Clydesdale and Ferguslie to face off for Scotland Western title

Western Premier Division leaders Clydesdale proved that resilience is among their virtues at Titwood on Saturday, when they recovered from a perilous 85 for five against bottom side Greenock to reach 248 for nine, going on to win by a comfortable 142 runs.

It was Satnam Sanghera who did most of the early damage for Greenock, claiming four of the first five wickets, but then Kasim Farid (68) and Imran Mughal (77) put on 112 for the sixth wicket to put Clydesdale back on top.

Sanghera eventually broke the partnership by trapping Farid in front and finished with five for 61, but Arun Krishna outdid even his efforts, grabbing five for 21 for the home side as Greenock subsided to 36 for six.

Sean Fischer-Keogh, supported by Sanghera, accomplished a partial recovery for Greenock, but his unbeaten 35 could only get his side up to 106 as Shahan Raja finished things off with three for 24.

Clydesdale’s only remaining challengers, Ferguslie, kept their title hopes alive and set up a last-round showdown at Meikleriggs next week with a 70-run victory over Langside.

Wicketkeeper David Stafford top-scored with 36 as Ferguslie battled their way to a relatively modest 168 for seven, but this proved to be plenty as, despite Muhammed Khan’s 40, Langside were dismissed for 98 in reply.

Khan apart, the Langside batters had no answer to the spin of Haroon Tahir, who took three for seven in 10 overs, six of them maidens, and then Uzair Ahmad weighed in with four for 20 to clean up the tail.

Prestwick held on to third place with a seven-wicket victory over lowly Poloc at the Henry Thow Oval, Sachin Chaudhary taking six for 25 as Poloc were skittled for 63; the Ayrshire men needed only 13.1 overs to knock off the runs.

A splendid 115 by Brandon McMullen, supported by 46 from Akram Shakoor, spared Stirling County’s blushes against West of Scotland at New Williamfield: no-one else reached double figures, but County still managed to reach 228 all out.

Gavin Smith took three for 20 for West and Benedict Cole three for 13.

West got off to a promising start in reply, openers John Strachan and Sam Page making 34 and 54 respectively and Ian Young contributing 49, but after that Jonathan Bowes cut through the middle order and the innings fell away, ending on 214 as County won by 14 runs.

Uddingston were too strong for Dumfries at the Bothwell Castle Policies, 33 from Muhammad Awais and 45 from Aamir Gul enabling them to reach 188 for nine, and Dumfries were all out for 138 in response, Tommy McGrath top-scoring with 44; Niall Alexander claimed three for 13 for the winners.

North-East champions Falkland will be playing in the Eastern Premier League next season after they beat East of Scotland CA winners Gala by 23 runs in a keenly-contested play-off at Freuchie.

In the west, Ayr are guaranteed promotion despite losing to Kelburne on Saturday, but whether Kelburne or East Kilbride join them depends on results in next Saturday’s final round, when Kelburne will be at home to fourth-placed Drumpellier while East Kilbride will travel to Kilmarnock.

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