Hillhead 155 all out in 41.2 overs ( 1 point ) Stenhousemuir 149 for 3 in 40.4 overs ( 25 points )
In the only game in the WDCU Division 1 to survive the Inclement Summer weather, Hillhead ran Stenhousemuir, the table toppers close, but not close enough in a game reduced to 45 overs a side and thereby influenced by Duckworth Lewis Stern scoring regulations.
Batting first, the visitors totaled 155, but only 3 of their batters contributed double figures : James Lindley-Dawe, opening the batting, top scored with 37, Ben Ward added a belligerent 22 and Hassan Azhar a carefully crafted 20. Extras with 34 were second top scorer, and Hillhead declined from a position of relative strength of 101 for 3 in the 21st over to 155 all out in the 41st. The visitors batters could make little of the Stenny Spinners, Streigher and Parveen, who between them accounted for 5 wickets in 14 overs, conceding only 27 runs.
The Stenhousemuir reply was delayed by rain and, when the game did restart, 45 overs were the order to make the par score of 148. After 9 of these Hillhead, despite losing their strike bowler, Gavin Lynch, with an arm injury in only his second over, were in the driving seat with the hosts at 31 for 3, shorn of their south African pro Danie Roussouw for only 4, deceived by change bowler Ayub Khan.
Yet slowly and inexorably, the Stenny 3rd wicket pair of Streigher and Townsend, took the game away from Hillhead. They added 110 runs in 31 overs without giving a chance to finish on 149 with 26 balls left. While the Hillhead seamers , Cammy Horn and Ayub Khan, made the early breakthroughs, Horn striking with his first ball, the visitors “ slows” had no luck. Certainly it is a rarity to bowl against two left handers and the 4 support bowlers all struggled to make an impact. A single league point was a poorish return from such an engrossing game.
For their next WDCU League 1 game, Hillhead travel again, this time to Langloan on Saturday June 18th with a 12.00 start.