Knights triumph over Warriors in final over win

Groundsman Paul Hoffmann fresh from Uddingston’s   Scottish Cup victory was hard at work early in the morning putting the final touches to the pitch which had been previously used for the home side’s match against Greenock which produced 482 runs, and Hoffy was confident that the pitch could produce similar runs.

Qasim Sheikh won the toss and elected to bat in near perfect conditions.  Zaheer Mohammed, who had come into the side for the injured Richie Berrington, opened the batting with Tom McBride.  Sean Weeraratna and Paddy Sadler shared the new ball for the Knights, and in Sadler’s second over from the scorebox end he got the breakthrough clean bowling Mohammed with only eight on the board.

He struck again nine runs later when he enticed McBride to edge a delivery which was gratefully accepted by Knights keeper Simon Smith. 

With the score at 17 for 2 Qasim Sheikh and Omer Hussain set about repairing the early damage, which they did with patient sensible batting, treating each ball on its merits, taking the score to 56 before Sheikh was clean bowled by Knights captain Gordon Drummond who had come on at the scorebox end for Sadler.

The fall of this wicket brought West of Scotland captain Ian Young to the crease and together with Hussain they put together the partnership of the innings. Both batsmen showed good form and touch as they despatched the bad balls to the boundary, taking the score to 175 before Hussain became the first of Ross Lyon’s three wickets.

Hussain missed a well flighted delivery from Lyons and Simon Smith took the bails off. Hussain had made 84 from 82 deliveries, and his knock which was beautifully crafted included ten fours and one six.

The same combination accounted for the wicket of Safyaan Sharif, fourteen runs later. Moneeb Iqbal was the next Warriors batsman at the crease and he made his intention clear with a straight six, but in trying to repeat the shot only succeeded in finding the safe hands of Sean Weeraratna.

Young was finally out caught by Fraser Watts off the bowling of Ross Lyons. He had made 53 from 64 balls. The Warriors closed their innings on 208 for 7 which was felt to be about twenty runs light, but considering the poor start was a remarkable recovery.

On the resumption Ollie Hairs and Fraser Watts opened for the Knights, and it was Hairs who was first to go in the second over. He had hit Iain Cran for a delightful four through mid off, however in trying to repeat the shot he gave a catch to Zaheer Mohammed who snapped it up.

This brought Ryan Flannigan to the wicket and he was the corner stone round which the Knights built their innings as firstly Watts went for 19 and then Ewan Chalmers for 9. When he departed the score was 111. He had made 63 with ten fours in his innings,

Gregor Maiden had come in at number five and he took up the run chase as both Drummond (19) and Stuart Chalmers (4) went cheaply. With the score at 150 for six the match was in the balance as the Warrior spin twins of Majid Haq and Moneeb Iqbal turned the screw.

Maiden and Smith put on 39 invaluable runs, with Smith, 22 from 23 balls, the main contributor, hitting some loose deliveries to the boundary, before he was caught at extra cover by Omer Hussain.

Maiden having completed a deserved fifty final departed with eight runs required for victory. Going for the second run a sharp throw from Tom McBride on the long on boundary to keeper Andy Hislop saw him short of his ground.

This left Sean Weeraratna and Ross Lyons to see the Knights home. With seven runs required from the last over Lyons faced the bowling of Safyaan Sharif. The first ball did not produced a run but the next two deliveries were steered by Lyons to the boundary just behind point, despite the despairing efforts of Zaheer Mohammed.

The Knights left it late but the win puts them top of the table with five points from three matches, with the Warriors rooted pointless at the bottom of the table , and guaranteed the wooden spoon.

Next Saturday sees the Warriors travel to Arbroath to meet the Highlanders with the final match in the Regional Series taking place on Sunday at Raeburn place when the Knights host the Highlanders.
 

[scorecard]  [photos]

David M Potter