Once again we came up against Mr Watson's Philanderers but, for a change, it was their turn to be hunting for revenge, having been stuffed to the tune of 124 runs last time we played them. It should be said that they were desperately under-manned in that game, and whilst they didn't have a full eleven today, they did have an ominously strong batting line-up . . .
It was our batting line-up, however, that was given the first chance to shine, and both Nick Clarke (a somewhat subdued 27 which included an amazing 21 singles) and George Speller (14) set off at a cracking pace. Our scoring only accelerated at the fall of the first wicket, with Tony Malik seeming to be the mood for serious runs after a few low scores and last week's freak injury. By the time Nick was out in the twelfth over we were 90/2 and cruising, but the runs became harder -- rather than easier -- to get in the remainder of the innings. In the end we just made it to 150, with John Young (21*) lending careful support to Tony, who finished with a barnstorming 79 not out, the highest score for Remnants this season.
Having scored at 7 an over, and with dark clouds all around, a successful run-chase looked pretty difficult . . . but Mr Watson is a master at managing such affairs, so the more experienced of us felt a little uneasy. The Philanderers openers came out ``all guns blazing'' and took the score to 51/0 in the first five overs with Rich Savage (0/38) and Robin Woolley (0/20) being the victims of both good-hitting and some dropped catches. A double bowling change then worked outrageously well, with both Daniel Mortlock (2/21) and Anton Garrett (2/39) getting wickets with their first balls, captain Malik taking the catches in both cases. This gave us some chance of getting back into the game, but each batsmen in turn took their chances hitting across the line, and the score kept increasing at an alarming rate. With eight overs left the required rate was down to a run a ball, and with Phil combining clean hits with sharp running we were always struggling. Our last throw of the dice consisted of a tight spell from Tony (1/16, to complete a fabulous all-round performance) combined with Dave Green's slower bowling from the other end. However Dave couldn't recapture the magic that saw him finish off the last game against the Philanderers and, even though 10 was needed off the last over, Phil's team won fairly comfortably in the end.