1st XI look to keep winning when they face Kilmarnock

The 1st XI are at home for the second weekend in succession when Kilmarnock are the opposition at Glenpark on Saturday. Supporters will also be hoping for a second win in succession, but perhaps with a less anxious, nail-biting finish to the match than against Langside last Saturday when the team emerged victorious by the narrowest one wicket margin.

The win should ensure that they do not get drawn down into any relegation issues and, indeed, if the results of the remaining five matches go well, could see the side finish as high as third in the Western Premiership Two league table.

Saturday's visitors to Glenpark, Kilmarnock, have had a very inconsistent season. The Ayrshire side have managed five wins from 12 matches completed and lie in sixth top position, just one place below the 1st XI but with 11.36 percentage points less. Not since the last Saturday in May and the first Saturday in June has the Killie side managed two consecutive wins.

When the sides met at the Scott Ellis Oval in Kilmarnock in early June, the home side emerged as victors thanks to the batting heroics of the team's opening bat Adrian Maritz who scored 95 runs and almost single-handedly enabled the Ayrshire men to overtake the 1st XI's score of 187 for 6.

At Glenpark on Saturday, the team will seek to reverse that result.

Back into the side for the game come a number of players who were unavailable last weekend. Harry Briggs, Aryan and Sam Sanghera return and should add strength to the batting line-up. But missing due to injury are Ewan Stewart with a back strain and team captain Greg McDougall who has yet to recover from a disc issue in his back.

Ewan Stewart was a key player in the team gaining the win over Langside. He showed a lot of grit and determination as he held the innings together for a lengthy period in mid-innings as wickets were falling and helped take the innings score to near the winning target before the two tail-end batters Inam Khan and Mo Ahmadzai took the team to victory.

The win over Langside was gained without any real input from the club's two overseas amateurs Connor Nowlan and Angus Tolhurst. For the first time in this season's league programme neither of the young Australians made any real contribution with either bat or ball. So a real positive the team can take from the win is that it came due to the efforts of others in the side and was not dependent on the two overseas players.

Both Nowlan and Tolhurst have been outstanding contributors to the team during the summer and both feature towards the very top of the statistics for run-scoring and wicket-taking for the whole of the Western Premiership Two league.

On Saturday against Kilmarnock, the young Aussies will be keen to get back into the thick of things with runs and wickets for the team, and, if they do so, then the team will undoubtedly be in a good position to gain revenge over the Ayrshire side.

Connor Nowlan has taken over the team captaincy in Greg McDougall's absence and may decide to continue with Shailesh Prabhu as his opening batting partner. Prabhu showed his experience at the top of the order last Saturday with a composed and crucial innings of 27 runs. He remained calm and focussed during a period early in the innings when several key wickets fell.

If Nowlan does make that decision, it is likely that the returning Aryan Sanghera will drop down the order leaving Harry Briggs in his now regular number three spot and Angus Tolhurst coming in at number four.

The remainder of the middle order could look like being filled by Cammy Calder, Sehmet and Chirag Pandher with the lower order formed by Aryan and Sam Sanghera plus PJ Bryceland and Mo Ahmadzai.

On paper, the team has a strong batting line-up. If both amateurs return to form and the others show the application which enabled the win over Langside, then a competitive, and hopefully, a winning total should be achieved.

And on the bowling front, Nowlan has plenty of options from which to choose. He is the regular pace opening bowler and will probably have left arm, slow spin bowler Tolhurst as his opening partner. He can then turn to pace bowling from Cammy Calder and Sehmet Pandher and spin from Chirag Pandher with the experience of Sam Sanghera also available.

The team will undoubtedly be buoyed by last weekend's result and if the team performs well, then another win can be achieved at Glenpark on Saturday afternoon.

As usual, the game is scheduled to start at 12 noon.

The Glenpark XI have no game this weekend.

The Club is grateful for the continued sponsorship from Cleaning Supplies 4U.