Report by Andy Owen:
We arrived at Fen Ditton on a glorious evening for my first match under Covid conditions.
Introduced the new players to the team, found out who did what then realised we were short on bowling. We lost the toss and were asked to bowl. Opened the bowling with Qaiser and Huw. Huw got a wicket in his first over, caught by debutant James Robinson. Huw struck again in his third over bowling the other opener. Qaiser was replaced after three overs so he could bowl the last over. To be replaced by CJ Barrie who stepped up to be our fifth bowler. John Moore replaced Huw after an excellent spell 4 overs, no maidens, 2/12. At the half way stage Sharks were 48/2 fielding was good by everybody and we were very unlucky not to have A.B. caught on the boundary by Qaiser off the bowling of John Moore. I replaced CJ after two overs and struck with his third ball, taking a return catch to take me past legend Geoff Hales's club record for most fielding dismissals. [Geoff had gotten this record mid-way through the club's second season, 1981, and then held it unbroken for the rest of his life. - ed.] John struck in his third over with a stumping by Kanwar. CJ replaced Andy to bowl his last two overs. A.B. retired on 34 after hitting two balls out of the park, which resulted in Remnants having to bowl with an old hard ball. Andy replaced John Moore whose figure were 4 overs, no maidens, 1/47. Qaiser replaced C.J. (0/42) to bowl the last over. After 18 overs Sharks were 122/4. Qaiser bowling the last over bowled the batsmen with a low full toss on his fourth ball and then bowled the incoming batsman with is first ball and so was on a hat trick. We set an attacking field and unfortunately the ball came off the bat and just missed the stumps, to leave Qaiser with excellent figures of 4 overs, 1 maiden, 2/7.
Sharks finished on 140/6, Remnants had some good fielding performances with Sam, Minaam, Simon, James and John Young on a quiet bumpy outfield.
Remnants set about chasing the total with Kanwar and James opening. Unfortunately James was out for 2 caught off a top edge. Sam came in next Kanwar nearing retirement was caught behind for 28. Remnants at this stage were 52 for 2 of 7 overs. Simon was next in, he was out in the thirteenth over for 18. This left Remnants at 72/3 after 12 overs. John Young was out for 3 to leave Remnants 78/4 off 13. Then Sharks brought on A.B. which really slowed the scoring down. Minaam was the new batsman in, and he and Simon struggled to score against good bowling. Simon 19 and Minaam 9 were out going for big hits. Qaiser and John Moore were at the crease when the game ended with Remnants 100/6, well short of the target.
The game was played in a good spirit on a lovely evening. Remnants were missing the bowling options that Sharks had and didn't push the fielding side into making mistakes. With hindsight the batting options were changed to allow everyone an opportunity to have a game of cricket. Special thanks to C.J. for bowling his 4 overs which cost him a place higher up the batting order.