Ferguslie maintain perfect start
Ferguslie Cricket Club made it three wins from three in the Western District Cricket Union League as they thumped Greenock at Glenpark by 112 runs.
The Paisley team pulled off the victory thanks to a great team effort, which comfortably pulled them through on a day when once again they faced several tricky moments.
The visitors were shocked in the first over when professional Mo Mayet was dismissed without troubling the scoreboard.
But Gregor Preston-Jones produced with his best knock of the season so far with an impressive 61, with Bahadar Esekhiel hitting 37 to put on 95 for the second wicket to settle any nerves.
However, with the exception of Uzair Ahmed (35), the remainder of the middle order found the going difficult and with six wickets down at only 133, the chances of a good total looked a distant hope.
The lower order batsmen, in the shape of Adil Ghaffar (16), skipper Haroon Tahir (29) and his brother Daoud (15), dug in; quickly taking the club beyond the psychological 200 mark and when the last wicket fell at 238, the Paisley team looked to have given themselves a very solid total to defend.
Encouraged by their late innings surge, the visitors took the field and speedily made inroads into the home side’s batting.
At 28 for three in the 10th over, the hosts were already in trouble.
With trademark tight bowling by Haroon, and every bowler making a contribution, wickets continued to tumble with Greenock reduced to 54 for six and then 77 for seven.
By this time, the impressive bowling had Greenock scoring at a mere three runs per over, making the target a forlorn hope.
A top score of 45 by Chambers only delayed the inevitable – his departure signalling the end of the innings at 126.
Best for the Ferguslie batters was Preston-Jones with 61, while the six bowlers shared all 10 wickets – with Haroon Tahir heading the statistics with three for 18.
It’s a busy week for the club as the second team, having lost by seven wickets to Glenpark (Greenock) last Saturday, were in action at home against Whitehaugh (Kelburne) last night.
The first team also make an early return to Greenock tonight in the McCulloch Cup, which is a 20/20 competition, before they entertain Stenhousemuir at Mekleriggs on Saturday at 12noon.
The club will also use that match to say thank you via a marquee reception for all those who have helped the club this year with various sponsorships and donations in the form of their sponsors’ day.
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the team are back in action against Ayr, who are also unbeaten this season, in the second round of an intriguing Scottish Cup match.
That tie is also at Meikleriggs and starts at 12noon.