Greenock 61 all out v Croma Vigilant Dumfries 62 for 4
Croma Vigilant Dumfries took a huge step towards securing their safety for another season in the top flight with a crushing victory over Greenock. After 3 straight call offs since their close run against Prestwick. It had been a month since they last won a game incidentally against today’s opposition at Nunholm in a high scoring encounter that went to the last over. After one look at the pitch, it was very clear that a similar game was very, very unlikely on a wicket that to describe as bowler friendly would be a huge understatement. Captain Stuart Corbett-Byers was able to win the toss and probably made the easiest decision of the season and elected to bowl.
Croma Vigilant Dumfries opened with Niall and Stuart Alexander and whilst the pitch played as expected Greenock were able to score runs with Briggs able to use Niall’s pace and hit a couple of fours off his legs. At the other end Stuart was bowling line and length which Greenock were unable to do anything with. Eventually he got the early breakthrough with Hulbert playing one straight to Corbett-Byers for four.
Chris McCutcheon came into the attack and kept the proceedings tight along with Stuart Alexander as extras were kept to a minimum as the runs increasingly became a rare commodity. The second wicket fell in the 9th over as Scrimegour was caught by Tommy McBride with a low catch off the bowling of Alexander for 5. Ware came in next and the run rate hit anaemic levels as Stuart Alexander bowled 2 straight maidens and McCutcheon went for very little either, Ware finally found the boundary but was gone instantly afterwards as McCutcheon beat the bat leading to a very vocal LBW appeal which was swiftly given with little complaint as Greenock stumbled to 33-3.
In previous games this season, Croma Vigilant Dumfries were able to have hot starts in the field before fizzling out but there was no mercy shown to Greenock as Briggs departed off a cracking Stuart Alexander delivery for a top score of 19 for the home side, it almost got worse when Flack came close to chipping one to Scott Beveridge at short cover but it failed to carry. This reprieve was very short lived when Al Davidson entered the attack for the first time today and dismissed Hempsey for 2 after he sent a looping edge straight to Josh Forsyth at Slip for a very routine catch with Greenock now 38-5.
Pandher came to the crease realising the need to score runs of any sort came in and went hard hitting Alexander over the wall for a massive six which ruined his figures of 3-16 slightly. However this high risk strategy backfired as he was bowled by Davidson for 9. The wickets just kept tumbling as Flack was caught by Beveridge off Davidson for 3 and the score now 51-7. With a couple of rain breaks threatening to ruin another promising start fortunately turning into just passing showers, Sanghera and McDougall helped the tail wag relatively in the context of the innings before the former was bowled by Davidson for 2 with the score now 58-8. Scott Beveridge got a piece of the action by getting Forrest Caught behind for a duck and Davidson got his fifth of the innings and completed the capitulation by getting McDougall caught behind as well to give Dumfries a modest target of 61.
Whilst the target may have seemed easy, you can’t judge a score until you see both sides bat on the pitch; and when Tommy McBride went for a second ball duck, hearts would be in mouth that a disaster could be on the cards, it looked even worse when Carlton went for 5 with the total standing at 12-2. Chris Bellwood against his former team had an innings to forget as he went for LBW off Scrimegour with the score now only 15-3.
Josh Forsyth came to the crease and was able to calm the visitors’ nerves, dealing solely in fours whenever Greenock bowled a bad ball. Unusually, Greenock chose to rotate bowlers trying to take the pace off the ball but weren’t able to find the consistency to trouble Forsyth or Davidson at the other end batting a very gritty innings.
Forsyth continued to make the pitch seem a lot easier than what everyone else was finding it as he continued to attack the boundary only being denied by the quaint rules on boundaries where it has to clear every obstacle including walls and trees to be a six. Whilst he was unable to hit the ball into the Clyde Estuary, Forsyth was untroubled, only being interrupted when Davidson departed for as good a 5 runs as you’ll see this season with the score now 52-4. Scott Beveridge entered the game with a three and the match was won with 5 wides to sum up Greenock’s performance today. The result certainly suggested that there was an awful lot more than one place between the two sides as Dumfries ruthlessly bodied Greenock in the field. A buoyant Croma Vigilant Dumfries now face title contenders Ferguslie at Nunholm.
Big scores end in defeat
Langloan 271 for 7 v Nunholm 237 all out
Nunholm welcomed Langloan to Dumfries Sports Club on Saturday in this basement battle. It was unfortunately Langloan who came out on top in a high scoring match.
Langloan won the toss and chose to bat on a wicket that was going to do no favours for the bowlers. However Trevor Newport had other ideas as he quickly dismissed both Connelly and Mckay. Hamilton fell to Andrew Dawson and Langloan were at 33 for 3 wickets. Mc Donald and Allison set about rebuilding the Langloan innings and it was slow going as at the half way stage they were 94 for 3. Jeremy Goodin rotated his bowlers in an attempt to unsettle the batsman, but a series of dropped catches again costing Nunholm as McDonald went on to score an unbeaten 121. Newport’s bowling was the highlight as he picked up the valuable wicket of Allison for 79 and finished with 4 wickets in total.
Nunholm knew a good start was required to chase down the huge total of 271 set by Langloan. Adam Elliott and Mark Abnett were steady in their approach and took the score to 80 before Abnett fell to an excellent catch off the bowling of McDonald. Captain Jeremy Goodin was bowled with a jaffa of a delivery which must have caught a breeze to swing that much and snick his off bail. Andrew Dawson joined Elliott at the crease, but Elliott fell for 48 trying to hit big for his fifty and getting caught well on the boundary.
All hopes fell into the hands of the experienced David Davidson, who was solid and allowed Andrew Dawson to take the majority of the strike. Davidson unfortunately fell to Kumar as he played the ball onto is own stumps. The pressue was beginning to tell and the run rate was creeping up to nine an over. James Cox swung the bat with aggression and found regular boundaries. Tight bowling from Langloan, meant the boundaries began to dry up and sharp running was required, whilst a few cheeky 1’s and 2’s were had eventually Cox could not make the ground up and was run out for 23. Dawson was still in total control, but also fell trying to sneak a quick single. The run rate was now past 10 an over and whilst the tail wagged, it was not enough and Nunholm fell short. In an exciting game, Nunholm felt the pressure and were unable to deal with it. Meikleriggs are next up, and hopefully the runs can remain and a tighter bowling performance may be possible
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