Tight Game at Largo

A mixed Glenrothes XI made the short trip to East Drive in Upper Largo to play Largo 2nd XI in a 40 over friendly today. A negotiated toss saw Glenrothes batting first.

With young Anas Tanveer dismissed in the third over, it was the experienced duo of Sufyan Ahmad and Nigam Panwar (making his debut) to show their attacking prowess with a 73 run partnership in just 8 overs. It was to be wily Murray Sneddon to break the partnership though, enticing Panwar (30) into a well taken catch by young Fletcher Smith.

With a number of wickets falling, including Ahmad for 59, it was on Bimal Nalupurrakal Balan (21) to keep the scoreboard moving - and he was to find excellent support from Shaun Rowcliffe who, whilst not scoring, was to defend his wicket with great tenacity across 41 balls in 47 minutes at the crease.

Having slipped from 83 for 1 in 10 overs to 137 all out in the 32nd over, it was definitely Largo who will have felt better at the halfway mark.

It was father and son duo of Paddy and Fletcher Smith to open the second innings, and with Ben Krzyzanowski showing his increasing pace it was actually to be skipper Qasim Ahmad to make the breakthrough to dismss Fletcher.

This brought Matthew Graham to the crease, and he soon found his batting rhythm to hit a number of good blows around the ground. With the Largo 50 coming up in the 13th over, and Paddy Smith then finding his groove to hit a couple of lovely boundaries including a cover drive for all times, the home side were well placed to keep pushing on for the victory.

But Balan was to make the breakthrough, first with his nippier pace bowling Smith for a well made 21 and then taking a very well judged diving catch at long-on with Graham hitting out for his 50 - well judged, but he just fell over the boundary line, and it was probably in sympathy that Graham was to retire at that point for an excellent 52.

Wickets to Tanveer and Panwar pushed the game fairly even with Largo on 88 for 4, but it was to be Murray Sneddon to start hitting few lovely shots and keep the scoreboard moving. With Largo beginning to look comfortable, skipper Qasim Ahmad was to focus on two bowlers showing the most likelihood in taking wickets - Sufyan Ahmad (now out from behind the stumps) and Balan, and both were to reward his faith.

With Balan finishing on 3 for 28 and Ahmad 4 for 14 including the final wicket in the 32nd over, Largo were to be bowled out for 125. A few more lusty blows from Sneddon (21) could have seen Largo take a deserved win, but for Glenrothes many plaudits went to Shaun Rowcliffe who showed that batting his time and supporting partnerships can make a huge difference in a game!

Many thanks to Largo for a great game and for their post-match hospitality also.