Certainly not Livi(d) in the U14 Cup

Under 14 Scottish Cup, Round 2
Sunday 13 June 2021
Gleneuchie v Livingston

What a wonderful afternoon with the visit of a fantastic group of young cricketers from Livingston in the Under 14 Scottish Cup tie. The sun was shining, the bails (generally) stayed on the stumps from the winds attempting to keep everyone a bit cooler, and all participants were courteous throughout - having fun and building friendships really is the key to playing cricket!!!

Home skipper Karthik won the toss and immediately chose to bat first. Ryan from the Fliers was to make the first breakthrough thanks to an excellent catch by Anas at mid-on, quickly followed by a good caught and bowled by Muhammed. With Anas then taking a second catch off the bowling from Manny from the Fliers, it was opener Dylan who continued to bat through very well to retire on 30 in the 9th over.

He was followed by Jonty who retired after some big hits also. It was then over to Ben to bowl the dangerous looking Zuhair, and then combining with wicket-keeper Karthik for a run out. Karthik decided to ignore any fielding help and gained his own run out with a dead-eye throw chasing the ball to fine leg.

Livingston closed on 129 for 6 from their 20 overs, showing positivity in their batting throughout and looking to hit out for boundaries when they could. There was though some indecision in a number of singles being turned down, though the Gleneuchie team will have been pleased to keep Livi to a score they thought could be gettable.

Opening the innings in response was Manny and Chris from the Fliers, with opening bowler Alex bowling very well to not concede any runs in his three overs. The other opening bowler Lennon should good control also in his left-arm spinners, though Chris got a couple of lovely shots away clipped off his hip including a boundary four, before Lennon got his revenge to see Chris stumped.

Anas was next in and faced sustained pressure from the change bowlers Srikar and Haroon, with the latter in particular bowling with good pace. After hitting Haroon for a 6 and 4 through square look, Anas was disappointed to not push his batting on being caught well by Jonty.

At this stage, Gleneuchie were well behind the run rate at 31 for 2 in the 12th over, which led to the incoming batters to try and go on the attack - despite some good shots in amongst it, a further five wickets were to fall in 23 balls - showing what scoreboard pressure can bring!!

Great credit goes to Amol though for an excellent counter-attack, striking a number of good shots including a majestic 6 over extra cover for the shot to see him retire on 31 not out. In the end, Gleneuchie closed their innings on 86 for 9 from 20 overs - a win by 43 runs to a well deserved Livingston.

Really was great to see the confidence the Livi players brought to their game, something to learn from without doubt though all players from the Glenrothes Gladiators and Freuchie Fliers should be rightly proud in stepping up to play at this level for the first time and will take confidence from that in to their next games.

Best of luck in the next round Livi, we'll be rooting for you!!