Clackmannan County 1st XI vs Kirk Brae 1st XI 

Clackmannan County 194-7 (30 overs) - K.Hefer 51, T.Mehboob 45, T.Kagumba 41

Kirk Brae 106 AO (28 overs) - D. Patel - 4-17, R.Ashraf - 3-19
 

CLACKMANNNAN CCC welcomed newly-promoted Kirk Brae to the Arns on Satuirday for what was a truly wet and miserable day in the Wee County.

With the majority of cricket fixtures playing victim to the weather around Scotland both teams can be proud of their efforts to ensure a full game was played - a shout out to Kirk Brae who showed great enthusiasm, allowing the teams to get a shortened game in (30 overs per side). 

After winning the toss, home skipper Keith Hefer opted to bat on what looked to be a good batting track.

As the batsmen made their way out to get the game underway, a torrential downpour meant the start had to be pushed back to 3pm.

By the time 3pm arrived, persistent showers meant that there were numerous puddles scattered around the outfield. At this stage the sensible decision would have been to call the game off there and then.

However, with both team captains eager to proceed with the fixture, both sets of players were left to search the darkest realms of their kit bags to source some swimming goggles and a pair of speedos.

Having waited patiently to get out to the middle, the Clackmannan opening batsmen certainly didn’t let the slow, wet outfield dampen the flow of runs, with Hefer and Mehboob piling on the runs in the first 10 overs with a wonderful array of shots.

Having swiftly moved the Clackmannan total on to 69, Mehboob was trapped LBW in the ninth over for a well-made 45. 

This welcomed Tanya Kagumba to the crease who took some time adjusting to the pace of the wicket. Whilst the run rate slowed momentarily, Hefer at the other end was nicely accumulating runs, patiently waiting to punish the bad ball.

With the boundary being found frequently, coupled with excellent running between the wickets from the African pair; Hefer and Kagumba quickly moved the score onto 131 as Clackmannan moved into the final 10 overs of the innings.

Kagumba by this point had made his way into the 40s, manipulating the Kirk Brae bowling for 1s and 2s, whilst dispatching the loose ball to the boundary.  

Hefer brought up a fine 50 in the 22nd over, only to fall soon after whilst looking to push the rate along

Clean bowled by Gandhe, who ended the innings with a five-wicket haul after inducing a mini collapse, with Alamgir, Anderson and Band falling in quick succession to the same bowler as the Clackmannan men looked to push the score up to the 200 mark.

Some late hitting from Graham Oliver and Ash Rasul, 21 and 16, respectively, late on in the innings, helped propel the hosts up to a competitive score of 194-7; a commendable score on what were challenging conditions to bat. 

After a quick turn around, Hefer and Ashraf got things underway, with Ashraf picking up the first wicket with his second ball, caught behind by Rasul with the score on eight.

The clacks openers continued to bowl tightly in the opening overs, limiting scoring opportunities.

The introduction of Mehboob and Kagumba after a tidy opening spell from the openers - where only 30 runs came from the opening 10 overs - only served to ramp up the pressure on the visitors.

The Kirk Brae batsmen struggling with the pace of Kagumba, and the caftly flight and gyle of Mehboob began losing wickets at regular intervals, as they tried to escalate their run rate with ever increasing pressure from the scoreboard.

The only resistance shown by the opposition line up was 50 from one of the Kirk Brae openers Qazi.

With the visitors falling more and more behind the required run rate, it was becoming increasingly likely that the full 20 points would be going to the Alloa side.

The introduction of Patel acted as a catalyst, ending the Kirk Brae innings quickly - Patel certainly put on a show for his parents who had made the long trip up from Leicestershire.

Taking a wicket with his first delivery, Clackmannan's new recruit put on a fine display of swing bowling which was just too good for the opposition batsmen, eventually finishing with figures of 4-10 of his 4.1 overs.  

The Kirk Brae innings was wrapped up in the 28th over by Patel; bowled out for 108.

A good performance with the bat from the home side, helped set up the rain-interrupted game nicely. This was followed by an excellent bowling display from all the Clackmannan bowlers, which helped ensure a comprehensive victory.

Huge thanks are given to FES Ltd for being the match ball sponsor.