Inverclyde Now Logo CRICKET — Crucial Win For Greenock Against Uddingston

6 August, 2018 | Local

Uddingston 144 all out in 37.5 overs (5 points)

Greenock 147 for 2 wickets in 43.4 overs (25 points)

GREENOCK made a massive move towards survival in the Premier Division with a fine eight-wicket win over Uddingston at Bothwell Policies on Saturday afternoon, while the bottom two teams, Ayr and Dumfries, both lost.

With only three Saturdays remaining in the Premier Division season, Greenock have opened up an important gap between themselves and the bottom two, but are not yet safe. However, one more win from the last three matches should all but confirm top-flight cricket at Glenpark once again in 2019.

Neil Flack won the toss and inserted the home team. Indian professional Saurabh Bandekar, leading the attack with his pace bowling, got Greenock off to the best possible start by clean-bowling the top four batsmen in the Uddingston line-up to leave them facing an uphill battle at 26 for 4 in just the ninth over.

First to go was Mo Awais with the third ball of the fifth over. He had scored 11 runs and had begun his innings well and, with a couple of boundaries to his credit, he was looking dangerous. But Bandekar’s pace proved too much for the opener and the wicket started a real ‘purple patch’ for the Greenock pro. Home team skipper Bryan Clarke was removed without scoring with the first ball of Bandekar’s fourth over. South African amateur Jimmy Sholto-Douglas was bowled next ball.

The experienced Gavin Bradley played out the remainder of the over to deny Bandekar his second hat-trick of the season. However, Bandekar was still ‘on fire’ and grabbed his fourth wicket in his next over when opener Aamir Gul (6) had his stumps knocked back to leave Uddingston in deep trouble.

The home team’s batting woes continued when Ross Lyons was very well caught by Laurens Smit off the bowling of Neil Flack in the 14th over and, in the 15th, Smit took another smart catch, this time off the bowling of Jonathan Hempsey, to send Bradley (14) back to the pavilion with the score having only moved along to 48 for 6.

Flack then had Fergus Clarke (6) caught by Ewan Stewart, David Bill (2) leg before wicket, and Adil Raza (1) caught and bowled by himself, and Uddingston looked down and out at 67 for the loss of 9 wickets in the 22nd over.

With Greenock pro Saurabh Bandekar having completed his ten overs, veteran Derek Allan and Muhammad Adnan set about trying to save some face for the home team and they did a fantastic job. Their last-wicket partnership added 77 runs, which more than doubled the team score, and hugely lifted the spirits of their team-mates who had been left dejected with the earlier poor performance out in the middle.

Derek Allan wound the clock back with a magnificent display of shots as he hit nine boundaries in his innings of 63 not out batting at number ten in the Uddingston line-up. But the introduction of Greg McDougall to the bowling attack in the 38th over brought the partnership to an end when Adnan (10) skied the fifth ball to Bandekar who took a good running catch at mid-on and Uddingston’s innings ended on 144 all out.

While Greenock no doubt felt that they had let Uddingston off the hook, the 144 total was one which they would very happily have accepted before the start of play; it represented a target of just under three runs per over to chase. Bandekar, with 4 wickets for 30 runs from 10 overs, and Flack, with 4 for 25 from 10 overs, were Greenock’s top performers with the ball.

After the tea break, Uddingston looked to capitalise on the resurgence provided by the large last-wicket stand created by Allan and Adnan. But Greenock openers Shailesh Prabhu and Chris Hempsey were up to the task, and having put 50 runs on to the scoreboard without loss by the 19th over, the home team’s earlier upbeat demeanour was noticeably changed.

However, two leg-before-wicket decisions awarded to change-bowler Gavin Bradley in his opening two overs by Willie Russell, umpiring his first ever Premier Division match, gave the Bothwell side a lift in their mood. First to go was Prabhu, trapped on the crease for 21, and then Hempsey followed, attempting to glance the ball to the leg side having scored 29.

The dismissals of the two openers brought together Neil Flack and Saurabh Bandekar and these two used all their experience to deny Uddingston any further breakthroughs. Their partnership began with the score on 55 for two in the 23rd over and they batted with a steady assurance for the next 20 overs as they knocked off the runs without any real alarms. Ninety-two runs resulted from the partnership as Greenock moved inexorably towards the 145 target with Flack 43 not out and Bandekar 33 not out when victory was achieved in the 44th over.

Apart from the failure to quickly break the Uddingston last-wicket partnership, this was as fine a Greenock performance as the team has shown during the 2018 season and came at the perfect time as the battle to secure Premier Division cricket moves towards its climax.

Particularly pleasing for the Greenock team was the manner in which they tackled chasing down the Uddingston total. The top-order batsmen displayed a disciplined approach and batted with care and concentration to accumulate their runs. Performances of this standard in the remaining games should be enough for Greenock to secure their place in the top league.

Greenock 2 nd XI (Glenpark) lose out to Ardencaple

Glenpark 104 all out in 30.4 overs (0 Points) Ardencaple 105 for 2 wickets in 22 overs (25 points)

Greenock’s Glenpark XI put in a disappointing display against Helensburgh’s 2nd XI at Glenpark on Saturday afternoon and lost in a low-scoring match. The team, with a mix of senior and junior players, failed to put enough runs on the scoreboard and paid the price as the visitors comfortably reached the target.

Greenock Cricket Club is sponsored by Cleaning Supplies 4U

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