Glenpark XI lose out in entertaining season-opener

Glenpark XI vs Hillhead

Hillhead 208 for 8 (M Akram 66, S Chaduary 66, D Richardson 32, J Singh 3 for 52)
Glenpark XI 175 (AHJ Hislop 92, GJ McDougall 31)

Hillhead took the honours in this pre-season friendly match at Glenpark which was played in warm sunshine on Sunday afternoon. Having scored a very creditable 208 for 8 from their 40 overs, Hillhead were able to keep the Glenpark XI in check for most of their innings and eventually bowled the locals out for 175 which gave a margin of victory of 33 runs.

The Hillhead innings was built upon the performances of M Akram (66), S Chaduary (66) and D Richardson (32). These three batsmen provided spectators with an array of fine shots as the Hillhead total was built up and, had they had some better support from their lower order batsmen, then the target set for the Glenpark XI might well have been much more daunting.

For the second afternoon of the weekend, Jonathan Hempsey was the most economical bowler. He bowled 8 overs 1 for 30, while Jeeta Singh was the main wicket-taker with figures of 8 overs, 3 for 52.

In the Glenpark XI reply, Andy Hislop was the outstanding bat. He showed good concentration and shot selection for most of his innings and only succumbed with about five overs to play when he failed to connect properly with a shot intended to clear the field but which instead found the hands of mid-on. Sadly for him, he fell just 8 runs short of what would have been a well deserved century. The only other Greenock bat who made a significant contribution was Greg McDougall who made 31