JUST like the big game in the East End of Glasgow, Saturday's cricket
match of the day in the D M Hall Western Union failed to provide a
winner. What it did find, though, was an odds-on favourite for the
championship.
Greenock took the better of the draw against nearest rivals West of
Scotland at Glenpark, and now only need to do the same against
Drumpellier next weekend to capture the title.
However, it should have been a very different story entering the final
chapter. Not for the first time this season, the Hamilton Crescent side
managed to draw a match it looked easier to win.
With 10 overs remaining, Jon Williams' side needed just four an over
with six wickets remaining, a stance from which to win game, and almost
certainly the title.
By the close, West's last pair of Angus Montgomery and Mark Gilchrist
were left to hold out for draw points.
Batting first, the home side totalled 182 for nine, a score built
entirely around the innings of Tom Black. Coming in when the first
wicket fell at 17, 'TB' cut loose on the West bowling, and hammered his
way to a glorious 108 off just 126 balls, with eleven boundaries and two
6s, both off Gilchrist, before being eighth out with the score on 167.
Incidentally, pro for the day Atul Wassan was next highest scorer, with
20.
Chasing, West found themselves 15 for two when Sajid Ali joined up
with Mike McDonnell. They turned the game around in the visitors'
favour, quickly taking the score on to 92 with the Pakistani in full
flow with 44 from 64 deliveries.
But the next ball, Sajid went for the big one, only to be spectaculary
picked off at deep cover by David Thomson.
That catch swung the match again. The visiting batting then crumbled,
and although McDonnell went on to make a very good 50, there was never
any real support for him down the order.
Kilmarnock were the only side to take win points, the bowling of
Gregor Cunningham (5-49) and Ricky Toussaint, who in addition to making
70 also captured four wickets, defeating Uddingston.
The strangest happenings were at Whitehaugh, where Kelburne spinner
Javed Ashraf showed his disgust at not being given a bowl, by walking
out halfway through their game against Poloc. Kelburne though, held on
for the draw.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article