Make or break time for Kelburne

Aug 1 2012 by Andy Newport, Paisley Daily Express

KELBURNE have five games to save their national league status, admits all-rounder Scott Hamilton.

The Whitehaugh side were victims of the inclement conditions on Saturday as opponents Weirs had their innings reduced to 30 overs following a torrent of rain.

And with Kelburne’s tally of 97 for seven reduced to 86 following the Duckworth-Lewis calculations, they could do nothing to prevent their visitors knocking off the required runs with the best part of five overs to spare.

That seven-wicket defeat leaves ’Burne looking at a five-game run in that could see them overtaken by basement boys Stenhousemuir.

And Hamilton claims they must pick up at least two victories from that final handful of fixtures if they are to avoid a play-off decider that could ultimately send them spinning back to the regional leagues.

Hamilton said: “It’s going to be a tough run-in – we’ve got five games left and they will be five cup finals.

“But, if we can win a couple of them, hopefully we should be okay.”

To do that, however, they will have to perform better than they did on Saturday before the rain fell.

Batsman Douglas Wylie was the pick of the Kelburne bunch with 37 not out, while Hamilton added 30 himself. But the Whitehaugh men took just three wickets in return as Weirs strolled to victory.

“Our performance was not up to scratch,” admitted Hamilton.

“We beat Ferguslie last week pretty convincingly and were looking to build on that. But we ended up having a bad day at the office.”