Ferguslie continue unbeaten run in Premier campaign
Craig Ritchie
Ferguslie Cricket Club already look to have the making of champions as they extended their unbeaten start to the league campaign.
The sun shone on the Meikleriggs side as they brushed aside the threat of Poloc at the weekend, bringing their tally to five wins on the trot at the top of the Western Premier Division.
Ferguslie would win by 104 runs, having set a target of 246 for eight wickets. And despite Poloc reaching 142 runs, Ferguslie still emerged victorious.
Although they would eventually canter the win, they were made to do it the hard way, despite the favourable conditions.
Having won the toss, Ferguslie elected to take the bat and set a target for Poloc to chase. But instead of racking up the runs, they would lose their first three batsmen with just 20 runs on the board.
However, former Scotland ace Omer Hussain was the man to take charge of proceedings and he spearheaded the recovery as he hit 50 from just 85 balls to get the Paisley outfit back on track. Taimoor Ahmad then helped up the ante against his former side as he top-scored for the hosts, with a total of 69.
Ahmad, who defected from Ferguslie to spend one season with the visitors, showed where his heart lies with a stellar performance that would edge the hosts over the line.
But he produced just as good a performance with the ball in hand because, not only did his runs help post a healthy 246-8, Ahmad would then go on to claim 3-19 as the Paisley team triumphed by 104 runs.
Meanwhile, current league champions Prestwick showed that they are still a force to be reckoned with as they ended the three-game winning run of second top West of Scotland at Henry Thow Oval.
West never recovered from the loss of three early wickets and were bundled out for 107 as Sachin Chaudhary, the league’s leading wicket-taker, added another four to his haul.
Fazal Jawad’s 54 then helped Prestwick cruise home by six wickets, with plenty overs in hand.
Ud d i n g s t o n still look threatening back in third after Mo Awais and Ross Lyons each claimed three wickets in a comfortable 103- run success against winless Dumfries at Bothwell Castle.
And Tom Bradburn top-scored with 36 and claimed three wickets as Stirling dug deep to win their second game of the campaign at the expense of Ayr at New Williamfield, while Greenock fell 10 runs short in a high-scoring thriller at Clydesdale.