By Craig Black

The Cougars made the short trip across to Charlestown on Saturday to take on middle of the league Broomhall. Heavy overnight rain meant that a spongy wicket would greet whoever batted first. Clacks lost the toss and were expectedly put in to bat.

Clackmannan opened their innings with the right hand/left hand combination of Graham Oliver (10) and Ken Hutchison (5). Oliver’s new found confidence with the bat following in the wake of his recent century was clearly evident as he took the attack to the home side, hitting consecutive boundaries in the second over (one of which made a hole in the side of a nearby shed) before spooning a pull shot to square leg. This brought the skipper, Craig Black, to the crease, slightly earlier than was initially planned. The two batsmen decided to batten down the hatches and see off the accurate opening pair of Reoch and Hermiston, blocking the good ones and punishing the wide ones. The score moved along to 49 off 15 overs before Hutchison was adjudged LBW off the bowling of J. Grant. Alan Oliver was the next man in but he didn’t last long, departing for 2 after missing a straight one from Glasgow. He was followed to the changing room shortly afterwards by Paul Hooper who chased at a wide delivery off the same bowler but only succeeded in lofting it straight to cover. At the half way mark Clackmannan sat precariously at 92 for 4. Black was looking in splendid form and passed his third 50 of the season shortly after the drinks break. Ash Rasul had replaced Hooper and was providing ample support to Black who by now had decided to up the ante and was starting to play some expansive shots. The tiny boundary and lightning fast outfield meant that any nearby woodland wildlife was kept involved in the game as ball after ball rocketed into the undergrowth off the bat of Black. With a deft glance off his hips down to the fine leg boundary in the 36th over; Black brought up his second ton of the season. Although not a chanceless innings, it was a joy to watch and was a beautiful display of clean hitting. Rasul was the next man to be dismissed in the next over as he skied a wide delivery and was caught and bowled by Hunt for 11. Tippu Sultan strode to the crease to join Black. With 12 overs left and 5 wickets remaining, Clackmannan decided that it was time to kick it into 5th gear. The pairing got stuck into the Broomhall attack as ball after ball disappeared over the ropes in a rapid 70 run partnership off only 7 overs. Sultan was looking in splendid form until he chopped one back onto his stumps off the bowling of Ali for 30. Keith Hefer was next in and he started from where Sultan left off. Another quick fire 60 run partnership in 6 overs between Black and Hefer (16) saw Clackmannan post a formidable 287 for 7 off the 50 overs. This was an excellent performance for the team as they helped themselves to 130 runs off the final 13 overs. Black eventually finished unbeaten on a mammoth 174* which included a staggering 23x4’s and 6x6’s.

The county boys took to the field well aware of the strength in the Broomhall batting line up. With Rizwan Ashraf missing this week, the new ball was passed to Keith Hefer and Matthew Booth. Both started well and bowled with great discipline and control. Hefer was rewarded in the 7th over when he had Bell expertly caught behind by the nimble work of keeper Paul Hooper. This brought the dangerous Jamie Grant to the crease. He opened his account with a couple big sixes, one of which shattered the window of the aforementioned shed, before unfortunately tearing his calf muscle during a mix up in the running and being forced to retire hurt. Hefer and Booth were replaced by Tippu Sultan and league debutant Jamie McCann. The scoreboard started to tick over as Reoch and R. Grant started to find their rhythm and it took a superb bit of bowling by the young McCann to get the breakthrough, a vicious delivery which caught Reoch on the gloves and looped behind to Hooper who gladly pouched the catch. Two overs later and the Mac Attack struck again. Having been dispatched for 2 consecutive  6’s, one of which destroyed another shed window, a pitched up a slower ball proved to tempting to refuse for Grant who smashed it straight to Hefer at midoff for a hard hitting 43. Sultan struck again in the very next over when James was caught by Ash Rasul at short leg, a truly breathtaking catch which needed brilliant reflexes as it was almost straight off the middle of the bat. Black was brought into the attack and struck twice in 2 overs, clean bowling Bold and Stoddart cheaply. At 102 for 6 the damage had been done and Clackmannan could take their foot of the gas and enjoy the stroll to victory. Some athletic fielding by Hutchison on the ropes resulted in confusion between the batsmen and a sharp throw saw Hermiston run out. Alan Oliver was brought on and immediately set about cleaning up the tail, firstly having Glasgow caught behind by Hooper then having Ali caught in the deep by Graham Oliver. The pick of the bowling was shared by McCann, Black and Oliver who each picked up 2 wickets. Broomhall eventually finished their innings on 118 for 9, giving Clackmannan a massive 169 run victory and remain at the top of division 4.

Man of the match this week went unsurprisingly to Craig Black for an unforgettable innings of 174*.