Published: Monday, 12th May, 2008 12:00
Greenock well beaten
By Roger Graham
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GRANGE 219 for 5 wkts; GREENOCK 154 all out
Top scorer: Dewald Nel top-scored for Greenock with 43 and took two wickets, but it was not enough to halt Grange.
GREENOCK’S hopes of retaining their title took a body blow on Saturday at Glenpark when Grange comprehensively outplayed them.
It is early days yet in the season, but it will be a difficult task for the champions now, especially when they lose players to the national side in the weeks and months to come.
On an afternoon when rain delayed the start, the Edinburgh visitors had first use of the pitch against their full strength hosts.
And they got off to a flyer, their opening batsmen, Stuart Davidson and Gregor Maiden, paying scant respect to Scotland opening bowler Dewald Nel. After his heroics against Lancashire, he found his fellow countrymen in no mood to stand in awe.
However, in the fifth over, he had Maiden caught behind, an important wicket with the total 29 and the visitors clearly in the mood.
Neil McCallum came in to join Davidson and these two batted brightly before Davidson was trapped leg before wicket by Sean Weeraratna in the 11th over, his second of the innings.
At 46 for two, the match was finely balanced, but it was Grange who grabbed the initiative with the arrival of Kiwi professional McSkimming. His partnership with McCallum was to put on 85 runs and turn the screw on Greenock.
The New Zealander did survive a very confident appeal off Tim McIntosh’s bowling, Craig Wright clutching a slip catch with the home side believing McSkimming had edged from bat onto pad, but it wasn’t until Dougie Wylie appeared that the Glenpark men began to claw their way back into the match.
His one for 32 off 10 overs proved frustrating for Grange who, at one stage, had looked set for a total of at least 250. It was Wylie who finally removed McSkimming when the professional hit the ground with his bat and could only half-hit a shot to cover.
At 131 for three in 34 overs, it was a crucial wicket for Greenock. Neil McCallum was meanwhile batting with assurance for the visitors and reached his 50 with a single off McIntosh in the 35th over.Weeraratna returned for a second spell and Greenock were gradually pegging Grange back.
McCallum was bowled going for a big hit off Nel in the 47th, then Nel’s sharp fielding ran out Sarangaranjan. Giles Holmes remained unbeaten on 32 at the close of the innings, Grange being on 219.
It was a formidable total, but the feeling was that Greenock had done well to get back into a position of being able to mount a serious challenge.
A good start was needed, but it was the Grange opening bowlers who grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. Both Davidson and McSkimming bowled well, but it was Davidson who profited most, removing the first three Greenock batsmen and virtually strangling any comeback at birth.
Pinch hitter Sean Weeraratna was first to fall, lofting a shot to mid-on in the fourth over, only seven on the board. When professional McIntosh succumbed leg before wicket to a delivery which kept low two overs later, it was seven for two and the elation in the visiting ranks was palpable.
Any serious possibility of a successful chase became minimal when Berrignton edged Davidson to be caught behind.
When skipper Wright appeared it was 27 for three and Greenock were in a big hole.
Harry Howe was run out — what must have been a marginal decision — and when Wright was cauht at midwicket in the 22nd over, it was 51 for five and all over bar the shouting.
Shailesh Prabhu was bowled by Wilson after an accumulated 13 to make it 78 for six in 28 overs.
Dewald Nel and Ryan Begley then produced the best home partnership of the innings, putting on 61 before Nel was bowled by Wilson in the 40th.
It was an effort of defiance which added respectablity to the score, even if it never realistically put the hosts back in contention.
David Browan was caught behind off McSkimming, Begley finally fell in the 44th, and the innings came to a close two overs later when Dougie Wylie was stumped.
Wilson ended up with good figures of five for 32, though the true damage was done in the opening spell of Davidson and McSkimming, the latter not really getting the wickets he probably deserved.
The challenge from Edinburgh looks serious this season, Carlton surging ahead at the top of the table with Grange moving smoothly through the gears.
GRANGE
S.J. Davidson lbw b Weeraratna................23
G.I. Maiden c Howe b Nel..........................12
N.F.I. McCallum b Nel................................80W.C. McSkimming c Berrington b Wylie....46
B.R. Spence c Howe b Wylie ......................1
G.C. Holmes not out .................................32
S. Sarangarajan run out.............................10
S.J.S. Smith not out.....................................3
Extras 13
Total (5wkts) 219
Bowling: D. Nel 9-0-50-2; C.M. Wright 8-1-21-0; S.D. Weeraratna 9-0-42-1; T.G. McIntosh 10-1-43-0; R.D. Berrington 4-0-25-0; R.D.G. Wylie 10-0-32-1.
FOW:1/29 Maiden; 2/46 Davidson; 3/131 McSkimming; 4/197 McCallum; 5/212 Sarangarajan.
GREENOCK
T.G. McIntosh lbw b Daviddon.....................2
S.D. Weeraratnac Wilson b Davidson..........4
R.D. Berrington c Smith b Davidson..........10
H. Howe run out.........................................13C.M. Wright c McCallum b Wilson..............11
S. Prabhu b Wilson.....................................13
D. Nel b Wilson...........................................43
R.G. Begley c Sarangarajan b Wilson.......32
Extras 19
Total (all out) 154
Bowling: W.C. McSkimming 8-2-28-1; S.J. Davidson 8-2-19-3; G.I. Maiden 10-2-33-0; A.R. Wilson 9.5-1-32-5; S. Sarangarajan 7-1-21-0; J.S. Gray 3-0-18-0.
FOW: 1/7 Weeraratna; 2/7McIntosh; 3/27 Berrington; 4/37 Howe; 5/51 Wright; 6/78 Prabhu; 7/ 139 Nel; 8/141 Brown; 9/151 Begley; 10/154 Hempsey.
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