Hillhead 3s got their season underway in picturesque Galloway on Saturday in glorious sunshine.
Galloway were batting first and the Hillhead opening bowlers took a while to find their lines and lengths before Shelley Ita got the first wicket of the day with the opposition then digging in to reach the first drinks break on 53 for 1 with a generous helping of extras from the travelling bowlers.
Feeling refreshed after drinks the game began to turn Hillhead’s way with the next 3 wickets falling for only 8 runs. Tight bowling from Stephen Rutherford really deserved a wicket as the batsman struggled with his left arm spin but his pressure allowed Abdul Afsal to take 3 at the other end with some great movement off the seam. The Galloway innings was wrapped up with Ayub Khan returning to form after a couple of shaky overs at the start taking 3 wickets backed by more tight spin bowling from Aadam Rashid taking two before 10 year old Eesa returned for his second spell grabbing the final wicket.
With a target of 131 the Hillhead reply started brightly with Abdul opening with Annand Kumar, Annand’s eagerness to get the job done quickly on a slowish pitch caused him to send one into the air and brought Huzaifa to the crease. Huzaifa provided a masterclass in how to bat at this level with a patient well crafted 71 not out from out including 10 4’s and one 6.
When Abdul departed for 14 Sharavan Kumar followed Huzaifa’s lead of showing a lot of respect to the bowling but capitalising on the bad ball to keep the scoreboard ticking over finishing on 16 not out. Both not out batsmen showed great maturity in curbing their natural attacking instincts guiding the team to the win within 29 overs. With 44 extras given away and 3 catches put down everyone knows what they need to work on to improve for our next game against Inverclyde but it was a great win to start the season and as usual Galloway were the perfect hosts.