Sean's the man for the big occasion
Ferguslie 112 for 5 Greenock 113 for 4 scorecard
A virtuoso performance by Sean Weeraratna was at the heart of Greenock's win over Ferguslie in the evening gloom at Glenpark, a win that takes them into the final of the Murgitroyd Rowan Cup and just one game away from contesting the National 20/20 finals at Shawholm in early August.
Ferguslie won the toss and without hesitation, elected to bat as it was clear that the side batting second would have to do so in very poor light, not that it was all that bright in the first innings as summer continued to elude the West of Scotland. The two captains agreed to limit the contest to just 18 overs per side which meant that 3 bowlers could bowl 4 overs each and the others would be restricted to a maximum of three. Greenock's returning internationalists, Weeraratna and Berrington, opened the attack and the former struck early in the innings when he bowled Ferguslie's overseas amateur, Haslim, behind his legs. This brought Omer Hussain to the crease and in the company of his cousin, Majid Haq, he upped the tempo of the batting on a pitch which was not easy to bat on, with the bounce being at times almost non-existent.
Jonathan Hempsey and Harry Byrnes Howe, the latter ceding the gloves to young Alex Baum, were brought in to the attack and strove to keep the run-rate down, which to a certain extent, they were able to do so. It took the introduction of the peerless Juddy to gain the breakthrough when he tempted Hussain out of his crease to let Baum make a smart stumping, which made up for two earlier difficult chances which he had spurned. Alan Mories replaced Hussain and showed a good deal of enterprise in his knock, hitting a brisk 22 runs. 15 runs were taken off the 18th over and with just one over to go, Ferguslie were sitting at 109 for 2 and contemplating a target being set of over 120.
However, they were to reckon without Sean Weeraratna. A single to Haq off the first ball was followed by Mories picking out Chris Hempsey on the long-on boundary. The batsmen having crossed, Haq had the strike but he fell victim to an excellent yorker, dismissed for a fine 39. Preston-Jones was next to the wicket but he lasted no more than one ball as another yorker did for him and gave Weeraratna his first hat-trick for the club. Two singles followed off the last two balls of the over but the final total was now only 112 and in hindsight this was a key moment in the match. Weeraratna finished with the splendid figures of 4 for 12 off his 4 overs but his work had just begun.
He and Richie Berrington opened for Greenock but were quickly separated when the latter attempted to slog sweep Carruthers and was adjudged leg before by the umpire, a decision which did not seem to sit well with the Greenock captain. Harry Byrnes Howe was next in and immediately got off the mark with an edged four through where first slip would normally be. He and Weeraratna made every effort to keep the scoreboard moving and by the halfway stage of the innings, the score had moved on to 50, although by then Byrnes Howe had gone, caught in juggling fashion by Haslim on the mid wicket boundary. Ryan Begley followed but after scoring 9 he was palpably leg before to Ellis and Greenock were now 78 for 3 in the thirteenth over. This over, despite this wicket, was to prove a crucial one for Greenock as Ellis conceded two sets of 4 wides in it, contributing 10 to the total and bringing the target more readily in sight.
Weeraratna, despite the gloom, was seeing the ball well, as witnessed by a fine straight six into Fox Street and a pull for 4 into the old tennis courts off Haq. However, his innings was nearly brought to a messy conclusion when Juddy made full contact with an on drive which thudded into Sean's body with a sickening thump and dropped him to the ground, where he lay in some pain for a time. Fortunately, he had taken the impact on his upper arm and was able to carry on but had it hit his forearm or ribs, you would have to think that his game, and possibly his season, would have been over. He and Juddy took the score on to 104 before the latter holed out to McAllister on the long-off boundary and the final over began with Greenock needing 7 runs for victory.
Singles were scampered off the first two balls, the third was hit straight to short extra cover but the fourth was pulled by Weeraratna to the midwicket boundary, at the same time bringing up a most merited fifty, and the fifth ball was squeezed behind square on the leg side which enabled the batsmen to run the two needed for victory.
Ferguslie will feel disappointed to get nothing out of a game to which they contributed hugely although their young bowlers, Carruthers, Cameron and Ellis all showed undoubted promise for the future. For their part, Greenock will be buoyed up by this win as they prepare to take on Clydesdale in the final on Wednesday evening. A prize of £500 from the sponsors, Murgitroyd and Company, awaits the winners who will then go on to represent the West in the National 20/20 finals to be held at Poloc on Sunday 3rd August. The man of the match will get £100 for his efforts and had that been on offer in this game, then there would only have been one winner. Sean Weeraratna can seldom have played better, a battling undefeated half-century and four cheap wickets, including a hat-trick, bears testimony to that. More of the same on Wednesday, please, Sean.