1st XI lose their hold on the Challenge Cup

Crescent-Dunecht v Greenock 1st XI
CS Challenge Cup
Sunday 24th May 2026

Crescent-Dunecht 207 for 9   R Chouksey 48, S Raghuraman 46
Greenock 1st XI 87   A Ahmed 3 for 6, A Rattan 3 for 21

Greenock 1st XI lost to Crescent-Dunecht by 120 runs

Scorecard

The Club's reign as Scottish Challenge Cup holders came to an abrupt end at Guthrie Park in Brechin on Sunday afternoon when the team was well beaten by Strathmore & Perthshure Union side Crescent-Dunecht.

Aryan Sanghera won the toss and put the north east side in to bat. A very sound start to the innings was made by opening batters Abrer Ahmed and Jesse Adams who scored at a rate of six runs an over for the first seven overs to give the home side the start they wanted.

The cup holders got their first breakthrough in the eighth over when Toby Matthews picked up the wicket of Ahmed (26).

A further four wickets were captured by the bowling attack which contained Crescent-Dunecht to 121 for 5 after 31 overs. But a batting onslaught in the final nine overs elevated the Aberdeenshire side to over 200 runs by the time the 40 overs innings was completed and which left the 1st XI with a challenging target of 208 to chase.

Toby Matthews with 2 for 30 from 8 overs, Mubi Ahmadzai 2 for 36 from 8 overs and Aryan Sanghera 2 for 29 from 3 overs were the main wicket-takers.

The team's reply started slowly with Usman Mansoor and Toby Matthews managing to score at just around two runs per over for the first eight overs as the Aberdeenshire side's tidy bowling and smart fielding prevented any boundaries.

At 44 for the loss of 2 wickets after 17.5 overs Greenock were gradually getting into the game although an increase in the run rate was going to be required.

However, the loss of Toby Matthews (24) followed swiftly by the wickets of Adam McGuirk caught on the boundary just three balls later and Nikhil Kadyan stumped with the score then on 45 for 5 completely altered the outlook for the Glenpark team.

The innings never recovered as they stumbled along to 87 before the innings came to an end in the 27th over, leaving Crescent-Dunecht worthy winners.