The W Finally Claimed!

Glenrothes visited Dalnacraig in Dundee for their latest fixture in the Breedon SPCU Division 1 at the weekend. With the sun out and not a cloud in sight it was an easy decision for Captain Chris Marshman to bat first on a used pitch after winning the toss.

Unfortunately, it was not to be the start that he had hoped for as Glenrothes would lose two early wickets, with Jay Lewis being caught and bowled in the same over as number three Joe Burton. Sitting at 3 for 2, it would be up to other opening batsmen Dave Snook and wicketkeeper Paul Culleton to rebuild the innings.

Snook would fall in the 13th over having seen off the new ball, while Culleton looked to be in good touch before being unfortunate to play on to his own stumps. This would bring Qasim Ahmad and Mayank Sautiyal to the crease to consolidate, and both looked fluid from the start and latched onto anything short or wide to finally give the Glenrothes innings some impetus.

Throughout this, home skipper Bob Hopkins had bowled his nine overs straight through for the remarkable figures of 4 wickets for 5 runs - proving the benefit of keeping the ball pitched up on a pitch with variable bounce.

When Sautiyal (24) fell in the 32nd over, the score was on 103 and the away side was hopeful of setting a defendable total. Marshman would have a brief stay at the crease, during which Ahmad would raise his bat for a fine half-century continuing his fine form in recent weeks.

Ahmad would then be joined by his brother Sufyan Ahmed and what followed was some truly brutal hitting. Coming to the crease with the score on 121, Ahmed would dispatch the ball to every corner of the ground including some humungous sixes. After Ahmad (59) fell in the 39th over, youngster Karthik Coppisetty would provide able support to Ahmed. Coppisetty did well to rotate the strike before Ahmed (47) would go for one bit hit too many and would leave with the score on 186.

Joined by his partner in crime, young Ben Krzyzanowski, the two youngsters did well to stay at the crease andget some potentially crucial runs. Coppisetty would be stumped in the 43rd over after losing track of the ball and wandering out of his crease, bringing Jordan Smith to the crease. When Smith was bowled at the end of the 44th over, Glenrothes had set the opposition 194 to win and had most importantly after last week used the majority of their overs.

Marshman would throw the ball to Ahmad and Smith to open the bowling after their fine display the previous week. He wasn’t to be disappointed as only 17 runs were conceded from their first 8 overs though opening batters Braid and Ejaz looked comfortable.

Change bowlers Marshman and Lewis would continue this theme, though Marshman (1 for 17) made the breakthrough when he bowled opener Ejaz. After this, it would become the Sautiyal show with Mayank ripping through the opposition batting line-up in a stunning bowling display.

He would first dismiss other opener Braid thanks to a brilliant juggling catch behind the stumps from Culleton. Then would be Kyles, bowled first ball, before Sautiyal would take a fantastic hat trick by dismissing Hopkins for another golden duck in the same fashion!

With Dundee now having lost 4 wickets for 5 runs, Glenrothes felt like they had the advantage, and it would be up to them to not let it slip.
Sautiyal had no intention of that happening as he dismissed Snitch and Viraj within 2 overs of each other to take an excellent 5 wicket haul - 5 wickets for 8 runs from 8 overs.

Ahmad would return well to dismiss Crosby who had batted confidently, while Smith would bowl Surya. Finally, Ahmad would bowl Reid to give Glenrothes their first win of the 2022 season.

Special mention should also be given to keeper Culleton who kept fantastically on a difficult pitch - with extras conceded across both teams a clear indication of the variable bounce. It was a fantastic team effort, led by Ahmad and Ahmed with the bat, and Sautiyal with the ball, but hopefully now that we have remembered how to win, there will be more to follow.

Chris Marshman
Captain