Greaves bounces back from tough start with 93 in Forfarshire win

Chris Greaves couldn’t mask his relief after helping to steer Forfarshire to a clear-cut win over Aberdeenshire.

The success at Forthill carried the Broughty Ferry boys into third place in the table, behind unbeaten Grange and champions Heriot’s.

But on a personal level, Greaves’ superb knock of 93 was a welcome return to form in the wake of a wretched start to the season. The turning point came the previous weekend when he smashed a double century for the second XI.

And he marked his recall for the first team by carrying on where he had left off.

Greaves said: “It was a tough start of the summer for me. I have been a little low in confidence, but to bounce back with the 206 not out and then 93 in successive weeks was great.”

Despite his own contribution, Greaves insisted it had been a strong all-round team display by the hosts. Scott Cameron particular was in particularly fine form, striking an unbeaten 50 in the tally of 321 for five, then claiming three wickets in what Greaves labelled “an incredible spell.”

It was a stint that sent the Mannofield men sliding to 91 all out, with Liam Sweeney and Brock Ditchmen sharing the rest of the scalps.

The spirit of cricket was shown in a positive light amid unfortunate circumstances at Myreside, where the Watsonians v Arbroath tussle finished early with no result.

The visitors were marginally ahead on the asking rate when the umpires called a halt just two balls short of the stage at which the match would have been valid. Play was suspended for almost 30 minutes while paramedics attended to a spectator who had taken ill. But just as the action was due to restart, the rain arrived. Despite seeing a likely win slip away, Arbroath skipper Marc Petrie, pictured, said: “The main concern from everyone was for the welfare of the gentleman who fell ill.” Watsonians captain Ewan Chalmers added: “Thankfully the chap is fine, but it was a bit of a scare for his family and everyone else at Myreside.”

Skipper Safyaan Sharif was foiled in his bid to propel Glenrothes to their first win of the season against Heriot’s. With Glens just 11 short of the 183 target at Gilvenbank and Sharif on 84, Heriot’s captain Keith Morton sent his bails flying to clinch the victory.

Grange got the benefit of a rain-revised chase at the expense of RH Corstorphine at Barnton. After the hosts had reached 251 for seven, the league leaders only needed 111 in 29.1 overs, and they eased to glory by 18 runs with eight wickets to spare.

Stewart’s Melville broke their duck by beating Carlton by 11 runs at Grange Loan. Greenock grabbed their first win of the campaign at the expense of Uddingston as rain played its part on a day of dramatic Western Premier action.

With thunder storms forecast later in the day, home skipper Neil Flack’s decision to bowl first paid off as his side timed their run-chase to perfection.

After restricting Uddingston to 228 for seven, Jimmy Sholto-douglas and Gavin Bradley both scoring half-centuries, Greenock collapsed to 24 for four.

However, Indian professional Saurabh Bandekar and Jonathan Hempsey dug in to bring their side back into contention.

With storm clouds gathering and rain imminent, Greenock were eight runs behind the DLS par score going into what proved to be the final over. But, as the rain arrived, Hempsey gathered twos off the second and third deliveries of Sholto-douglas’s over before hitting a boundary off the fifth ball to put Greenock just one run ahead. The umpires took the players off the field at the end of the over and no further play was possible, Hempsey unbeaten on 44 and Bandekar 32.

Greenock spokesman Peter Hempsey said: “It was a dramatic game and the guys got the necessary runs in the nick of time. It couldn’t have been closer than one run so the decision to insert Uddingston paid off.”

It was just as exciting at Hamilton Crescent where West of Scotland suffered last-ball heartache against Clydesdale.

Set a revised target of 197 in response to West’s 245 for nine, Dale levelled the scores with one ball left and the batsmen were able to scramble the required single. Richie Berrington played a match-winning role, taking four wickets and scoring a vital 74.

Jurie Snyman scored an unbeaten 148 as Poloc overpowered Stirling by 129 runs at Shawholm while Fraser Macdonald scored 64 to help Prestwick to a four-wicket derby win at Ayr.

Ferguslie’s bid for a sixth straight win was frustrated by rain at Dumfries.