Ferguslie bounce back against Stenhousemuir after defeat to Dumfries
After an excellent performance last week at Ayr, Ferguslie were quickly grounded as they suffered a shock defeat away at Dumfries.
The only consolation for the Paisley side was they had the chance to bounce right back the next day, this time with another away game at Stenhousemuir in round one of the Scottish Cup,
The league game at Dumfries proved to be a major disappointment.
A lost toss saw Dumfries electing to bat on a good wicket at Nunholm.
Two early wickets from Ghaffar, including Dumfries’ very experienced talisman Beveridge, looked to have given Ferguslie the start they needed.
An hour later and Dumfries were 130 for six and the away team were looking to wrap up the innings quickly.
However, some strong Dumfries resistance and some mediocre bowling and fielding allowed the home team to muster 199 before being all out in the 48th over.
Tahir was pick of the Ferguslie bowlers, taking four wickets for 36 runs in his 10 overs.
Chasing 200 down in 50 overs on a good wicket and outfield should have been well within the grasps of the away team.
However, the usually strong and reliable top order did not live up to their usual and expected high standards - despite reaching 57 for one.
Hussain fell for a good 33, before a flurry of wickets and poor shots reduced Ferguslie to 88 for seven.
Ahmad, still just 16-years-old, put up some excellent resistance before he ran out of partners and was the last man out for 34.
That left the Paisley club all out for 137, losing by 62 runs.
Thankfully for them, the Scottish Cup trip the next day to face Stenhousemuir was the perfect tonic.
Despite the heavy local rain in Paisley, conditions in the central belt were a little better as play got underway on time on a damp and difficult batting wicket.
Ferguslie were without their main strike bowler Ghaffar, with youngster Khan taking his place in the line up.
Stenhousemuir surprisingly elected to bat and captain Henry and vice captain Tahir soon had three wickets down.
A couple of mid order partnerships helped the home team, but once their two South African players were out Ferguslie dismissed the home team for just 137 with wickets for all five Ferguslie bowlers.
A much better bowling and fielding performance than the day before in Dumfries was topped off by a very sharp run out from youngster Tahir, hitting one stump from point.
It was then time for the batsmen to forget their under par performance at Dumfries and knock off the runs with confidence, despite the wicket and overhead conditions giving plenty of help to the bowlers.
Thankfully, this was exactly what happened as openers Preston-Jones and Hussain produced a well fought 93 opening partnership before both openers fell for 41 runs each. Ahmad was 20 not out when Tahir hit the winning runs in the 36th over, seeing Ferguslie secure a comfortable six wicket victory to move into the next round. There they will face Uddingston.
Ferguslie’s second team, Meikleriggs, enjoyed a second successive league victory - this time at home to Renfrew’s second team Dean Park.
Another strong batting performance amassed 209 runs, with 73 for 18-year-old Mahaptra and good supporting runs from Khan (31) and Malik (23).
Despite early wickets which always had Meikleriggs ahead, Dean Park kept in the game with a couple of strong mid order innings before eventually being all out in the 47th over for 172.
That resulted in a 37 run victory for the home team, with good bowling returns for Glassford with three wickets for 25 runs and Malik with three for 46.
This weekend the first team are at home to Uddingston, while Meikleriggs are away to Uddingston.
Both games start at noon.