CRICKET AYR CC (BY ANDREW BAIRD)
Ayr travelled to Stenhousemuir looking to maintain their 100 per cent record but rain intervened.
Only 20 overs of play were possible with Ayr batting and the score 51-4 with Michael English on 33 not out.
On Thursday night they were in action in the Rowan Cup away to West of Scotland.
The home team batted first and scored 126-6 in their 20 overs. Scott McElnea with 2-15 and Nari Bhandari 3-23 were the pick of the bowlers.
In reply Ayr lost Michael English early but Lloyd Jefferson and Scott McElnea steadied the ship. Once Jefferson had departed Andi McElnea joined brother Scott at the crease, and they took the score to 53 before Scott (27) was next out.
Neil Logan was next in and he and McElnea then put on 65 before Logan (37) was run out with only nine required
for victory from ten balls- and then seven off the last over. Sadly they could only manage five and lost by one run.
With the 1st XI game being called off due to weather, all eyes were on the Cambusdoon XI game at home to Victoria.
The Victoria skipper had no hesitation in batting first and the opening batsmen made a quick start, helped by a couple of drops in the opening overs.
The breakthrough was made in the 13th over with the score on 76, when Richard Borland got the wicket of Ghaffor with a smart catch by young Mikey Maxwell. Steve Baker was then introduced into the attack and soon got rid of the dangerous Iqbal for 56.
In his next over he captured Ul-haq, caught out in the deep by Qasim.
At 162-3 Gulzar was next to go with stumps everywhere after a quick yorker from Ivan Craig.
Baker then picked up his third wicket, but a couple of drops and some poor ground fielding let the visitors off the hook, before Qasim came back into the attack and got a deserved wicket to wrap up the innings of the nine men Victoria as they finished on 310 all out in 44 overs.
The skies then cleared, and the sun came out as the Cambusdoon openers went out to bat and Lewis Lilley was out in the 3rd over caught behind which brought Borland to the crease and the crowd were going to be entertained for the next three hours as he and Callum Henderson punished any bad balls, smashing them to the boundary and treating many good with the same fate.
The partnership of 111 in a little over 10 overs was broken with a superb one handed catch at gully and Henderson was on his way back to the pavilion for a well-played 49.
Captain Mitchell was next in but did not last long, injuring his calf and having to retire hurt for 11.
Borland was joined by Steve Baker with score on 177 following the dismissal of Jake Woodhouse and they continued to dominate the bowling, smashing it to all parts of ground.
Borland brought up his with a great shot over extra cover, and though struggling with cramp the runs continued to flow.
In the 40th over, with the score on 266, Borland was eventually out bowled for a career high 148 which brought in Ivan Craig with 45 needed off 10 overs and he and Baker saw the Cambusdoon men home with 5 overs to spare- both finishing on 36 not out.
A great win which means they now sit top of the league, overtaking their opponents in the WDCU 2nd Division and the record books showing that this was the highest ever run chase by an Ayr team beating the previous 291 set in 2003 against Aberdeenshire.
The Development XI were at home to Renfrew in the Sunday League.
The visitors batted first and scored 2116 in their 40 overs. After a rain interruption their target was amended to 172 in 30 overs under the DLS method, but sadly they were bowled out for 110.
This week sees Ayr travel to Paisley to take on Kelburne, the only other team with a 100 per cent record in the WDCU 1 st Division.
The Cambusdoon XI are at home to GHK.
PRESTWICK CC (BY MIKE WILSON)
Prestwick are playing catch-up in the Premier Division title chase after falling to the best match winning partnership ever seen at the Henry Thow Oval, writes Mike Wilson.
Riyaad Henry (115 not out) and Taimoor Ahmad (105 not out) blasted Ferguslie to an eight wicket victory against the odds.
Oval worthies reckon they have never witnessed anything like it as the visitors won with eight balls to spare after a thrilling run chase.
Veteran president Tommy Halpin claimed: “In all my years here, I have never seen two boys play such sensible cricket.
“The temptation when they were behind the clock might have been to take risks but they resisted and ran and batted superbly.”
The defeat – Prestwick’s second in five games – means they must win away to Poloc on Saturday to keep top three Clydesdale, Stirling Co and Ferguslie in their sights.
Prestwick looked good when they posted 249-8 off 50 overs with top knocks from Sachin Chaudhary (71) and Jake Stafford (43 retired hurt).
Chaudhary and Jonathan Hulme made an early breakthrough to leave Ferguslie toiling at 12-2 after five overs.
But skipper Henry and Ahmad then took over with a magnificent 240 run partnership to seal a stunning win.
The St Ninians XI were dismissed for 169 at Meikleriggs before rain prevented the home side’s reply.
On Saturday, they host Shawholm. In a busy midweek, St Ninians beat Kirkstyle by 79 runs on Thursday to reach the quarter-finals of the Greenwood Trophy.
Jake Stafford (97), Gurupreet Singh (40) and Fletcher Rao (33 not out) helped them to 207-3 off 20 overs.
In reply, Kirkstyle were contained to 128-7 with Gurjot Bassi taking three wickets.
On Wednesday, Prestwick reached the semi-finals of the McCulloch Trophy with an eight wicket win over Kilmarnock.
Prestwick took only 12.1 overs to overtake Killie’s 82-9 with Chaudhary (42 not out) and Mitchell Rao (29) the main men at 85-2.
St Ninians XI booked a Western Cup semi-final away to Dean Park on July 13 when they beat Albert Park by one run in a thriller last Tuesday.
St Ninians set 162-5 (Singh 45, Ross Kennedy 30) but the visitors took up the chase and needed 13 off the last over.
Enter 12-year-old Sam Braddock to bowl the final deliveries and seal victory thanks to his 4-32 off four overs.
It was a stunning performance by the youngster who is tipped as a star of the future.