From the Dressing Room: West Scottish Cup triumph at Ayr
Guest writer Tony Hulatt gives his perspective on Sunday’s Allied Vehicles West of Scotland Scottish Cup win at Ayr in the first instalment of our new player-led match review series.
On a gloriously sunny day West captain Sam Page won the toss and elected to bowl, looking to make use of the early morning dew.
Professional Mekyle Pillay, fresh from landing in Scotland last Tuesday, was the star of the early overs providing great accuracy to make full use of the conditions on offer. He struck twice in the opening phase, dismissing Reuben Swanepoel (lbw, 0 runs) and Mikey Maxwell (bowled, 2 runs) to leave Ayr reeling at 12-2. His figures of 3 wickets for 26 runs in 8 overs were instrumental in keeping the pressure on throughout the innings. Pillay’s third victim was key man Neil Flack caught at deep square leg for 2 runs.
The arrival of Oscar Fry into the game stifled the runs with some excellent wicket-to-wicket bowling on a slow pitch. Fry claimed two crucial scalps, trapping Michael Miller (the vice-captain) lbw for just 4 runs and clean-bowling Jake Woodhouse for a duck, restricting Ayr to 40-4. The ever-dependable James Fennah turned the screw with consistent line and length, picking up former West of Scotland player Jon Fearn (bowled, 1 run) and Scotty McElnea (caught by Strachan, 3 runs) to break the middle-order resistance.
As the shine coming off the ball and the pitch started to flatten out it was important to clean up the tail quickly. I came back on to bowl after drinks, and bamboozled Ollie Jones with a slider. He had fought hard for a valiant 42 off 70 balls with 5 fours, cleaning him up for 42. Then I removed James Hobman (bowled, 6 runs) the next over.
Despite a few dropped catches, the team showed great intensity and togetherness in an excellent first half, holding Ayr to 94 all out in 27.2 overs.
Page and Strachan started the reply well putting on 21 runs before Page was caught at cover by Jonathan Baines off the bowling of Neil Flack for a brisk 18 off 24 balls. Steve Richards and Pillay came and went without troubling the scorers too much, Richards lbw to Flack for 3, and Pillay caught by Mikey Maxwell off James Hobman for 6.
Opener Strachan's stubborn knock came to an end when he was bowled by James Hobman for 6 off 30 balls, leaving West perilously positioned at 41-4. The key match-winning partnership between Iqbal and Sharma then took West to within 12 runs of victory. Sharma played aggressively, scoring 19 off just 16 balls with 3 fours at a strike rate of 118.75, before being caught by Scotty McElnea off Jackson Smith. Iqbal remained not out on a magnificent 32* off 45 balls, anchoring the chase with smart running and positive stroke play.
West then finished in style, with Iqbal hitting the ball over cover to some relief and cheers from the West bench.
