Kilmarnock 213 all out after 46.4 overs (25 points)
Greenock 145 all out after 45.1 overs (1 point)
A SIGNIFICANTLY understrength Greenock side lost to Kilmarnock by 68 runs at Glenpark on Saturday afternoon.
The result, which gave the Ayrshire side their fifth win out of six matches, moved them in to joint top position in the Western Premiership Two league table.
For Greenock, the result places huge significance on the results of the next three matches which are all against teams in the lower half of the league. Win them all and thoughts of relegation pressure will be eased, if not entirely removed. Lose even one and the second half of the season will be a tense couple of months.
Consistency of selection has been an issue for the Glenpark side and Saturday provided the biggest problem yet with first team players Shailesh Prabhu, Cammy Calder, Nikhil Kadyan, Chirag Pandher, Sam Sanghera and Fahim Dinarkhiel all missing through work commitments or illness.
Greenock captain Aryan Sanghera won the toss and opted to bowl first. But without either of his two frontline pace bowlers, Dinarkhiel and Calder, available to spearhead the attack, the Killie top order batters were quickly on top.
The score raced to 99 for the loss of one wicket after just 14 overs, as the Kilmarnock batsmen took full advantage of some ’friendly’ and wayward bowling. However, the introduction of the two Australian amateurs Toby Matthews and Adam McGuirk into the bowling attack at the start of the 14th and 15th overs made an immediate impact.
McGuirk captured the wicket of Syed Bukhari (32) with just his second delivery in the 15th over when the Killie batsman hoisted a catch to Aryan Sanghera, and two overs later McGuirk trapped Killie captain Flanagan leg-before-wicket for 29.
Matthews and McGuirk’s accurate off-spin bowling slowed the visitors’ run-scoring rate and gradually brought Greenock back in to the match. And when Matthews bowled Gurupreet Singh (17) at the end of the 28th over it heralded a spell when Greenock quickly picked up another three wickets to take the Kilmarnock score to 185 for 7 in the 39th over.
Mubi Ahmadzai was the bowler who did the damage taking all three of the wickets in a five-over spell. Kilmarnock were all out for 213 in the 47th over having looked at one stage early in the innings as though they might score well over 300. But the innings score might have been considerably less had Greenock’s bowling not been so profligate with 45 wides and a total of 57 extras.
Greenock’s innings got off to a poor start with three wickets falling for just 32 runs within the first ten overs. But a good fifth-wicket partnership of 29 runs between Adam McGuirk and Mubi Ahmadzai looked to be giving Greenock a chance of challenging Kilmarnock’s total until McGuirk was run out for 35.
In earlier matches this season, McGuirk’s wicket would have led to a middle/lower order collapse but not so in this match. Instead, Greenock’s remaining batsmen added a further 68 runs before the innings came to an end on 145 with young Mahmood Ahmadzai playing a fine innings of 30 from just 33 deliveries.
Next for Greenock are the three important fixtures against Hillhead, Helensburgh and Mearns as the league programme moves toward its mid-point.
Meanwhile the Glenpark XI lost to Mearns Challengers in a well-contested Championship Two league match.
Batting first at Bellahouston Park, Greenock’s Glenpark XI scored 144 for 8 from their 40 overs with Waqas Ahmed making 35, supported by Arun Nair with 32 and Afwan Khan unbeaten on 29.
However, the total was not enough as, in reply, Mearns Challengers scored 146 for three in just 25 overs to win by seven wickets.
Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by The Ethos Group
