The Dumfries Sunday XI suffered a 3 wicket defeat in their season opener in Uddingston despite an admirable all round effort by Chairman Andrew Reed. Captain Josh Forsyth won the toss and put the team into bat with what on paper seemed like a strong batting line-up with a top order that had plenty of experience and quality at a higher level. Unfortunately paper isn’t much good in drizzly conditions as the home side got off to a superb start. The opener McGuire got an early wicket when he beat Patrick Corkery for pace to bowl him for 8. At the other end Baxter managed to get three quick-fire wickets of Forsyth, Dunbar and McBride leaving the visitors on dire straits on 42-4. Reed and Carlton were able to form some sort of resistance but when Carlton went for 14 off the bowling of Dunne, Dumfries looked to be struggling to reach three figures at 69 for 5 but Reed found an unlikely partnership with Gordon Marshall. Reed’s textbook approach went well with Marshall’s unorthodox batting technique to form an odd couple 50 run stand. Reed’s vital innings was ended when he was bowled by Clarke for a presidential 33. Marshall’s innings finally came to an end when he went after the spinner one too many times and was caught. The tail-enders managed to limp the total along with some slack bowling to a defendable total of 149.
The home side looked to press on with their dominance scoring runs quickly early on making Dumfries chase around the ground for the ball. The early breakthrough came when Callum Reynolds-Lewis bowling up the hill got McGuire caught behind off a spectacular diving by Josh Forsyth catch behind the stumps. At the other end David Carlton managed to snag the LBW of Martin to put pressure on the opener McGuire who was able to stay at the crease. Momentum of the game was shifted even further when Gurupal Singh managed to stop the ball from swinging to get Clarke for about as easy an LBW decision as you will see. Singh wasn’t done when he produced a stunning direct hit whilst throwing with his foot off the ground. There was a party atmosphere inside the clubhouse for a function and as the music blared onto the field Singh cut some outrageous shapes as he celebrated his wicket. The very dangerous Robertson was finally gone when Reynolds-Lewis came back on and caused him to snick behind to Forsyth putting the visitors back in with a chance. Uddingston kept on limping on through extras and quick singles and looked odds on for a comfortable win when Forsyth turned to Reed to make something happen which he did getting Dunne caught by McBride who made up for his earlier drop of Robertson to give the visitors an unlikely chance of winning with the run rate grinding to a halt. However through some sensible batting and profligate bowling Uddingston clambered through this tricky patch and by the time Walshe was bowled by Reed for 10, the result was academic. Obre and Allan were able to finish the job with some late fireworks to secure a 3 wicket win. Despite an admirable fielding performance the poor batting display was in the end too much to overcome and Dumfries need to perform better in future encounters.