UDDINGSTON recovered from an off-day with the bat on Saturday to record their fourth straight win and leave Greenock still looking to break their duck.
Following a delayed start at Bothwell Castle, the home side stuttered to 134 all out, failing even to bat their allocation of 43 overs.
Only Hari Singh with 30 and Amir Gul (20no) gained pass marks while Sehmat Pandher and Saurabh Bandekar led the way for Greenock with three wickets apiece.
The visitors, though, have consistently under-performed with the bat this season and it was the same story again as Uddingston’s formidable pace attack accounted for the top order before unsung hero Muhammad Adnan upstaged his colleagues with 4-22 as Greenock subsided to 85 all out.
Home skipper Bryan Clarke said: “Adnan does well for us – he moves the ball both ways and offers something a little bit different. He takes important wickets and doesn’t get the credit he’s due.
“Our three spinners didn’t even get a look in which shows we have depth in our bowling but we have some work to do with the bat. 134 was probably more like 170, given the outfield was heavy, but apart from Hari and Amir there was really nothing to shout about.
“Everyone understands they have to take a wee bit more responsibility with the bat.”
West of Scotland also completed a fourth win, getting the better of Clydesdale in a hard-fought Glasgow derby at Hamilton Crescent, to set up a table-topping tussle at Uddingston on Saturday.
Angus Guy fought a near-lone battle for Dale with a brilliant 93 as the visitors posted a competitive 161-7.
Wickets were shared around for West and it was a similar story with the bat, eight players reaching double figures though only Rory Kleinveldt passed 30, the South African top-scoring with 34 before Dave McNulty (24no) sealed a two-wicket success by hitting the winning boundary.
Meanwhile Matt Tweedie, the Stirling captain, expressed his delight after his side recorded their maiden victory of the campaign against still winless Poloc.
Choosing to bat first in a match reduced to 34 overs, the home side were indebted to schoolboy Jasper Davidson who remained at the crease throughout the entire innings to register the game’s top score of 60no.
His effort and lower order contributions from Akash Rawal (23) and Rukman Hewage (21) allowed Stirling to post 164-7 while Zaighum Ahmad was Poloc’s best bowler with 3-20.
The visitors looked capable of a successful chase, especially when Amaan Ramzan (31) and Craig Young (30) embarked on a solid second wicket stand but they departed in quick succession to Amir Shahzad as Stirling seized the initiative.
Shahzad, Akram Shakoor and Tom Bradburn all claimed three wickets as Poloc fell 17 runs short.
Tweedie said: “We’re just happy to get that first win. It was a close game and Poloc played well. Jasper batted really well and it was a good all-round bowling performance.”
