Largo give Kismet a fright

Largo 2^nd XI travelled to Dunfermline to play Kismet for a division 4 East League game. Largo won the toss and elected to bat.

The wicket wasn’t the best surface to bat on. Kismet capitalised early on and 2 wickets fell after only 3 overs. Kismet’s bowling attack was of a high standard and Largo’s number 3 and 4 batsmen, Alan Tocher and Alistair Duncan, were forced to play very defensively. Duncan eventually edged to 1^st slip Sharif in the 14^th over, for 3 runs. Roddy Bevens was in next, but didn’t last long, bowled by Aziz, playing across the line to a straight ball. Tom Murdoch was in next. He had a bit more success, scoring a few runs. Tocher was eventually out for 10 in the 24^th over, bowled by Aziz. 2 further wickets fell in quick succession. Murdoch was caught out for 14 and Nadeem Ali was bowled out for a duck. Gareth Houston and Alistair Matthews added a few more runs before Houston was out for 4. Matthews was out next, for 14, bowled by Armaan. Largo were in real trouble, on 84 for 9. Andrew Robertson and Brent Bentley batted very well, pushing the score on to 123 before Bentley was bowled by Raiz for 11. Robertson was finished on 21 not out. There was also a very useful contribution from extras, putting in a faultless display of runs scoring, with 40 (Wides 23 not out, mostly wild rubbish down leg side including a few boundaries). Largo finished on 123 all out.

Kismet got off to a similar start as Largo, losing a wicket in the first over, Murdoch taking a nervous looking catch off the bowling of Bentley to remove Saeed, who looked like he wanted to score all the runs required in the first over. In the 12^th over, Sharif and Ashgar Ali had pushed the score on to 42, when Ali was well caught by Murdoch at cover for 13. Aziz was bowled by Bentley in the next over for a duck. In the 14^th over, Sharif, who hadn’t looked comfortable on the uneven wicket, was caught out by a brilliant catch by Murdoch off the bowling of Ali. The Largo men were on a roll now and Kismet were starting to choke a little on their take-away pizza’s, now that their star batsmen were removed. Another wicket fell after 21 overs and Kismet were now on 62 for 5. Largo sensed that an unlikely win was there for the taking. Another wicket fell in the 24^th over and Kismet were now on 72 for 6. However, Khan had started slogging the ball around the park and Largo needed to get him out. He was dropped a couple of times and finished on 46 not out. Only one more wicket fell and Kismet passed the total required with 7 wickets down.

Kismet won the game and Largo picked up 6 points.

Largo bowling highlights: N. Ali 2 for 27, B. Bentley 2 for 30, R. Bevens 2 for 30

Largo batting highlights: A. Robertson 21 not out, T. Murdoch 14, A. Matthews 14.

Fielding highlights: T. Murdoch took a hat-trick of catches.