A century by Scotland international Richie Berrington set up Clydesdale’s 121-run DLS victory over bottom side Greenock in the Western Premier Division on Saturday, and with Stirling County losing the unbeaten Glasgow club were able to open up a two-match gap at the top of the table.
A big stand between Berrington, who made 107, and Craig Young (83) enabled Clydesdale to reach 269/5 at Glenpark when rain brought to a premature end to the innings after 47 overs, and Greenock were then set an adjusted DLS target of 289.
Harry Briggs made 64, but with Jawad Khan taking 3/18 Greenock could get no further than 168/9.
Ferguslie stayed in second place with a very easy win over Langside at Albert Park. After the Paisley side had posted 207/6, with significant contributions from Riyaad Henry (44), Taimoor Ahmad (43) and Rana Hussain (43 not out), Hamza Tahir took five for 16 as Langside collapsed to 68 all out.
At Hamilton Crescent, West of Scotland recovered from the previous weekend’s batting debacle by scoring 251 all out in exactly 50 overs against Stirling County. Ian Young hit 74 for West and James Fennah 57, while Brandon McMullen claimed three for 46 for the County.
Rain then intervened, and the visitors were set 238 to make in 44 overs; McMullen made 48 and Chris Morton 58, but with David McNulty taking three for 54 and Graeme Etheridge three for 37 they were dismissed for 227 in the final over, just ten runs short.
The most remarkable individual performance of the day came at Nunholm, where Uddingston’s Niall Alexander had the figures of 9.4–6–5–7 as Dumfries were bundled out for just 30 in 18.4 overs; Abdul Sabri took the remaining three at a cost of 21 runs, and there were six ducks in the Dumfries innings, no-one making more than 5.
Uddingston needed only 26 deliveries to complete their victory, losing one wicket in the process.
Poloc did well to contain Prestwick to 184/7 at Shawholm, Majid Haq top-scoring with 53, but it proved in vain as the rain ended the home side’s chase after they had reached 15 without loss in 1.1 overs.
In the East, Grange stayed top of the table with an eight-wicket victory over Forfarshire at Portgower Place, Scotland quick Dylan Budge taking 4/16 and Ben Davidson 3/13 as the county side, having reached 72/2 thanks to a stand of 68 between Michael Leask (47) and Callum Garden (28), lost their last eight wickets for 36 runs; other than Leask and Garden, no Forfarshire batter reached double figures.
Harris Carnegie then made an unbeaten 51 as Grange knocked off the runs, sharing a partnership of 83 for the second wicket with Nick Farrar (37) which took their side to the brink of victory.
Second-placed Heriots kept up the pressure with a 49-run victory over Meigle at Victory Park. Scotland international Gavin Main’s 59 enabled the Edinburgh side to recover from 73/5, 43 of which had come from the bat of opener Peter Ross, to reach 173 before they were all out, Zahid Rasheed taking three for 30 for Meigle.
It turned out to be plenty, as Meigle were dismissed for 124, with Keith Morton taking 4/24 for Heriots.
Carlton stayed third, beating Stewarts Melville by six wickets at Inverleith after bowling the home side out for just 118.
Umair Mohammed did much of the damage with four for 23, and then opener Tom Simpson anchored Carlton’s reply with an unbeaten 40, his side needing only 21.2 overs to complete the win.
Watsonians were shocked by Arbroath United at Myreside, Matthew Parker hitting 76 not out and Darryl Sinclair 44 as Arbroath chased down Watsonians’ total of 174 to win by eight wickets.
Zach Plaice made 60 and Parker Neame 40, but Lee Patterson took three for 21 and Daniel Salmond three for 44 to keep Watsonians’ score within bounds, and Parker and Sinclair did the rest.
At Peoples Park Stoneywood-Dyce gained ten valuable points in the battle to stay clear of the relegation zone with a seven-wicket victory over RH Corstorphine.
Jon Grant took four for 29 and Nikhil Ninan and Jack Lambley two apiece as RH Corstorphine were bundled out for 90 after winning the toss and electing to bat, and then Tim Bovaird’s 42 took the home side to within a couple of runs of the win.
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