Report by Cam Petrie:
After a rain interruption last night, Remnants continued their undefeated run with another excellent performance tonight, closing out Sharks for a 23-run win. Both sides started the match short of players, and although Sharks began with fewer than Remnants, captain Andy Owen opted to bat first after winning the toss in the already dim light.
Although Andy had intended for Dave Norman to open with Cam Petrie, it was Grant Kennedy who was first padded up, so Cam and Grant marched out at 6.15pm, by which time most of the Sharks had finally decided to exit the changing room. Remnants got off to a cracking start as the slow and flighty opening bowlers were soon being dispatched to and over the boundary as Grant (24 off 14 balls) quickly set about punishing full tosses and half-trackers. Cam (25* retired off 20 balls) took a while to realise that trying to belt the hell out of the ball wasn't working and settled for hitting a string of singles before eventually hitting his own six to cow. Following Sharks rules, Grant was aware that he was sitting on 24 (or might it possibly have been 28?) when he went for one more lofted drive and unfortunately holed out at mid-off, finally giving himself an average in his fourth game of the season. This wicket brought Dave Norman (26* retired off 13 balls) to the crease, who got off the mark by spanking a boundary.
After Remnants raced to 50/1 off the first 4 (eight-ball) overs, Sharks brought on their late-arriving regular opening bowler (one A. Wilson) who quickly exerted a measure of control by bowling fast and pushing balls through the corridor of uncertainty. While Dave managed some elegant leaves and punished the few loose balls, Cam managed a thick edge for a boundary wide of third man and then a slightly more elegant flick down to fine leg for another before retiring on 25 (or was is possibly only 21?). This brought recent Remnants draftee James Crozier (5 off 6 balls) to the crease, and while James and Dave took turns punishing the other considerably less speedy first change bowler, James soon fell to a sharp catch off the Shark speedster during his second over. This saw Adam Long (22* off 22 balls) come out to face the now well warmed up zippy Shark who managed to dot ball his way to the end of a tidy first spell. The next over saw Dave crunch his way to retirement and John Young (5 off 11 balls) enter the fray. John quickly joined the boundary hitting action before being marooned in a swathe of wides (each worth 2 runs, but no extra balls), and he eventually popped up a catch to mid-off. John Moore (11 off 8 balls) also managed two well-hit boundaries before being trapped in front off the same bowler. For the last two overs Catherine Owen (2 off 9 balls) came out to join Adam, and they managed 20 runs thanks to some well hit boundaries and good running, before Catherine was run out off the last ball of our innings, leaving us with a very healthy 144/4 off our 14 overs.
The innings changeover was thankfully brief, and Remnants opening bowling combination of Alec Armstrong (1/12 off 2 overs) and Adam Long (0/11 off his first 2 overs) quickly exerted a stranglehold as the Sharks openers found it hard to get the ball off the square. Alec soon trapped one opener LBW (though it seemed that the umpire was the only one convinced that this decision!), which brought Sharks' speedster Wilson to the crease. He quickly took a liking to Remnants first change bowler Cam Petrie (1/30 off 2 overs) and spanked relatively decent balls to boundary, over the boundary and through the boundary protection. It is unclear whether this one over was part of an Andy Owen master plan, but it actually ensured that Wilson's stay at the crease was blessedly brief as he quickly reached his 25 and retired.
Remnants soon reverted to form, and Faruk Kara (1/19 off 2 overs) drew a nice bottom edge that was snaffled by 'keeper Grant Kennedy, and Cam was generously given a second over by Andy and managed to bowl Sharks' left-handed number five with a neat in-swinger. At the end of their 8th over, Sharks were stalling at 68/3. Andy Owen (2/17 off 3 overs) and John Moore (1/10 off 1 over) were then brought on to bowl in tandem, with Andy choking off the scoring opportunities, while John got his own back by trapping a Shark in front with some late dip. At some point during this phase the other Sharks opener eventually retired for a 29-ball 28, which had seen him repeatedly time shots directly to fielders or mis-hit shots into gaps, both of which yielded a continual trickle of singles, but also meant that Sharks were mostly only able to keep the scoreboard ticking and not racing. Just as one of the Sharks middle order bats began to show signs of class, Andy managed to push a quick one through as he danced down the wicket and Grant had the bails off in a flash, leaving the Sharks at 101/5 off 12 overs. They attempted some late fireworks as Adam came in for a bit of punishment during his last over, but he responded with a scorching yorker that uprooted the middle stump of the Sharks' last pillar of resistance. Andy managed to take another wicket in the final over, and thankfully the Shark number 11 held his wicket, which meant that their retiree Wilson was unable to come in and attempt to "Carlos Brathwaite" us with final over heroics.
In the end Remnants ran out comfortable victors in what was very much a full team effort. Everyone contributed with either bat or ball, with those that batted all scoring (some) runs, and all six bowlers securing wickets (though admittedly with varying degrees of economy).