1st XI gain vital win at Helensburgh

Helensburgh v Greenock 1st XI
Western Premiership Two
Saturday 22nd August 2026

Helensburgh 102   C White 34; CS Pandher 3 for 31
Greenock 1st XI 104 for 3   A McGuirk 55

Greenock 1st XI (25 pts) defeated Helensburgh (1 pt) by 7 wickets

Scorecard

The 1st XI gained their fourth league win of the season on Saturday when relegation rivals, Helensburgh, were comprehensively beaten by seven wickets at Ardencaple.

The victory was massive, as it keeps alive the team's hopes of avoiding relegation.

The twenty five points won on Saturday moved them up to eighth in the league table and now survival can be in their own hands IF next weekend's weather allows all of the final round of matches to take place.

For the last match of the league programme, the team will travel through to Stirling to play Mearns, who are currently in bottom position in the league. A win will mean certain survival for them.

At Ardencaple on Saturday, Toby Matthews won the toss and, having had a good look at the wicket, elected to bowl. It quickly turned out to be a good decision, as with just 17 runs on the scoreboard, the hosts were 4 wickets down.

Chirag Pandher and Adam McGuirk were the bowlers who were responsible with two wickets each.

But then, with two good partnerships Helensburgh got themselves back into the game. Firstly, Caelan Lang and Cameron White put on 34 runs before Lang was given out LBW to Pandher for 24 runs.

When 99 was reached for the loss of 5 wickets, Helensburgh would have been eyeing up a score of 150+ runs with 15 plus overs still to be bowled.

For the sixth wicket, White and Gregor Chambers had produced their team's best partnership of the afternoon by adding exactly 50 runs before Gregor Chambers was clean bowled by Toby Matthews for 18.

Then, a dramatic collapse ensued. Without another run being scored, Cameron White followed Chambers back to the clubhouse. He was caught by Mubi Ahmadzai off the bowling of Fahim Dinarkheil for 34.

And then, the final three wickets fell in rapid succession as the remaining batting line-up collapsed and the hosts were all out for 102.

For the 1st XI, Chirag Pandher picked up 3 wickets for 31 runs from his allotted 10 overs, and Adam McGuirk and Toby Matthews each collected two wickets.

After the tea Interval, the team lost Shailesh Prabhu to an LBW decision in the very first over of the innings. But a fine partnership between Pandher (26) and McGuirk took Greenock to 60 runs on the scoreboard before Pandher was caught.

McGuirk and Toby Matthews built a fine partnership which took the team score to 100 and needing just three runs to win when McGuirk (55) attempted to close the match with a six, only to be caught at deepish mid-off.

Team captain, Toby Matthews (not out 16), finished the match the very next ball with a fine shot which took the ball over the square leg boundary.

The win propelled the team up two places in the league table and enabled them to jump over both Helensburgh and Mearns.

Perfect timing, as just one league fixture remains, which is against bottom side Mearns at Stirling and a win will secure a place in the Western Premiership Two for season 2027.