Greenock lay the Stenny bogey at last
Greenock 1st XI vs Stenhousemuir
Citylets Scottish Cup
Sunday 15th May 2016
| Stenhousemuir | 109 | R Jappie 60; DOD White 3 for 19 |
| Greenock 1st XI | 112 for 1 | CJK Hempsey 59* |
Greenock successfully navigated the first round of the Citylets Scottish Cup with a nine wicket trouncing of Premier Division side Stenhousemuir at Glenpark on Sunday afternoon. It was a win which broke a three or four year hoodoo, as the Stirlingshire side have been something of a 'bogey' team for Greenock over recent seasons.
As happened on Saturday with Glasgow Accies, the visitors won the toss and elected to bat. The loss of Ashikanth Davidar, bowled by Declan White, in just the third over of play was an early setback for Stenhousemuir and when Amir Shahzad edged a delivery from Jonathan Hempsey straight to Neil Flack at slip the Stirlingshire side were two wickets down for just 14 runs.
South African pro Rushdie Jappie then brought some stability to the Stenny innings and a decent third wicket partnership with Akash Rawal was developed which took the visitors total to 62 before Rawal was trapped LBW by Neil Flack for 14.
Flack gained a second wicket in his following over when he bowled Adam Crosthwaite for just 2 runs to put Stenhousemuir in serious trouble at 68 for the loss of 4 wickets. When a further four wickets went down, and a hundred runs were still not on the scoreboard, the visitors were in some disarray.
Rushdie Jappie was still at the crease however, but he was ploughing a lone furrow as none of his teammates were able to show any ability to support him. And the end came quickly when Jappie himself was LBW to Declan White for a fine innings of 60 runs and then last man Thakur was caught by wicketkeeper Chris Hempsey from the first ball he faced from White.
For Greenock, Declan White bagged his first three haul of the 2016 season with Jonathan Hempsey, Neil Flack and Damon Rootes each picking up 2 wickets.
In reply, Greenock lost just one wicket that of Neil Flack for 10, as the Stenhousemuir total was chased down in just twenty one overs. Chris Hempsey with an excellent 59 not out was very ably supported by Damon Rootes 27 not out, who anchored the partnership with a very sound batting performance. Hempsey scored eleven boundaries in his very well compiled innings.
Greenock now advance to the last sixteen in this year's Citylets Scottish Cup and will meet Stirling County at their New Williamfield ground on Sunday 5 June.
Sunday's match against Stenhousemuir was kindly sponsored by Bathroom Elegance and Wet Wall Works.
