Western Cup defeat for the 2s

EK entertainined Kilmarnock on another glorious summers night at Torrance House.

After winning the toss skipper Mann decided to bat first and take advantage of the good batting wicket and fast outfield.

Imran Mughal carried on where he left off from the last Western Cup match at Weirs playing some lovely shots and finding the boundary regularly but he was caught on 39 in the tenth over and EK were 57-3 with a lot of work still to do to put on a competitive total. The second half of the innings was dominated by a fine display from Matthew Deighan who ran well between the wickets and also hit two fours and a six for a well made 35. Unfortunately regular wickets fell at the other end to stem the EK runs but there was a six off the last ball of the innings from Andy Kampman to take the total over a run a ball at 125.

This total was probably 20-30 runs under par so EK needed to try and keep it tight early but unfortunately for them Killie started strongly with 24 off the first two overs to get ahead of the rate. The breakthrough though came in the third over when Imran took a stunning one handed diving catch off the bowling of Mann. Another catch for Imran off Liam Flynn followed and then Nick took two wickets including a ball that neatly removed just one of the bails.

When Mann took a diving catch off his own bowling to remove Ahmed for 42, Killie were 100-5 and EK were still in with a chance. Sadly for the home side the hope didn’t last long as Flanagan and McFadzean batted well for Killie taking advantage of any loose bowling to force a victory with 17 balls still to spare.

The other result in the group means that EK can still qualify for the knockout stages with a victory down at Prestwick in their final group match.