FRIDAY
Dumfries Thirteens 135 for 9 v Stainton 144 for 4
The Thirteens brought their season to a close with a cup semi-final against Stainton from near Penrith and the evening went much the same way as the season as whole – by no means perfect but all things considered a great performance.
In a close match every single player, I’m sure, could count their personal “what-ifs” but the positive performances easily outweighed them. The bowling and fielding were perhaps below par which meant that they were chasing a daunting 145 for victory despite Katy Anderson’s normal 4 accurate overs.
The chase did not get off to a great start with Aiden Goodin being the aggrieved party in a run-out but then the innings smoothly went into top gear. Orla Montgomery made her maximum and Max Corbett-Byers, Fergus Bainbridge and James Hobman were stroking the ball around. However, when none of them could go on to their retiral it looked like the game would drift away from the home team, but Fergus Cubbon was involved in a 20-run partnership and then Anderson come to the party for the team to come up only nine runs short.
Perhaps the highlight of the night, though, and the biggest cheer was when Nairn equalised with Munro off the last ball of the match – go the twins.
Stainton 144 for 4; D Forrester 30, R Dadley 29, L Elliot 24*, S Kirkman 20*, K Anderson 1/16
Dumfries Thirteens 135 for 9; Orla Montgomery 30, Max Corbett-Byers 23, James Hobman 21, Fergus Bainbridge 15, Katy Anderson 15, D Forrester 2/17
Saturday
Gloom in Glasgow for Dumfries
Clydesdale 234-8 v Croma Vigilant Dumfries 122 all out
Croma Vigilant Dumfries were on the wrong side of a 100 run defeat against Clydesdale on Saturday. Dumfries arrivded in good spirits and got off to a flying start with Smit and Davidson making early in roads. Beveridge stepped up as well second change and picked up 3 wickets and put Clydesdale into trouble at 86-6. Dumfries failed to push on and stamp their authority in the game and Farid and Bashir were able to settle and begin to rebuild the Clydesdale performance. A 100 run partnership put the home team firmly in control and whilst McCutcheon picked up a few wickets near the end, Clydesdale were able to post a score of 234.
Croma Vigilant Dumfries got off to bad start as wickets began to tumble and only Adam Malik was able to provide some resistance to the attack coming from Clydesdale overseas Malik and Scotland International Berrington. Dumfries were 5 wickets down before the resistance began with Robert McBride joining Malik in the middle and they negotiated the tricky conditions. Unfortunately McBride was caught by Berrington and then Malik followed shortly afterwards with Bashir getting him caught and bowled. The tail offered little resistance and eventually Dumfries fell for 122 runs. Thoughts turn to maintaining the recent good home form against Uddinston this weekend.
Golden Gloves Reed
Nunholm 257-3 v Albert Park 105 all out
Nunholm maintain their good form and grabbed victory with a comprehensive performance woth bat ball and gloves.
The Nunholm innings got off to a shaky start with the loss of two early wickets from uncharacteristic attacking shots. Gurupal Singh and David Davidson were the men who stepped up to put Nunholm in full control of the match. The pair put on an excellent demonstration of defensive batting along with attacking the bad ball. Davidson was first to reach his 50 which the crowd enjoyed and Singh soon followed him lifting the bat in celebration. Singh tried to accelerate the innings, but unfortunately attacked too hard and was bowled for 78, the second week in a row he has scored in his 70’s. Davidson stayed out playing cautiously as a mixture of spin, swing and pace was deployed to try and displace the veteran batsman. Nothing worked and Davidson was able to achieve his second 100 of the season and guide Nunholm to 257 runs on the board.
Albert Park faced an uphill task to chase such a large total and things were made so much harder for them as Daniel Armstrong took apart the top order with some sharp in swing bowling. Batsmen were confused on how to play him, as one player decided to play an extravagant leave only for his off stump to go flying out of the ground. Callum Reynolds-Lewis also bowled a tidy spell of swing bowling and got Usman caught behind into the safe hands of Andrew Reed. Armstrong finished his spell with 4 wickets and Davidson fresh from his 100 showed some further class with the ball and during an economical spell picked up two wickets, one again caught by the sharp hands of Reed behind the stumps. The innings appeared to be drifting along until James Little debuting as a bowler for the second string team picked up three wickets, two more catches by golden gloves Reed. Albert Park were dismissed for 105 and Nunholm claimed the full 25 points.
Sunday
Sunday Success for Dumfries
Galloway 72 all out v Croma Vigilant Dumfries Sunday XI 135-7
Dumfries visited Galloway on Sunday for a friendly and walked away with a comfortable victory. Dumfries took the opportunity to give many young players a run out in this friendly and the opening bowlers of Hussein and Alisdair Little performed well to contain the openers for Galloway. Hussein picking up a wicket. Second change bowlers of Orla Montgomery and Luke McBurnie also put in a good shift and both picked up wickets. The experience of Andrew Reed and Daniel Armstrong bowled the middle overs and picked up crucial wickets with their mystery bowling styles. It was the return of Luke McBurnie to the attack which closed the Galloway innings as Mc Burnie finished with 5 wickets.
The Dumfries reply was off to a flying start as Fergus Bainbridge on debut was playing shots around the ground and look comfortable at the senior level scoring in his 20’s. Dumfries lost a couple of wickets in the chase for the total, but with runs and retirements from Max Corbett-Byers (38) and Adam Malik (25) meant the result was never in doubt. Sunday team move on to play Wigton next week in the Eden Valley League fixture.
