Greenock pay for missed chances

Greenock 1st XI vs West of Scotland
WDCU CSL Premier Division
Saturday 14th July 2018

Greenock 1st XI 143 S Bandekar 80; D McNulty 4 for 22, J Fennah 4 for 30
West of Scotland 144 for 9 J H+Fearn 48; ND Flack 5 for 32

Scorecard       

In a match of fluctuating fortunes, Greenock came agonisingly close to achieving a tie with West of Scotland. With the scores level and the last West pair at the crease, a straightforward chance was put down and the batsmen crossed for the winning run. Had that catch been taken, Greenock would have earned 15 points for the tie and they would still be in eighth position in the table.

To make matters worse, the vagaries of the bonus points system meant that Greenock earned no points for coming so close to winning. The losing team which bats first can only earn bonus points if they can prevent the opposition from winning within 40 overs, something which militates against adopting a positive approach to winning a game. Greenock chose to attack West and paid the price in terms of gaining bonus points. In a low-scoring game, it is almost inevitable that a result will be achieved within 40 overs. The WDCU needs to look at this for next season and come up with a more reasonable bonus points system.

 

WDCU CSL Premier Division Table (as at 14 July)

 
Played
Won
Lost
Tied
Points
Net Run Rate
%
Ferguslie
10  
9
1
0
230
1.62
  92.00
Clydesdale
11  
7
4
0
194
-0.20
  70.55
Stirling County
10  
6
3
1
170
0.28
  68.00
Prestwick
11  
6
5
0
163
-0.15
  59.28
West of Scotland
10  
5
5
0
143
-0.31 
  57.20
Uddingston
11  
5
6
0
157
0.20 
  57.10
Poloc
10  
5
5
0
140
0.61
  56.00
Dumfries
8
2
5
1
  81
-0.49
  40.50
Greenock
10  
3
7
0
  88
-1.31 
  35.20
Ayr
11  
2
9
0
  89
-0.56 
  32.37

 

Skipper Neil Flack won the toss this week and, realising that the pitch, being dry and dusty, would be a tricky one to bat on and would only deteriorate as the game went on, decided to bat first. His fears about the pitch were quickly borne out as both he and his opening partner, Harry Briggs, were dismissed with just 10 runs on the board, Flack being bowled for 6 and Briggs caught behind for 2. Jack Griffiths in next did not last long, falling lbw to McNulty for 3 and Greenock were struggling at 21 for 3.

It was at this point that Greenock's professional, Saurabh Bandekar, stood up and took responsibility for guiding Greenock to a reasonable total. He was given support initially by Laurens Smit and the two of them took the score to 80 before Smit was caught by Young off the off-spin of Lucas Farndale for 13.

Thereafter, wickets fell at frequent intervals as nobody was able to stay with Bandekar. The left-arm spin of Fennah accounted for Jonathan Hempsey, caught for 4, Sehmat Pandher bowled for 6 and youngster Ewan Stewart caught without scoring. Greenock were now 113 for 7 with 19 overs of their innings left.

Greg McDougall was the next man and he knuckled down to providing support to Bandekar. Unfortunately, the professional in attempting to put more runs on board was dismissed four overs later for a quite splendid 80, an innings which lasted 2 minutes short of 2 hours and included 13 boundaries.

The last two wickets managed to eke out a further 11 runs before Dave McNulty ended the innings by having Jamie Nowell caught and Rod Mountford lbw, both for 1. Greenock were all out for 143 in the 40th over with Greg McDougall left undefeated on 2, having stoically defended his wicket for 29 deliveries. McNulty took 4 for 22 and Fennah 4 for 30.

West of Scotland made a steady start to their innings and had reached 30 before the first wicket fell, Fennah being caught by Greg McDougall off the bowling by Jonathan Hempsey for 19. Greg Watson fell immediately after this for 10, lbw to the bowling of Bandekar and when Young was bowled by Hempsey for just 2, West were 37 for 3 and Greenock were right back in the game.

Jonathan Fearn and Nick Boller, West's Australian amateur, came together for a crucial fourth wicket partnership but it should have been broken quite early on when Boller was put down at slip off Neil Flack's bowling when on just 2. By now Flack had put his faith in his and Laurens Smit's spin bowling, reckoning that the assistance given to them by the pitch would work in Greenock's favour.

It took quite a while for this combination to take effect but with the score on 92, Fearn was bowled by Smit for an important 48, having hit eight 4s off just 52 balls. Zimbabwean professional, Trevor Garwe, joined Boller and they continued to keep the scoring going. Greg McDougall came on for Smit for one over, which unfortunately went for 12 runs, before Smit returned to the attack.

It seemed that West would coast to victory but when Garwe was dismissed lbw by Flack for 17 with the total on 133 and the very next ball Farndale was bowled by the Greenock skipper, the complexion of the game changed. 11 to win and four wickets in hand.

The next two overs brought just one single but 9 runs were scored off the 33rd over and the scores were level. Neil Flack now bowled his tenth and last over and what an over it was. First ball, Hussain was caught by Bandekar, Hulatt was caught by Pandher off the second ball and the fifth ball saw McNulty leg before. Last man Smith survived the last ball of the over.

Boller now had the strike and having survived one chance, he made the very most of the next one that he gave off the first ball of the next over, bowled by Smit, to hit the winning run. Boller finished undefeated on 28, a vital innings for his side. Flack finished with 5 for 32 and there was one wicket apiece for Bandekar, Hempsey and Smit.

This was a desperately disappointing loss for Greenock with the two missed chances absolutely crucial. However, they can take heart from the fact that they fought to the very last.

Next up is Prestwick away from home and there is absolutely no reason why Greenock cannot defeat them. Skipper Flack strongly believes that the players have the ability to beat any team in the league, they just need to show a bit more consistency.