Borough Hold Out

After several weeks without cricket due to the inclement weather, Largo 1^st XI travelled through to the capital to play Boroughmuir on Sunday.  Largo without strike bowlers Sharif, Safiyaan and Barclay lost the toss, which was always going to be crucial, and were asked to bat on a very soft and slow wicket that offered some very variable bounce and was generally on the whole a pretty dead track.  Openers Walker and Robinson started very cautiously as the ball was doing all kinds of interesting things off the pitch.  After a watchful start Walker was first to go, caught at slip for 12.  This brought Guy Murdoch to the crease, which, in the little cricket that has been played this summer has been in prolific form.  Robinson and Murdoch were finding the gaps in the field and pushed 1’s and 2’s well as boundaries were very hard to come by due to the pitch and slow outfield.  Robinson was next to go for 17 as he mistimed a flick to leg and skied the ball into the wicketkeeper’s hands.  Murdoch was settling in nicely and along with new batsman Bux these to set about pushing the Largo total on.  Bux was looking set when a slight lapse in concentration saw his foot out of his crease for a split second and a smart stumping by Binne sent Bux back to the pavilion for 11.  Asman arrived at the wicket and with Murdoch still there these two, who are like lightning between the wickets, put pressure on the Boroughmuir fielders with some smart running.  Asman who scored a quick 16 was unlucky to be caught in the gully.  Galloway joined Murdoch but after some more good running Murdoch’s vigil came to and end when he was bowled by Docherty for a fine 38.  Largo were looking to get up to around the 150 – 160 mark to give themselves a chance.  Mowat and Galloway stuck to their task well, with Mowat providing a few customary lusty blows.  Galloway was caught for a hard working 11 and skipper Duncan and Mowat pushed things on a bit further as they took their side over the 150 mark.  Mowat was out to a fine diving catch on the boundary for a solid 21 and next over Duncan was removed for 9.  the Largo tail, which has wagged frequently in these types of situations before couldn’t quite do it this time as the next 2 wickets fell for only 3 runs and Largo were all out in the 47^th over for 154 and what proved to be crucial was the fact they didn’t bat out their 50 overs.

The 2^nd innings didn’t start too well for the Fifers.  Missing their two strike bowlers the Sharif’s they had an inexperienced, youthful opening attack that started nervously and gave “Burrie” the perfect start.  Skipper Duncan had to ring the changes in the bowling quickly and brought Mowat and Bux on the tie the Edinburgh men down.  This worked as Sachdeva was caught by Duncan off Bux for 26.  Binne, at the other end was batting sensibly and was happy to block and pinch a single here and there.  Mowat, strained a muscle but carried on and bowled his overs right through.  After the shaky start Largo were tying the “Burrie” batsmen down with some tight bowling and some excellent fielding, particularly Robinson in the covers who gave an absolute master class in how to field in that position.  Smith and Murdoch came on and this proved to be the pivotal moment in the match as Smith gave the ball plenty of flight and used the pitch to his advantage to frustrate the batsmen.  Another 3quick wickets were taken as the pressure began to mount on the home side. Davidson was now the key man for Burrie as Binne fell to a sharp catch at point by Nadeem for 41.  Murdoch was finding a good rhythm to his bowling and the capital side was struggling to get him away.  As the overs ticked by and another couple of wickets were captured particularly a superb run out by Asman to dismiss skipper Gilbert without facing a ball, and the removal of key man Davidson in similar fashion to the ever present Robinson, “Burrie” found themselves 7 down.  However Docherty and Buchan held their nerve to see them home in the 48^th over.   Largo can be pleased with their efforts in the field after missing 3 of their strike bowlers but will rue the fact they didn’t bat all their allotted overs which, in the end, made the difference.  Murdoch’s 2 for 19 was the pick of the Largo bowlers.  This week Largo travel back to the capital to face Edinburgh .