In what could of been a first, both (all) senior teams of Glenrothes Cricket Club played on artificial pitches on Saturday 2 August - 1st XI at Kinloch in Dundee and the 2nd XI at Broomhall in Fife!

In the Strathmore and Perthshire and Cricket Union (SPCU) Division 1 fixture, Kinloch won the toss and chose to bat first.

Kinloch batted positively throughout their innings, with many batters making a start but not necessarily pushing on to the big scores they would have wanted.

Wickets were shared across a number of Glenrothes bowlers with Mayank Sautiyal looking the most threatening - two for 21 from his nine overs.

A number of dropped catches and sloppy fielding did cost Glenrothes though, particularly as Ibne Amin in the middle order (72 retired out, tired) and Hammad Hussain (42) in the lower order helped push Kinloch to 263 for 7 from their 45 overs.

This was at least 30 runs more than good fielding would have allowed, and chances being taken would have saw them restricted more. But Glenrothes knew positive batting on the true (if not high) bouncing pitch would give them a chance.

Muhammad Tayyiub was to fall early, LBW to star performer Amin, though fellow opener Sufyan Ahmed was able to consolidate with Govind Singh at number three.

Ahmed's wicket for 36 was soon followed by two other cheap wickets as Glens fell to 111 for 4 in the 15th over - run rate well in control, but wickets lost causing some concern.

Singh found the perfect batting partner in Mayank Sautiyal at number 6, and was soon to reach his well deserved half century.

As Sautiyal began to open his shoulders and hit big, it was to be Singh to depart for a fantastic 72.

With skipper Qasim Ahmad soon back in the pivvy, Sautiyal found his own excellent partners as first Bimal Nulupurakkal Balan scored 17 in a 63 run partnership and then Anas Tanveer helped the score push on.

With the winning runs in sight, Sautiyal went for the big shot only to be caught on the mid-wicket boundary for 75 with just nine runs needed for the win.

It was to be two of Glens youngsters, Tanveer and Ben Krzyzanowski, to see them through though as Tanveer batted with confidence to 10 not out and hitting the winning runs at the end of the 43rd over.

An excellent victory which the team could be proud of, though errors in the field and some poorly thought out shots could have cost them. Thanks to Kinloch for hosting us so well - it's great to see their home ground Elliot Road bedding in so well.