Cricket: Dollar cash in on Kilmarnock's dropped catches

Jul 2 2008

LAST weekend’s cricket was once again wrecked by the recent bad weather.

The 1st XI were due to host Moorcroft, but for the second time this season, the rain put paid to the fixture as a downpour at just before two o’clock meant there was no chance of play.

The rain also meant the 2nd XI fixture at Hughenden was called off before the team had even set off.

Although Saturday’s games were cancelled, Kilmarnock did travel through to Dollar on the Sunday to play in the Small Clubs Cup quarter-final.

The wet weather had also affected the ground at Dollar Academy playing fields and the umpires decided that the ground was unplayable at the scheduled start time.

Improving conditions did allow the match to get under way after a two-hour delay, and vice-captain Alistair Smith, once again in charge, won the toss and decided to bowl first.

The game had been reduced to 35 overs a side and the Kilmarnock fielders walked out in confident mood, given the bowler-friendly conditions.

After a fast start Kilmarnock suffered a massive blow as opening bowler Mohammed Alem was struck on the finger trying to take a catch off of his own bowling and had to go off injured.

This was a double blow for the team, as Alem has been in excellent form with both bat and ball this season.

This meant an early bowling change, and Jim Hill was brought into the attack. It proved a master stroke, as Hill took the pace off the ball and bowled seven brilliant overs in a row, finishing with figures of five for 24 from his stint.

When Hill finished his spell, Kilmarnock seemed to be in control, as Dollar had slid to 122 for five after 22 overs, but instead of wrapping up the innings, Killie has to endure a magnificent partnership by opener Buick (110no) and Rorke (29no) of 101 off 13 overs, which propelled the home side to a daunting 223.

This was undoubtedly a tremendous partnership, but Killie contributed with some very sloppy fielding and wayward bowling.

It all meant Kilmarnock would have to bat very well, scoring at more than a run a ball. With the weather closing in, Kilmarnock decided to go for it early in case the rain started and run-rate would be taken into account.

Alan Hill (25) and Zeeshand Saeed (29) opened the batting and although they were a little behind the rate, they provided a good platform before Saeed was dismissed with the score on 48.

Zubeer Javaid was then sent in to boost the run-rate and his exciting 15 boosted the score to 74 but with his dismissal, the wickets then began to fall rapidly and only Smith (19) provided any kind of resistance.

In the end, Steven MacKay was the final man out with the score on a very disappointing 136.

Although it was a disappointing performance, it was a good day out and there were a few positive performances from two players making their debuts for the first XI in Zubeer Javaid and 14-year-old Muhammed Ali, who bowled very well.

Last Monday, the under-18s travelled to Poloc hoping to improve on recent performances. After losing the toss, Kilmarnock were put into bat and captain Duncan Hamilton opened the batting with Craig Sharp.

Both batsmen really struggled to get the batting away due to some very tight bowling and there was only nine runs scored in the first nine overs but they then increased the tempo and started to score more heavily.

After a few extravagant shots Sharp departed for 13 and he was followed by David Ingram for an exciting 16. When Hamilton departed for 31 in the penultimate over, some lofty hitting from Joe Macari (14) Kilmarnock took them to 88.

Kilmarnock needed to bowl very tightly to have a chance of winning the game, and although much of the Kilmarnock bowling was good, a few dropped catches, and the fact they had probably scored 20 runs too few, meant Poloc eased to victory with three overs and eight wickets to spare.

This was a far better performance from the youngsters against a very talented Poloc side, and definitely gives them confidence for the rest of the season.