Greenock reach Rowan Cup final after close encounter with Poloc
Greenock 1st XI vs Poloc
Greenock 1st XI 118 for 5
Poloc 116 for 7 (CA Young 33, M Huyser 30)
Greenock won through to the final of the Murgitroyd Rowan Cup last night at Glenpark after a very tense finish against Poloc saw the home side emerge victors by just 2 runs.
Poloc won the toss and invited Greenock to bat first on a gloriously sunny evening . Chris Bellwood and Alex Baum put on 46 runs from the first seven overs before Baum (22) was bowled by Lafferty. Two overs and eleven runs later Bellwood also departed having been stumped off the bowling of Akram for 17.
Although the outfield was in superb condition and running fast, the Greenock batsmen found difficulty in piercing the field and boundaries were fewer than might have been hoped for. As a result, the run rate remained well below a run a ball for much of the innings. Richie Berrington (27) and Willie Rowan (16) both found run scoring more difficult than anticipated with only Berrington managing to reach the boundary rope on two occasions.
A late flurry of runs in the last couple of overs from Jonathan Hempsey (16 not out) and Aidan Forrest (6 not out) took the Greenock total to 118 for 5 at the end of the 20 overs, a total felt by many to be perhapstwenty or so runs short of what might be necessary.
Poloc made a sharp start to their run chase with Huyser and Akram both going well and finding the boundary regularly . However, in the fourth over, Akram (13) lifted a delivery from Tony Judd and was well caught in the deep by Aidan Forrest with the score on 28.
Craig Young, who had top scored at Glenpark on Sunday for the Western Academy with 82, joined Huyser and the run fest continued to the extent that Greenock’s continued participation in the Cup was looking very unlikely. However, Mark Robertson broke up this partnership in the 12 over when he enticed Huyser (30) into a false shot and Richie Berrington took a simple catch at mid on to make the score 71 for 2 leaving Poloc needing 48 runs from 51 balls with 8 wickets remaining.
Young maintained the necessary run rate required by Poloc but had little support and when he was caught by Berrington for 33 with the score on 97, Greenock had gained the advantage although Poloc were far from out of the game. Four overs were still to be played and the visitors required 22 runs for victory.
Good bowling and fielding in the final four overs, including a brilliant pick up and throw by Berrington to run out Jayaratne, saw Greenock through by the slimmest of margins. The local side will now face Clydesdale in the final at Titwood next Tuesday evening.
