Glenpark XI make it two wins out of two

Glenpark 1st XI v Milngavie 2nd XI
Western Championship Three
Saturday 10th May 2025

Milngavie 2nd XI 82   S Haidary 4 for 11, DC Sharma 4 for 25
Glenpark XI 83 for 3   R Kumar 25*, M Ahmad 22*

Glenpark XI (25 pts) defeated Milngavie 2nd XI (1 pt) by 7 wickets

Scorecard

It was a bright sunny day for Glenpark's first home game of the 2025 campaign - made even brighter by a comfortable win against a team perceived to be one of the strongest in the league.

The visitors elected to bat and Dave Sharma was asked to open the bowling - a tradition now in it's 35th year! Though the veteran initially appeared somewhat out of sorts, perhaps displaying the effect of a winter on old bones - a good shout for LBW in the first over was disappointingly turned down. At the other end Arun Nair looked threatening, but also struggled with control, allowing the opening batsmen to make a comfortable start. Then two excellent pieces of fielding got Glenpark into the game, first a neat catch in gully by Samim Haidary off Dave, then a quick pick up by Hamid Safi leading to a run out.

Milngavie never recovered from the removal of their openers with wickets falling regularly. Dave completed a four-wicket haul with two caught and bowleds, and a catch by Mahmood Ahmadzai which is an early contender for catch of the season. At the other end, Arun unfortunately had to withdraw due to a shoulder injury, which enforced a change that proved match-winning. Samim Haidary bowled superbly to also achieve a four-wicket haul, including a slip catch by Dave allowing him to repay Samim's earlier assist. Moiz Mansoor picked up the final wicket to close the innings at 82 all out.

Although Glenpark's bowling and fielding are showing great promise, batting still appears less robust, so the low target was not being taken for granted. Sudeep Chaudhary and Rakesh Kumar were asked to open the batting, with the former losing his wicket in the first over. Misjudgements by Usman Mansoor and Mohammed Zeeshan reduced the home team to a precarious 22-3, the total largely thanks to some wayward bowling. Thankfully captain Eddie Ahmad joined Rakesh to steady the ship and steer the team to victory with a sensible and patient approach.

Two wins out of two place Glenpark as early pacesetters in the league and hopefully the team can continue their streak when they travel to Ardrossan next Saturday. Thanks to Yakoob Hayat for stepping in to cover Arun's injury (for whom we wish a speedy recovery), Sam Sanghera for taking annual leave to provide support with sundries (as our overseas amateurs would say!) and to the ongoing sponsorship from Cleaning Supplies 4U and Domino's Pizza.

Highlights of the match can be found at this link.