Somerset fan disappointed after the champions, up until Smith?s marathon match-saving innings, had been head and shoulders above their opponents in every facet of the game.

Seamer Corey Hill, who took four wickets on the first day, could only muster one wicket yesterday, that of opener Chris Foggo (15) which the Bailey?s Bay stalwart dedicated to his parents celebrating their 45th wedding anniversary beyond the mid-wicket boundary.

Colt Robinson, who silenced the explosive bat of Glenn Blakeney with a beauty of a delivery the latter knew little about in the second innings, marked his entrance into Cup Match in style, bagging overall match figures of three wickets for 75 runs from 16 overs while Somerset?s spin attack of Hasan Durham and Dwayne (Sluggo) Leverock were both rewarded for their perseverance in searing heat by taking overall figures of four for 94 and four for 126 respectively over the two days.

If yesterday belonged to Smith, then certainly Thursday belonged solely to Mukuddem who became the first batsman ever to score back to back tons following his unbeaten century at Wellington Oval last year ? a knock which surpassed Charlie Marshall?s 23-year record for the highest score by a colt.

Mukuddem became the first batsman since Lloyd James in 1961 and 1962 to reach the milestone, a performance which leaves the 32-year-old Western Stars? all-rounder in fourth place for the highest individual total behind Somerset?s Timmy Edwards who posted 170 in 1950.

It was also the second time in the past four years a Somerset batsman has scored over 150 runs in the classic, as Mukuddem?s innings fell 26 runs shy of skipper Tucker?s 186 recorded in 2001 in the East End when the champions declared their first innings at 337 for seven posted in 86 overs overnight.

The Bermuda national team player reached his first 50 runs in 84 minutes off 86 balls and recorded his ton in 236 minutes off 189 balls.

Alone, the South African born player accounted for all of St.George?s? first innings total, plundering a breathtaking 24 fours and four sixes off 136 balls in over four hours at the crease.

The veteran player was particularly harsh on Bascome, who finally picked up a first Cup Match wicket since 2001, smashing the dreadlocked bowler for two fours and two sixes off his 14th over all in succession. In reaching triple digits for the second year in succession Mukuddem, who has yet to be dismissed in two innings, became the seventh batsmen to achieve the feat.

Somerset opener Jermaine Postlethwaite added 30 (six fours) and Leverock a gutsy 33 (four fours and a six) before he was controversially run out while skipper Tucker stroked 20 (two fours and a six).

St.George?s skipper Gregg Foggo was the pick of his team?s first innings bowling, claiming three wickets for 52 runs off 12 overs including three maidens.