'Group of hell' takes its toll

By Clive Lindsay BBC Sport Online at Manchester

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South Africans Gerald Baker and Shaun Addinal bounced back from surprise defeat as "the group of hell" of the men's pairs proved to be as hotly contested as predicted.

Baker and Addinal lost their morning match to Guernsey at the Commonwealth Games bowls arena but then overcame a partisan home crowd to edge out England's Steve Farrish and Dean Morgan 12-10.

Addinal said: "That was a big one to win, especially with them having the home support.

"The crowd was going ballistic and that puts pressure on the opposition."

Victory put South Africa second in Group A, equal on points with Australia and two in front of England.

But both their rivals have played one less game.

Guernsey recovered from heavy opening-day defeats by New Zealand and England to defeat the South Africans 22-11.

But they will struggle to qualify after their subsequent 17-10 defeat by Australia.

Guernsey skip Simon Masterton said: "The group of hell is how a newspaper back home has described it because there are so many strong teams."

Scotland's world pairs champions, Alex Marshall and George Sneddon, remain top of Group B but had a narrow escape in their evening tussle with unfancied Samoa.

Faimanu Amituanai and Valovale Pritchard were leading 12-8 going into the final end.

But the Scots went on to score four - Marshall just missed adding his final bowl for victory - as they had to settle for a point.

Marshall said: "The Samoans played really well, but we didn't get the breaks and we will happily settle for a point."

Scotland's women's fours side knocked Australia off the top of their Group B with an exciting 16-13 victory.

But Sarah Gourlay's rink still have work to do to qualify after having just failed to peg back England's lead in the morning in going down 14-12.

Unbeaten Wales top the group, despite having been held 18-18 by Canada in the morning.

South Africa top Group A after a 19-11 win over New Zealand.