Greenock  no match for the champions

Greenock 1st XI vs Ferguslie
WDCU CSL Premier Division
Saturday 11th August 2018

Greenock 1st XI 173 S Bandekar 70; G Cameron 4 for 31
Ferguslie 174 for 4 G Preston-Jones 56, M English 46

Scorecard       

Greenock were comfortably beaten by Ferguslie at Glenpark on Saturday in a match which confirmed the Paisley side as Premier Division champions for season 2018.

It was a poor day all round for the Glenpark side, as not only did they lose to Ferguslie and come away with zero points, but relegation contenders Ayr won against Poloc to gain 25 points and Dumfries tied with Stirling County for the second time this season to gain 15 points.

The upshot of the results from the three matches is that Greenock remain in eighth position but the gap between themselves and second bottom Ayr is now just under three percentage points. With only two Saturdays remaining in the Premier Division season, Greenock's future in the top league is still very much in their own hands. Wins against Stirling County (A) and Poloc (H) will guarantee survival and maybe just one win will do.

 

WDCU CSL Premier Division Table (as at 11 August)

 
Played
Won
Lost
Tied
Points
Net Run Rate
%
Ferguslie
13  
12
1
0
305
1.51
  93.85
Clydesdale
14  
9
5
0
253
0.01
  72.29
Stirling County
13  
7
4
2
205
0.13
  63.08
Uddingston
14  
7
7
0
212
0.15
  60.58
Prestwick
14  
7
7
0
206
-0.03 
  58.86
West of Scotland
13  
6
7
0
182
-0.25
  56.00
Poloc
13  
5
8
0
163
0.39
  50.16
Greenock
13  
5
8
0
138
-1.01
  42.47
Ayr
14  
4
10
0
139
-0.47 
  39.72
Dumfries
11  
2
7
2
  99
-0.70 
  36.00

 

Greenock captain, Neil Flack, won the toss on Saturday and perhaps surprisingly opted to bat first. It was a decision which the Glenpark side failed to take advantage of and after the opening ten overs found themselves 36 for the loss of both openers Harry Briggs (25) and Shailesh Prabhu (5).

Flack and Indian professional Saurabh Bandekar, who had an unbroken partnership of just over 90 runs the previous week at Uddingston, looked to be in similar good form as they took the Greenock score to 74 in the 22nd over. But Flack (18) then let his concentration slip and he was stumped by Ferguslie keeper David Stafford having gone down the wicket to Scotland international spin bowler Hamza Tahir and been deceived by the Paisley bowler's flight.

The loss of Flack in mid innings was a significant blow to Greenock and his wicket was followed shortly after by the loss of South African amateur Laurens Smit bowled by Tahir.

Bandekar was joined by Jonathan Hempsey in the 25th over with the score on 85 for the loss of 4 wickets, and, with Ferguslie in a strong position, Greenock needed a lengthy partnership to get back into the game and set a challenging total for their Paisley opponents to chase.

A score in excess of 220 runs seemed likely to be the sort of total needed, and to achieve that Greenock needed to score at close to six runs an over in the second half of their innings.

Bandekar and Hempsey lasted ten overs together but could not quicken the pace of run-scoring and added just 34 runs before Hempsey became Greg Cameron's first victim of the afternoon caught by Hamza Tahir.

A quickfire 13 runs from Sehmat Pandher momentarily increased the run-rate but Stafford produced a smart stumping from Cameron's bowling to end his brief, but entertaining innings which included three boundaries.

With thirteen overs remaining, Greenock's hopes of achieving a total anywhere near 200 depended almost entirely on Bandekar remaining at the crease until the end of the innings and having someone stay in with him. But that was not to be. Having batted for just over two hours, and held the innings together, Bandekar mis-timed a drive in the 41st over and provided a return catch to Greg Cameron for the Ferguslie bowler's fourth wicket of the afternoon.

At 145 for the loss of 8 wickets, Greenock were a long way from the total which they needed.

Greg McDougall and Sam Sanghera (8) put on 26 for the ninth wicket and the innings ended in the 49th over when Fraser Godsman was bowled by Haroon Tahir. McDougall was unbeaten on 10 as the Greenock innings ended on 173.

Greg Cameron's excellent afternoon with the ball in which he picked up 4 wickets for 31 runs, came to a most unfortunate end when he suffered a nasty knee injury while bowling the 43rd over of the innings and he had to be stretchered off the Glenpark pitch.

After the tea interval, with the Premier Division title within their grasp, Ferguslie opened their innings with the league's most consistent opening partnership of Michael English and Gregor Preston-Jones. The pair were once again in excellent form and put on 91 runs before English was bowled by Laurens Smit for a fine 46.

South African amateur Elliot Moses joined Preston-Jones out in the middle and the runs continued to flow as the Greenock total, and the Premier Division title, came firmly into sight. But the Glenparkers refused to go down without a fight and three more wickets were picked up before the winning runs were scored.

Preston-Jones was LBW to Sam Sanghera for 56, Moses was caught by Greg McDougall bowled Hempsey for 25 and Riyaad Henry was LBW to Bandekar without troubling the scorers.

Ferguslie's first Premier Division title, and their first top league title for over fifty years, was finally achieved in the 39th over ... their last top league title was the old Western Union title in 1967. The Paisley club's celebrations, when the winning runs were scored with a boundary by Omar Hussain, were very well deserved after a season during which they have been dominant in the top division.