Cricket: Lie march into second round of cup

Jun 24 2009 by Paul Behan, Paisley Daily Express

HOLDERS Ferguslie CC got the defence of their Scottish Cup crown off to a flying start.

The ’Lie booked their passage into round two of the competition with a five-wicket victory over Stenhousemuir at Meikleriggs.

‘Stenny’ set a total of 233 for the loss of five wickets in 50 overs, with Stuart Kennedy masterminding their downfall, taking three wickets for just 47 runs.

In reply, Ferguslie set about their task in a professional fashion and on-form Indian batsman Pravanjan Mullick notched himself a fine century before Second XI captain David Sturgeon bagged himself 47 as the ’Lie reached 234 with five wickets to spare.

Cricket convenor at Ferguslie Stuart Nye said afterwards: “After our disappointing league defeat the previous day we were keen to put things right and our batting and bowling was much better.

“There were a number of good performances and Gavin Mories gave good support to Pravanjan who finished with 100 not out.

“At the end of the day we’ve got our defence of our trophy off to a flyer.”

There was cup success too for Renfrew Cricket Club, who marched into round two with a narrow six-run victory over Drumpellier at KGV.

The ’Frew set a total of 241 for the loss of seven wickets and Ahmed Said was instrumental in the score, posting a commendable 132 not out.

Drumpellier fell just short of the required total, reaching only 235 runs.

There was, however, no happy ending for Western Cricket Union First Division table-toppers Kelburne.

The Whitehaugh squad had, by far, the hardest tie facing the three local teams as they were paired away to SNCL Premier Division side Ayr.

But they gave the Ayrshire men the fright of their lives before slipping out of the competition after a six-wicket defeat.

Kelburne set a target of 197 for nine after 50 overs and at that point things were looking good.

But the Paisley side saw their wickets tumble in quick succession and Ayr reached the magic total of 198 with six wickets to spare.

KIelburne allrounder Scott Hamilton said: “It was slightly disappointing because we got to 160 for five with 12 overs to go and we were looking to kick on, but we lost three quick wickets and that took the wind our of our sails.

“There’s no doubt about it, though – we did have them in trouble and we were quietly confident of pulling off a result.”

Hamilton bowled out the Ayrshire professional in the third over and it looked like an upset was on the cards – but it was not to be.

Hamilton added: “The conditions were terrible and the outfield was soaking.

“Not only that, but a couple of decisions went against us.

“But it shows that we can compete at that level as Ayr were three divisions above us.”

One highlight for Kelburne on the say was Jamie Cook’s 37.