By Craig Black

The 3rd X1 made the arduous journey up to Meigle on Sunday. With the help of the local Russian community !! we managed to locate the ground and things got underway with Clackmannan batting first, Alan Olivers 6th consecutive coin toss victory – what a tosser.

The consistent opening pair of Graham Oliver and Craig Black opened proceedings for the County. Unfortunately that consistency was brought to an abrupt end when Hammy’s off stump was knocked back in the 2nd over. Tippu Sultan was the next man in. The strong South Easterly wind was clearly not to the liking of Sultan, as, no sooner had he arrived at the crease, he was on his way back to the shelter of the changing rooms. Charlie McNish didn’t last too long either as he was bowled by a quick Yorker. At this stage Clackmannan were rocking on 3 for 3 with Black and Ash Rasul at the crease. Both batsmen looked comfortable against the opening bowlers and the scoreboard started ticking over until a lapse of concentration saw Black spoon one to point for 20. This brought in the skipper Alan Oliver and a much needed partnership started to form with Ash latching on to anything short of a length. Clackmannan looked to be taking the upperhand when the commentators curse hit and Oliver was sent to the pavilion for a valiant 13. Auranzeb Alamgir didn’t stick around for long, as he gave an absolute dolly to slips.  Greig Taylor was unable to find his recent form as he departed cheaply as well.  Meanwhile at the other end Ash was looking the part and he eventually brought up his second 50 of the season. A great knock under the circumstances. When he eventually departed for 54, Clackmannan were sitting on 96 for 7 and in deep trouble. Kash Ali helped himself to the Meigle spin attack, lofting several straight drives to the boundary. He was ably supported by Steve Jelfs and Will Kay. Clackmannan were eventually bowled out for 138 in the last over. A disappointing score but a great recovery nonetheless.
Clackmannan took to the field knowing that a very special bowling performance was needed to walk away victorious. Black opened the bowling attack and seemed to find a bit of extra pace from somewhere. Tippu Sultan took over from Alamgir at the other end after a couple wayward overs. Black was the first to find the breakthrough, a vicious delivery that caught the shoulder of the bat and was brilliantly caught in gully by Graham Oliver. Black continued to steam in and was rewarded when the No 3 batsmen edged one through to the safe hands of Mr Taylor. Tippu then stepped up and stole the limelight with a great display of bowling. First to go was the young Scottish X1 player who had off stump was knocked back. The next 2 wickets fell in the same fashion as Tippu peppered the off stump with his in-swingers. Tippu’s forth wicket came with a well directed bouncer that was too irresistible for the No 6 batsmen who got a top edge that was well held by Ash at square leg. With Meigle sitting on 60 for 6, the damage had been done and it was a case of mopping up the tail. This was left to the Oliver brothers who bowled tight and tidy, Alan picking up 2 wickets and Graham the other, leaving Meigle all out for 85. A great performance by the 3rds as they retain their 100% record at the top of the league