Scottish Cricket: Rajput sends West to defeat (14 Jul 1998)

14 July 1998

Scottish Cricket: Rajput sends West to defeat

By Keith Graham

THE loss of Craig Wright and Gregor Maiden to international duty and Alastair Storie's retirement may be blamed for West of Scotland's surprise Saturday defeat at the hands of bottom club Perthshire in Conference B.

But the architect of the county's first league win of the season, was Lal Rajput, whose unbeaten 123 contained 15 boundaries, including three from John Cameron's last over.

Carlton closed the gap on West by overhauling struggling Strathmore's 186 with six wickets to spare, Fraser Watts building the foundation with 44 and Craig Bulloch sealing victory with 73 not out.

Drumpellier's batting proved fragile at RHSM when they were bowled out for a meagre 119 with Zahoor Elahi taking three wickets. The Pakistani then raced to 79 not out to almost single-handedly claim the points.

Poloc's batting proved to be even more jittery. Having reached 59 for three, they lost Mohammed Ramzan and collapsed to 77 all out as Steve Knox took six for 35. Ramzan's four wickets could not prevent Stoneywood Dyce winning by five wickets.

Ayr strengthened their position at the top of Conference C with a confident performance against injury-hit Aberdeenshire who made 192 for five, a target reached for the loss of two wickets as Neil McCrossan (75no) and Kevin Roberts (71no) took their toll of the beleaguered Aberdeen attack.

Clydesdale, chasing Uddingston's 171 for seven, seemed to be on course for victory only for Paul Hoffman to step in with an astonishing over which produced four wickets in five balls, including a hat-trick, despite a painful neck injury. David Rutherglen's unbeaten 46 was just enough to force the draw with the last pair at the wicket.

Ferguslie were beaten by three wickets at Freuchie, Stirling County and Greenock drew and Edinburgh Accies took the points against Arbroath who slumped from 93 for one to 132 all out, left-arm spinner Saeed Ahmed taking six for 29. He also scored 47 not out as Accies struggled past the post with seven down.

Heriot's just keep on winning and although Stenhousemuir set them a target of 186, Iain McKinlay (63) and Steve Thomson (59) made sure of retaining their team's 100 per cent record.

Hillhead won a low-scoring derby against GHK and a century from Owen Gilchrist laid the foundation for Watsonians to beat Dunfermline with South African Deeuin Nell, 18, sealing the points with five for 37.

Stuart Cruikshank (60) was instrumental in taking Kelburne to 170 against Forfarshire who hung on for the draw with one wicket left, Kevin Mitchell weighing in with 56.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)