East Kilbride travelled to Ferguslie on saturday in a top of the table clash against the other for team of the division. With the forecast not looking good both teams were keen to get as much of a game in as possible. Upon losing the toss EK were invited to bat first and opened with Gary and Gav. Gary continued his great form looking ominous early on. For the majority of the first few overs Gav was restricted to being a spectator but when he did get involved he looked solid until he played a half shot to give cover catching practice. Gary then followed him soon after in a flurry of wickets that saw Ek lose three top order wickets without scoring to a combination of loose shots and good fielding. Money and Umair then rebuilt in a crucial partnership which took the score from 42 to 118 with the captain believing that 180 would be a score that he’d be happy with. After money and Umair had departed for their crucial contributions Tom and Shah took up where they left off and took the score up to 161. In came young Calum making his debut in the CSL who played a good looking cover drive to get his first run. Shah was then dismissed smashing a full toss to the opposition pro for a good catch. A great recovery by the middle and lower order to take us to 168 all out which meant we would need to be on top of our fielding to win the game.

Talk in the dressing room was we would need to all contribute if we were to win the game and all be in the game at all times. These words were quickly put into action with Gavin being on his toes to run out the amateur after his opening partner has sold him short. Stewart and Aftab both bowled tight opening spells without the important breakthrough but with too many wides creeping in captain singh turned to Shah and Umair to look for a vital breakthrough. Shah took the second important wicket again with Gav being involved taking a tough high catch into the sun. This was the important part of the game with the pro and in form batsmen both at the crease. They took the score to 89-2 and looked to be comfortable when Gary was brought into the attack. In a great spell of bowling he removed numbers 3 to 8 ripping out the heart of the Ferguslie batting order. Shah came back into the attack and took the final 2 wickets to wrap up a great win which looked unlikely for most of the game with Ferguslie looking on top. It was great to see a game in which every person made a meaningful contribution in some way and the fielding performance was much improved. Next week see’s us back in Scottish Cup action facing Clydesdale