1st XI at Kilmarnock looking to bolster their league position

The 1st XI are on their travels again this weekend as they journey down into Ayrshire to meet Kilmarnock at their Scott Ellis Playing Fields ground. This is a particularly important fixture as it matches Kilmarnock who are in third top spot, one place above the 1st XI.

Last weekend, the team missed out on being able to maintain their third top position when their match against Langside was abandoned without a ball being bowled due to the Glasgow south side's ground being deemed unplayable by the match umpires following several days of wet weather.

And while they did not play, Kilmarnock gained a very narrow win over Glasgow Accies at New Anniesland. That win enabled the Ayrshire side to leapfrog the team and move into the third top spot.

It was the narrowest of wins for Kilmarnock. Chasing Accies' total of 159, they just made it over the line' with nine wickets down. One more wicket for Accies would have seen the Ayrshire side lose the match. So instead of moving above Greenock due to gaining 25 points for the win, they would have only gained a maximum of 9 points for losing and slipped down the table into fifth top position.

The 1st XI will be confident that a win can be achieved at the Scott Ellis Playing Fields. They have shown good form in the league matches played to date with comfortable wins gained over Hillhead and Glasgow Accies. And in the match against league leaders Dumfries at their Nunholm ground, which was lost, there was little between the sides.

When the teams last met at Killie' home turf, back in 2022, Greenock emerged winners by 72 runs. Batting first, they scored 212 for the loss of just 4 wickets and then bowled out Kilmarnock for 140.

The return league match at Glenpark later in the summer was washed out. And at the end of the season, the 1st XI gained promotion to the Premier Division while Kilmarnock finished fourth.

This season Killie have played all four of their league fixtures, winning two against Hillhead and Accies and losing two against Renfrew and Dumfries. So on paper there seems little between the sides.

There are a number of key players in the Ayrshire side whom the 1st XI will do well to keep in check. South African amateur Dehan Fourie is in his second season at Killie and is the team's vice-captain for 2024. He is a quick-scoring batsmen and against Dumfries two weeks ago had 50 runs to his name within the first ten overs before falling for 67.

Adrian Maritz may be Fourie's opening partner and he is another who has shown form. Against Hillhead he scored 105 so is clearly a batsman to watch.

Killie's second overseas amateur is Tiago Viera Oelofse who has scored 66 league runs with a top score of 37. He has taken 6 wickets from 30 overs bowled in four matches.

1st XI captain Greg McDougall stated, "Matches against Kilmarnock are often closely fought. We will go there on Saturday confident that we can return with full points. The team has played well in the league fixtures, scoring good totals when batting and our bowling attack is strong and will test Killie".

Both of the side's young Australian amateurs have been in fine form since arriving in mid-April and they will be key players on Saturday.

Connor Nowlan lost his place at the top of the Western Premiership Two batting stats due to the team not playing last Saturday and will be keen to make another big score and regain that position.

In the league matches played so far Nowlan has scored 79 against Hillhead, 37 at Dumfries and 68 not out against Accies. He also scored an unbeaten 100 against Renfrew in a pre-season friendly.

His compatriot Angus Tolhurst top scored with 84 against Hillhead and also scored 105 not out in the Scottish Cup match against Aberdeenshire.

Not just are both players useful batsmen, they are also both top bowlers. Tolhurst has nine league wickets to his credit while Nowlan has eight.

To gain the win on Saturday, contributions with bat and ball will be required from all players in the team. And the team is bolstered by a number of players either returning following absence due to work / university commitments or making their first appearances for the 1st XI this season.

Aryan Sanghera, Ewan Stewart, Chirag Pandher and Chris Hempsey are all in Saturday's selection and all have plenty of 1st XI experience. If each can deliver a positive performance with either bat or ball then the team's chances of returning with full points will be improved.

The Glenpark XI got back on the field last weekend and comfortably overcame Glasgow Accies 3rd XI. This Saturday they are again at home, this time against Mearns 2nd XI, but this will be a difficult encounter against a side that is unbeaten so far this season in the league. Sudeep Chaudhary will be captain this week and will be leading a team that shows a number of enforced changes from the one that won so convincingly last week.

Both games will start as usual at 12 noon.

The Club is grateful for the continued sponsorship from Cleaning Supplies 4U.