By Nick Bryant-Nicholos

Clackmannan 2nd XI had a home fixture this week against Boroughmuir 2nd XI, on an another glorious cricket day where the weather was scorchio. Clackmannan faced the Division 6 leaders with a less strong side, inspite of this the 2nd XI were stoked up with grit and determination to give the leaders a run for their money. Both Skippers headed to the well-manicured middle to carry out the toss. Skipper Nick Bryant-Nichols won the toss and put the opposition into bat.

Boroughmuir started in a commanding fashion knocking the ball all over the park. They were 47 off 8 overs when they lost their first wicket, to the bowling of Will Kay, who claimed the wicket of Parry (19). Pushing the score on Clackmannan made a bowling change at either end and it was young Blair Campbell who struck next with the aid of Tippu (speedy) Sultan who was fielding at Mid-on and raced to catch the ball at Mid-off leaving the opposition on 96 for 2. At one end the Boroughmuir Skipper was increasing the score at a nice pace until he was caught and bowled by Tippu for (38). Neil Davidson headed to the crease. He took a quick single where the ball was gathered up by Ally Band, who swiftly threw it at the wickets at the bowlers end, achieving a direct hit which in turn dismissed the batsman by a run out with the score now at 101 for 4. Clackmannan bowlers started to contain the run rate to a trickle and were rewarded for their efforts with Tippu bowling Mohammed (7) and Nick Bryant-Nichols getting the wicket of Sharma (8) with a good catch from Barry Malcolmson. Boroughmuir at this stage were 140 for 7 off 31 overs Skidmore and Angold starting to move the score on nicely. A bowling change brought on Mukter Ahmed and he struck twice in the last over of the innings, gaining the wickets of Skidmore (39) and Angold (31). Both caught by Tippu on the boundary with both batsmen going for big hits. Boroughmuir innings finished on 197 for 8 off there allotted 45 overs, leaving the homeside a formidable target to reach.

After tea Clackmannan had a big task to take on, but they were up for the challenge. Not having the normal opening batsmen it was Tippu Sultan and Keith Hefer who stepped into the breech, but it wasn’t long before the first wicket fell. It was Keith who scooped the ball up to the fielder at cover giving the home side the worse possible start of 0 for 1. Blair Campbell joined Tippu in the middle and Tippu was doing he normal, scoring runs at a quick rate. In the 6th over, Blair became the next batsmen to fall, caught for (6). Will Kay walked to the crease and 2 overs later were walking back to the clubhouse leaving Clackmannan 46 for 3. At this stage something needed to go Clackmannans way. Kash Ali came into the mix now and started to hit some good shots. But with a partnership of 20 runs on the board it wasn’t to be. Tippu hit the ball into mid wickets hands 6 overs later for a valuable (44). Up next was Ally Band fresh from a Spanish Holiday to wield the willow. 12 more runs were put on the board before Clackmannan had another casualty, Kash Ali (16). This meant the score was 78 for 5 off 15 overs. Ally was partnered by Scott Malcolmson now, but that was also short lived as Gupta bowled Scott for (1). The outlook at this stage wasn’t looking good, wickets kept falling and the score wasn’t getting any better. The Skipper was up next and he had the bit between his teeth and wasn’t going to give up. Ally (14) was the next to go, again bowled by Gupta. Mukter Ahmed next and was in and out for (1). New boy on the Block, Tony Carman entered the hunt, as the score now was 105 for 8. Tony and the skipper started to push the score on by putting on a 53 run partnership before Tony (11) was caught off a big edge from his bat to point. Barry (I’m a footballer) Malcolmson was last Man and wandered to the crease to join the Skipper, at the Board said 158 for 9. Skipper Nick Bryant-Nichols was still trying to swash-buckle his way through the innings and Barry was holding up his end superbly. 19 more runs were added to the score and then Barry (0) was bowled. Nick ended his innings on 65 not out. Clackmannan fell short of the target and lost by 21 runs finishing on 177 all out. Everybody put in the 2nd XI should be commended for their valiant effort, as the team was a bit under strength, but 100%.

An excellent team performance by the 2nd XI. The 2nd’s have a home fixture at The Arns against Dunfermline Wanderers next Saturday and will try and get back to their winning ways.