Victory gets EK up and running
East Kilbride Cricket Club grabbed their first Western District Cricket Union First Division win of the season on Saturday with a six-wicket triumph over GHK.
Captain Stewart Kampman lost the toss, with GHK electing to bat first in a game that reduced to 40 overs, due to ground scheduling.
An initial start from Kampman and Mohammed Khan saw the latter collect two wickets in as many balls in the third over.
However, GHK’s Ijaz Hussain and Shakeel Ahmed steadied the ship, reaching 47-2 after 10 overs.
The spin duo of EK’s David Doyle (8-1-28-0) and Shahid Mahmood (81-30-1) changed the complexion of the batsman’s innings, by slowing down the run rate and enforcing little room for error.
Mahmood removed the stoic Blaal Hussain of GHK to turn the tide of the game.
The fifth bowler introduced was head coach Muhammad Ramzan, who bowled six overs for nine runs and four wickets, continuing the pressure.
In the end, GHK succumbed to 134 all-out after 35 overs.
A change in EK’s batting line-up introduced Asad Izaz up top, along with veteran opener Adil Hussain.
The GHK bowling line-up started strong, giving little freedom to Izaz and Hussain, with the latter sniped after seven overs, which brought in David Bremner for an important 17-run cameo.
EK were at 64-4 after 22 overs, with runs and wickets spread throughout, and that meant they needed 71 runs from the remaining 189 overs.
Opener Izaz remained in the middle and was joined by Gavin Meikle.
Despite slipping into a different role in the batting order, Meikle demonstrated some flamboyant strokes, dispatching multiple fours, and took the score to 100-4 after 29 overs.
At that point, Izaz joined the party, with some maximums all over the ground to reach his first 50 of the season and bring East Kilbride over the line with eight overs to spare.
The result has East Kilbride fifth in the table.
Meanwhile, East Kilbride’s 2nd XI, Torrance House, beat Glasgow South by six runs to take their first win of the season as well, leaving them second in Western District Third Division.
Skipper Mohammad Osman lost the toss and Glasgow South chose to bowl.
Alan Meikle and Nasim Malik started a solid partnership until the former was dismissed in the fifth over for five.
This introduced Ethan Hawkes and Malik continued to smartly rotate the strike.
However, Glasgow South were on a wide total by this point, which would eventually reach 50, totalling 67 extras.
Hawkes and Malik fell and the batting order collapsed, despite a nice cameo from captain Osman with 14.
Their final total was 150 all-out after 30 overs, not making full use of the allocated 40.
Glasgow South started strong, with their opening batsmen reaching 30 and 19, before Pankaj Verma and Iftikhar Khan broke the deadlock for East Kilbride.
Yash Bajaj of the under-15s took the third wicket, leading to a slow decline for Glasgow South, in spite of their strong start.
Khan Verma removed the middle order for very few runs, but Daiwik Kumar and Parvase Majeed brought Glasgow South to 141-8 after 37, in touching distance of their 151 target.
However, East Kilbride’s Blair Meikle and Bajaj found the breakthrough, removed the tail and ensured a double for the hosts.