Buttered up by Breadalbane

Glenrothes hosted Breadalbane, from Aberfeldy, on a scorching Saturday 28 May 2021 at Gilvenbank Park in the Breedon Strathmore and Perthshire Cricket Union (SPCU) Division 1.

After the soaking the ground took earlier in the week, it was an expected slow pitch for all to deal with. Though with Glenrothes batting first, they would have hoped to have done better than they did.

An excellent century by Andy Mudie was the only highlight, though he was grateful to Breadalbane for missing a number of chances in the field to help him get there. All other batters struggled to get going, though slack running and inability to rotate the strike is hopefully something that can at least be worked on.

Rae bowled well throughout and was (eventually) rewarded for his control with a wicket of his last ball. It was to be Douthwaite to take the honours though, mopping up the tail with 4 for 18.

After Mudie was out for 104 in the 42nd over, the Glenrothes innings soon closed on 143 all out.

After his marathon innings, Mudie would perhaps have been keen to recharge but he was straight in to opening the bowling along with Chris Marshman. He was to make the breakthrough, bowling Bax for 4 and soon followed up by Marshman who dismissed Gibson for a well taken catch by Mark Braid in the gully area - his celebratory punt of the ball thankfully did not end in an injury!

But it was to be Rae, with good support from Jayawera and Douthwaite, who looked to rebuild the innings. As per the first innings, Glenrothes let a few catches go down and couldn't keep pressure on the batters with boundaries easy to come by.

With Alan Benny taking a wicket, it was Reyon Thomas who showed his slower left-armers were perfect for the pitch and could probably have come on earlier - his five overs going for just six runs with one wicket.

Breadalbane were to reach their target of 144 for the loss of just four wickets in the 31st over, with Rae an excellent 87 not out, for a well deserved victory.