Glens Scrape a Win at Freuchie

Glenrothes 1st XI made the short trip to Muir Road in Freuchie today to take on Freuchie 2nd XI in the latest round of the Breedon Strathmore and Perthshire Cricket Union (SPCU) Division 2.

With the wind blowing light rain showers through all day, amongst the sunny spells, the changing weather was to be matched by the changing fortunes on the pitch throughout the day.

Glens skipper Qasim Ahmad won the toss and chose to bat first. Looking to put scoreboard pressure on the game, big-hitting Sufyan Ahmad was sent in first but it was to be young Ryan McLaughlin from the home team to win the first battle bowling Ahmad for 7 in the third over.

This brought Haps Pal and Nigam Panwar together, and both looked to bat calmly, taking Glens to 79 at the drinks break on the 20 over mark. Having given their side a good platform to push on from, Panwar was to be stumped for 30 by Graham Welch off the bowling of George Young two overs later.

As the saying goes, one brings two - but in this case it was be three wickets. Panwar was to be followed back to the clubhouse in a "six and out" approach as Mayank Sautiyal first miss-hit a waist-high full-toss back to Dave Cowan for a return catch and then Farooq Khan, returning to the club for his first game a number of years, hitting a big six over the clubhouse to then miss the next ball trying to repeat the trick and be bowled by Young.

Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals from this point, with Pal next to go after a patient 41. Qasim Ahmad will have been disappointed to spoon a catch to fine-leg from the longest of long-hops off young Michael Bissett, Urvish Patel smoked a late cut which would be a four in most games but Gordon Moffat was to take a screamer of a catch at a deeper slip of the bowling of young Michael Sheerin and then Bimal Nalapurakkal Balan was to finish this particular phase of fun trying to nurdle a full-toss to leg-side from youngster Bissett again only to see the ball somehow spin up and slowly over his head for keeper Welch to take a fantastic reaction catch above his head. Glenrothes 152 for 8 after 35 overs.

Paul Culleton had been nudging the score up with some good shots throughout this, but he was to be bowled for 15 by the impressive Ryan McLaughlin and after some nice shots and running by Anas Tanveer and Kevin Le Roux the former was to be last batter out in the final (40th) over with McLaughlin finishing on 3 for 16 from 8 overs and Glenrothes 171 all out.

An under-par score without doubt, but with a number of balls keeping low the Glens team knew that if they could bowl straight and stay focused in the field they would have a good chance of taking the win and keeping their promotion push alive.

Freuchie will have hoped their top order would give them a similar solid base to work from, but two early wickets were to set them back - with openers Callum MacKay and Gordon Moffat both bowled for single figures by Balan and Sautiyal showing that bowling full and straight always give you the best chance.

There was to be a good partnership between Brian Russell (20) and Jamie Armstrong (17) who kept the scoreboard ticking at a good pace, but they were both also to be bowled - this time by Le Roux and Sufyan Ahmad. At this point, Freuchie were 59 for 4 after 17 overs.

This brought veteran Dave Cowan to the crease with young Ryan McLaughlin with 'Coo' showing his class with a number of lovely shots - but he was to be the fifth batter in a row to be bowled (for 19), Sufyan Ahmad making the crucial breakthrough at 81 for 5 after 21 overs.

With the Glens having got themselves into a good position, it was to be the youngsters of Freuchie to wrestle the game back the home teams way as McLaughlin was now joined by Michael Bissett and both were to bat very well. McLaughlin in particular grew in confidence throughout his innings, hitting a number of good shots with the fielders not sitting deep enough for his preferred shot down the ground.

Having added 46 runs in just 7 overs, the game was fully within Freuchie's control, but confidence can creep too high and so it was to be as McLaughlin was to depart for an excellent 29 as another attempt at a big hit straight was to be well taken Farooq Khan at a slightly deeper mid-off in the first over back for opener Balan.

Skipper George Young was now in the middle, and after a couple of lusty boundary shots he in return was to take a couple of lusty body blows of the returning Sautiyal. The extra pace of Sautiyal was to be the downfall for Bissett, bowled for an excellent 19 but with the target score creeping closer it was any teams game.

Graham Welch was now at the crease and having showed his intent to hit hard, it was to be Balan to take the second screamer of a catch in the match, this time at mid-wicket off the bowling off Sufyan Ahmad. From there Sautiyal was to prove too much for the youngsters at the end with Freuchie eventually bowled out for 159 off the last ball of the 38 over to lose by 12 runs.

It really was a game that could have been won by either team, with all credit due to Freuchie and in particular their youngsters who put on a great display of competitive cricket throughout the game. Many thanks to all at Freuchie for this hospitality, we wish you well for the rest of the season.