Great win for Meigle
Away day to remember as side through to last 16
Meigle travelled to North Lancashire on Sunday to play Torrisholme in the last 32 of the Village Cup.
The weather gods were much kinder than the previous day and conditions were glorious when the teams arrived at the ground.
Torrisholme won the toss and elected to bat on a used wicket that, though firm, looked as though it may be harder to bat on than first appearances would suggest.
After a fast start Zahid Rasheed dismissed one opener who, after two sumptuous boundaries, miscued one in the air to Murray Scott at mid-on.
Brother Majid Rasheed then got in on the act with two wickets in consecutive deliveries.
The first one came courtesy of a smart gully catch by Marcus Harvey, while the second saw the number four batsman cleanbowled with a Yorker.
The home team consolidated a little at this point and opener Beedon looked very dangerous until he sliced a ball from Charles Clark which was superbly taken by Josh Edington at backward point.
Meigle turned the screw in the middle overs, giving little away but not quite posing enough threat as the home batsmen collected the ones and twos on offer in hope of building a competitive total.
Some late order boundaries boosted the Torrisholme total up to a competitive 165-7 from their allotted 40 overs.
Majid Rasheed again got the Meigle reply off to a rapid start as he raced to 26 from only 25 deliveries before being bowled by a ‘shooter’ from the opposition spinner.
After Harvey fell cheaply the top order slowly rebuilt the innings knowing wickets in-hand would be key.
Shaz Saeed and Alan Neave both reached double figures before falling tamely to give the North Lancashire side the upper hand.
With Meigle 100 runs short on 66-4 after 22 overs, youngster Edington and the more experienced Zahid Rasheed were brought together.
Zahid got into his usual rhythm of dispatching the balls over long-on and off.
He cleared the boundaries on four occasions as he raced to his half century from only 38 balls.
When Edington was dismissed LBW for 20, Ahmed, Drummond and Stewart came and went in the race for quick runs.
The scene was set with 15 required from the final over, with only one wicket in hand, as Murray Scott joined Zahid Rasheed.
Zahid was on strike and the first ball was a refused single to long-on.
The second delivery was smashed over long off for six.
The third ball was another dot ball and Zahid didn’t quite catch the fourth, but it still sailed over long-on’s head for six more runs.
Three runs required from the next two balls, with only one wicket remaining.
The large crowd was on tenterhooks and, with one ball to spare, Zahid rocked back and smashed the delivery over cover for four runs to spark wild scenes among the visiting fans.
Zahid finished on 70 notout, with six sixes to cap a superb performance.
Meigle now progress into the last 16 of the National competition.
Meanwhile, both of Meigle’s games on Saturday were cancelled due to the weather.
The first team were at Royal High Corstorphine, with the second team hosting Callander.