Greenock lose out to Watsonians
Published 18 Jul 2011 12:00
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GREENOCK beat the rain that decimated weekend cricket fixtures across Scotland - but lost out to Watsonians at Glenpark, with a final score of Greenock 143, Watsonians 146 for 6.
The weather affected the SNCL programme yet again at the weekend with only 5 out of 15 matches being played to a conclusion.
Four of these games were in the Premiership and one of them was at Glenpark where Greenock lost out to Watsonians by four wickets.
This was the only one of the five games to be uninterrupted and therefore did not require the help of Messrs Duckworth and Lewis in an effort to obtain a result. Who says it always rains on Greenock?
It could be said it did rain on Greenock's 1st XI as they were forced to take the field without their star international player, Richie Berrington, whilst Chris Bellwood was only able to bat and Dougie Wylie was unavailable.
Tony Judd was persuaded to play to provide a spin option and a recent newcomer to the area, Waleed Jamal, a student from Lahore, was brought in to bolster the pace bowling.
Skipper Ryan Begley won the toss and elected to bat first. Greenock's openers, Bellwood and McIntosh, made a steady start and had reached 37 by the 10th over, when Learmonth struck a crucial blow by bowling the professional for eight. This was a major setback for Greenock as a long innings from McIntosh was felt to be crucial if Greenock were to set a challenging total.
Three balls later and the alarm bells were certainly ringing as Bellwood fell for 21, caught by Flannigan off the bowling of the Scotland Under-19 captain, Paddy Sadler. Sadler, a student at Cambridge University and a University Blue into the bargain, struck again shortly afterwards when he bowled Hislop for 10 which left the score at 62 for three.
By now, Watsonians skipper, Craig Wright, had decided that spin was the best option and he brought himself and the visitors' Indian amateur, Dhingra, into the attack and they were to bowl their allotted 10 overs spell in tandem. By the time they had finished, the innings was in ruins at 120 for nine.
Willie Rowan was given out lbw to Wright for four, Dhingra dismissed Baum in similar fashion, also for four, and skipper Begley was caught at short-leg off Wright for just two.
While all these dismissals were happening, Shailesh Prabhu was manfully keeping an end going and he now found a willing partner in Jonathan Hempsey. They put on 26 for the seventh wicket before Hempsey was caught by Euan Chalmers for 17.
Prabhu held on for a little longer before he too was caught by Chalmers, in Wright's last over, for a painstaking and vital 28 runs. Tony Judd was run out for five and the innings looked to be doomed as 113 for eight became 120 for nine.
The spectators were at least treated to a fighting last-wicket stand between Greg McDougall and Waleed Jamal. The latter hung around whilst his partner hit the runs and they took the total to 143 before Jamal was finally bowled by McKenna for two, leaving McDougall unbeaten on 23. Wright finished with figures of three for 27, with Dhingra taking two for 26 and Sadler two for 22.
This was a disappointing show by Greenock's batsmen, not for the first time this season, and it did not really give their bowlers much to defend.
To make matters worse, Watsonians got off to a rollicking start and after just 13 overs they were already over halfway to their target, reaching 75 without loss. Openers Flannigan and Learmonth were severe on anything loose and the Greenock bowling was unable to contain them. Rowan and Jamal had opened for Greenock before the former was replaced by Hempsey after bowling just three overs.
Jamal was replaced by Tim McIntosh and Hempsey, after a disastrous over which cost 21 runs, gave way to Tony Judd.
It was McIntosh who made the first breakthrough when he had Learmonth stumped by keeper Alex Baum for an enterprising 34, which included seven boundaries. The visiting professional, Weston, succumbed in identical fashion for just seven and when Judd trapped Flannigan leg before for 39, Greenock sniffed a slight possibility of turning the game around.
This possibility became a little stronger when Andy Hislop who had replaced McIntosh after a couple of expensive overs, had Euan Chalmers, so often a scourge of Greenock's bowlers, caught behind by Baum from his very first ball and Watsonians were now 107 for 4. Greenock's tails were up but they couldn't make the next and vital breakthrough, at least not until the total had reached 137, when Judd had Stuart Chalmers caught by McIntosh for 30. The professional returned to have Boyd leg before for five but Wright and McKenna saw Watsonians through to victory, the former Greenock captain remaining unbeaten on 12.
In the end, it was a fighting performance by Greenock after it looked at one point that they might be overwhelmed. Ultimately, they were left to rue the fact that they were at least 30 runs short of a competitive total. This, coupled with the untidy start to their bowling, left them with just too much to do.
As a result of this defeat, Greenock have slumped to 14th place in the Premiership and with a number of difficult fixtures ahead, it increasingly looks as if they will finish in the bottom four positions.
These four teams will play-off against each other with the bottom-placed team being relegated to the Championship and the second-bottom team having to play the team which finished second in the Championship to determine who plays in the top league in 2012.
Greenock next travel to play Dunfermline, a team against whom they have not enjoyed much success in recent years. A win there would be a great boost for the team but they will need to up their game on all fronts if they are to achieve that.
Greenock's 2nd XI were left idle on Saturday when their match at Shawholm was washed out by torrential overnight rain which left the ground flooded.
In midweek, a very much-weakened 1st XI were beaten by Ayr in the West League Cup which leaves qualification from their league group up in the air. In the Murgitroyd Rowan Cup, opponents Kelburne have scratched and Greenock will now play East Kilbride away this coming Thursday, the winners of that tie meeting Poloc in the semi-final.
This article appeared in Greenock Telegraph 18 Jul 11
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