Craig having won the toss and elected to bat, Richard and Arif strode out to open the innings. They made a slow but steady start in overcast conditions which encouraged the new ball bowlers. With the score on 41 after 16 overs, Richard, in attempting to accelerate the scoring, offered a sharp return chance to Hamza who completed the caught & bowled. Ali G, at three, was bowled first ball and Tom was adjudged LBW leaving the Horizontals 48-3 having lost three wickets for seven runs. This brought in Stiven who was quickly looking to play his shots. After some initial good fortune, the partnership flourished as the two batsmen sought to complement each other's styles; Stiven larruping strongly on the leg side whilst Arif began to drive serenely through cover. Fine shot making and improved running between the wickets saw both the fifty partnership and the team hundred up posted in the 31st over, the hundred partnership in the 37th over and then, as both batsmen cut loose, the 150 partnership in the 46th and final over. Arif finished with a fine 88 n.o. (11x4) and Stiven 74 n.o. (7x4) in an unbroken partnership of 155 spanning 26 overs. The innings closed on 203-3 with Matt Webster, due in at six and padded-up fruitlessly for an hour an a half, offering congratulations through gritted teeth. Team game and all.

Matt and David opened the bowling against Grumblers' openers who seemed keen to go for their shots - Arif wearing one fierce drive on the chin at short extra. Matt soon had Ward bowled (7-1) but the Grumblers continued to attack and were never far behind the required rate. Webster struck again to dismiss the dangerous looking Koelmeyer but a good partnership for the third wicket took the visitors to 97 as change bowlers, Ken and Stiven failed to make a breakthrough. Rob McLeod came on and took his first wicket for the Horizontals, conjuring out Hull (43) caught and bowled. He followed up with the wicket of T. Masterson (25), safely pouched at point by Richard. At 107-4 the match was in the balance but Ben Cocker, batting at six, looked in ominously good nick for the Grumblers. Arif bowled a tight spell but couldn't find a wicket, whilst Craig's three overs disappeared around the park, prompting him to recall his opening bowlers. The Horizontals sniffed a breakthrough when a scorching straight drive from Cocker broke the stumps at the bowler's end with the non-striker, P.Masterson, backing-up out of his crease. Scally reacted sharply to gather the ball and break the wicket to make the score 168-5. Duly inspired, at the Road End, Matt struck again, bowling both Joiner (0) and Compton (1). So in a tight looking finish the Grumblers needed 14 from the last three overs with three wickets remaining. Cocker swiftly put an end to the suspense with a flurry of boundaries as he completed a classy half century and took the visitors to victory by three wickets with eleven balls to spare. Matt finished with 4-66 (all clean bowled) from 13.1 overs and Rob returned tidy figures of 2-16 from his four over spell.
An excellent match against sporting opponents and jugs aplenty in the bar afterwards. Smashing.