The Dumfries second team, Nunholm, batted with resolve to beat Whitehaugh in the Western Premier Reserve League on Saturday and Uday Redipalli was the Solway Insulation Player of the Match on his debut.
Whitehaugh batted first and Sean Thornely struck first by comprehensively bowling one opener in his second over. However it was twenty overs more until the next wicket fell when junior Harith Hassan took a wicket, also on his debut, trapping Gilmour lbw for 22, 62 for 2.
The batting pair of Allan and Khan then proved hard to shift and they also accelerated the scoring. With seven overs left Allan was bowled by Muir for 80. Hyder Hussain returned with an lbw first ball to remove Shah for 67 but a final flourish of 20 from Milliken looked significant as Whitehaugh pushed on to a testing target of 224 for 4 after 50 overs.
Nunholm started briskly and smartly exploited the gaps in the field and passed fifty before the ten over mark but wickets were given away rather than earned and the scoreboard soon read 94 for 5 in the twentieth over. Max Corbett-Byers was looking good for his 23 until caught at midwicket and opener Mat Williams contributed a valuable 32.
That brought together the key Nunholm pairing of Uday Redipalli and Sean Thornely. They put on a partnership of nearly eighty with Redipalli finding the boundary on a regular basis. The required rate was being well managed at four an over when Thornely edged a drive, out for 21.
James Cox then played a Captain’s knock supporting Redipalli. Nunholm found they had overs to spare as Redipalli added a big six to reach 74 not out and then Cox finished off the game with two successive boundaries for a good Nunholm win by four wickets.
Elsewhere there was controversy in the Western Premier league as Your Move Dumfries travelled to bottom club Greenock in a ‘must-win’ match for both sides at the wrong end of the table. Dumfries were put into bat and succeeded in moving on from 56 for 4 in the 22nd over to deliver their best batting effort of the season. Alan Davidson and Chris Brockwell built a fine partnership of 107 runs to take the score to 163 in the 39th over when Brockwell was bowled for 34.
The Solway Insulation Player of the Match Davidson was caught for 59 at 188 for 6 with seven overs left. However partner Tommy McGrath carried on the push for runs in the dwindling overs, aided by Callum Reynolds-Lewis and Fergus Bainbridge, until he was also caught for 27. Dumfries finished on a sizeable 231 for 8 and on a wicket which was not easy to bat on.
Then the story of the second innings is that it did not happen. During the interval between innings, from Greenock reports, one of the home players received notification of a positive Covid test. The appointed umpires stopped the match and play was abandoned. WDCU league officials are investigating the outcome of the match and whether it is to be deemed as no-result or whether Dumfries are to be awarded the points.
There was drama of a different kind on Sunday afternoon as the Sunday Development side lost in a final ball finish against Stainton. The visitors scored 210 for 5 with John Woodhouse taking three wickets and Sean Thornely two in the closing overs. Opener Adam Malik then hit a rapid fifty retired to get ahead of the rate. Runs followed from Fergus Bainbridge with 29 and from Mat Williams with 34. Again Sean Thornely was in an important partnership, this time with Jerry Goodin. They seemed to have the measure of the chase but Thornely was well caught for 19 in the penultimate over and Dumfries slipped up to lose by two runs. Jerry Goodin was left not out after an accomplished 50.
Junior Cricket: There was more nail-biting on Sunday morning for the Dumfries Under-11s at Finals Day at Penrith in their Cup semi-final against Keswick. Dumfries set a good total of 96 for 5 in their 16 overs with a James Hallam Insurance Player of the Match performance from opener Lachlan Osmond who hit 30 retired off just nine deliveries. Cory Dawson, Oliver Clark-Maxwell and Isaac Ishmael also reached double figures. Then Dumfries took three wickets in three successive closing overs with two direct hit run outs by Cory and Jasmine McCulloch and a wicket bowled by Macey Corbett-Byers. That meant in the last over it had become just one wicket to win but with only two runs needed. However it was Keswick that edged the result to win by that one wicket after a Dumfries performance of which their team coaches could be proud.
Women’s Cricket: The Womens’ Scottish T20 Cup Finals Day takes place at Dumfries Cricket Club, Nunholm, on Sunday with three twenty over-a-side matches; two semi-finals and the final. Several members of the successful Scotland Women’s team which won the European T20 World Cup Qualifier in Spain this week are expected to be playing. Play starts at 10:30am with the final scheduled for 4pm.
Dumfries Cricket Club can be contacted on [email protected] or on social media @dumfriescricket.
Representative Cricket: In the Cricket Scotland inter-regional age-group cricket played on Sunday, Max Corbett-Byers was a top scorer for Western Warriors Under-15s in the second of two 16 overs-a-side matches played. James Hobman made his debut bowling for Western Warriors Under-17s in another two T16s games against the North and East and Orla Montgomery, Niamh Muir, Katy Anderson, Emma Fordyce played for Western Warrions Under-18 Girls in two T20 games against the East with Muir taking a remarkable five wickets for thirteen runs in the first game.
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