Largo’s
1st team travelled to Stirling in their second league match of the
season. Stand in skipper, Asman Ali, lost the toss and Largo were asked to bat
first. The pitch was hard and looked good to bat on so a total of 200+ was
required.
The
openers were under pressure straight away with Shakour bowling a great line and
beating the batsmen on a number of occasions. He finally got reward for his
efforts when Ali (11) was caught at second slip following deflections from the wicket
keeper and first slip. Robinson (4) came and went quickly as he lazily
guided the ball to the wicket keeper. This brought M. Sharif to the crease with
the score at 35-2 in the 14th over and he looked to continue his
commanding performance from the previous week. He was quickly into stride
stroking consecutive fours through extra cover off the bowling of Ferrie and
pushing one’s and two’s around with ease.
Meanwhile,
at the other end, Walker (38) struggled to find any sort of form and most of his
scoring shots were off the edges of his bat. Although an uncharacteristic
innings from Walker he showed a dogged spirit and tried to make the most of his
luck after being dropped on 2. The pair constructed a partnership of 66 when
Sharif (42) was bowled by a flighty off-break from Kuhlwilm. This led to a
middle order collapse as the score went from 100-2 to 147-7 in the space of 21
overs. A combination of tidy bowling and rash shot proved the downfall but some
lower order hitting from Yousaf and Rintoul (both 11) meant Largo reached 176
all out in the 46th over.
With
a below par score Largo required early wickets to put the pressure back on
Stirling County. A loose cut shot from Bielby in the opening over created the
chance but Robinson failed to hold on as he dived low to his left. This did not
put Bielby off his game, he continued to play his shot and was particularly
ruthless through the point area. Foster was solid at the other end and played in
a very clinical fashion. Rintoul was brought into the attack in 13th
over and after being hit for a four he drew an edge from Forster which was
smartly taken by Walker behind the stumps.
Robbins
was next man in and settled very quickly. He was strong off his legs and
combined well with Beilby. Largo switched their bowlers around, huffed and
puffed but could not make the breakthrough. The pitch had completely flattened
out and offered no assistance also. It wasn’t until the 42nd over,
with the score on 150, when Beilby fell LBW to Barclay for a good 73 and the
partnership of 113 had taken the game away from the visitors. Largo fielded well
and should have either run out Robbins or had him caught late on when he drove
back to the bowler.
Despite
this, Robbins finished on 61 and hit the winning runs in the 47th
over to give Stirling a convincing eight-wicket victory. Largo will aim to
bounce back strongly when Boroughmuir visit East Drive next Saturday.
The
match ball sponsor for this game was Lundin Links Pharmacy.