1st XI batting no match for Ferguslie attack
Ferguslie v Greenock 1st XI
WDCU Premiership One
Saturday 15th July 2023
| Ferguslie | 222 for 9 | T Ahmad 78, G Preston-Jones 39; N Kadyan 3 for 32, GM Chambers 3 for 36 |
| Greenock 1st XI | 110 | LC Fischer-Keogh 32; H Tahir 5 for 16, Q Khan 3 for 21 |
The 1st XI's match against Ferguslie in Paisley on Saturday somehow survived the wet weather which affected many parts of the west of Scotland. But the outcome for the team was less good, the Renfrewshire derby ending with Ferguslie easy winners by 112 runs.
The result means that the side remain rooted at the bottom of the Western Premiership One with just six rounds of the league programme remaining.
Saturday's match at Meikleriggs was one of three Western Premiership One fixtures which beat the wet weather. However, the start of the match was delayed by half an hour and once under way it was Ferguslie who batted first, having won the toss.
The Paisley side opened with their South African pro Mo Mayet and Gregor Preston-Jones and made a brisk start to the innings by scoring 34 runs from the first six overs.
But the visiting team got back into the game early in the seventh over when opening pace bowler Gregor Chambers had Mayet caught at mid-off by Rahul Dalal for 9.
At the end of the thirteenth over and without another wicket having fallen, captain Greg McDougall made two bowling changes by bringing on Nikhil Kadyan for Sam Sanghera and then Dalal for Chambers.
The two slow bowlers had an immediate impact by keeping the run-scoring in check for a number of overs and then Kadyan got wicket number two when he had Preston-Jones (39) caught by Dalal. The score was 70 in the 20th over.
Kadyan picked up his second wicket, and Ferguslie's third, just two overs later when the dangerous Ezakhiel was bowled for17.
Two more wickets fell just either side of Ferguslie posting 100 runs on to the scoreboard. Firstly, Uzair Ahmad was bowled by Dalal for 7, then secondly, David Stafford (3) presented a return catch to Chirag Pandher in the 30th over to make the score 103 for 5.
Taimoor Ahmad batting at number 4 in the Ferguslie Line-up was by this stage well settled in and he took on the responsibility of guiding the remainder of the home batting.
A fifty run partnership between Ahmad and Haroon Tahir propelled Ferguslie to 155 before Tahir was run out, having scored 27 midway through the 39th over.
Opening bowler Gregor Chambers was brought back into the bowling attack in the 45th over and with just his second ball, batsman Adam Tahir (16) provided Rahul Dalal with his third catch of the afternoon.
Two more wickets fell during the last five overs of the innings as Ferguslie moved from 188 for 7 to 222 for 9 at the close of the 50th over. Taimoor Ahmad ended his fine innings on 78 when he was caught by Sam Sanghera from the bowling of Chambers. And Abdullah Tufail was stumped by wicketkeeper Lukas Fischer-Keogh at the start of the 48th over.
Gregor Chambers with 3 wickets for 36 runs and Nikhil Kadyan 3 for 32 were the main wicket-takers.
In reply, needing 223 runs to win, the team once again were unable to make a good start to their innings. The early loss of Tom Polkinghorne who was adjudged LBW to a ball from Mayet was a blow to the visitors.
When opening partner Briggs was caught by Mayet from the bowling of Taimoor Ahmed at the end of the eleventh over, the team were in a spot of bother with just 32 runs on the board.
A promising partnership developed between Dalal and Fischer-Keogh for the third wicket, but with the score on 66 Dalal lofted a ball from Haroon Tahir and was caught by Taimoor Ahmad. He had scored 23 runs.
Dalal's dismissal was in the 18th over and with another 157 runs needed to overtake the Ferguslie total, the reamining batsmen had time to do so. But once again they were unable to find the form which would have allowed a challenge to be mounted.
The partnership between Dalal and Fischer-Keogh which produced 33 runs was the only one of any note in the innings. And when Fischer-Keogh was dismissed for 32 in the 22nd over any hope of the side getting anywhere close to their target seemed to vanish.
Wickets fell regularly until the innings ended on 110 in the 35th over. Only a little cameo from Chirag Pandher, which produced a six and a boundary in his short innings of 12 runs, provided a little positive entertainment from the side.
Haroon Tahir with 5 wickets for just 16 runs and Qasim Khan with 3 wickets for 21 were the bowlers who ripped the heart out of the batting line-up.
