Selkirk got back to winning ways on Saturday with a convincing 8 wicket victory over Westquarter and Redding. It was just what the team needed following some narrow losses and a frustrating tie through the week. In a series of 5 matches against teams above them in the league this was a vital success.
The visitors won the toss and elected to bat first and opened with Richard Tressider and Zulficar Chaudhry. Michael Fenton opened the bowling with a wide but then had Chaudhry caught brilliantly at second slip by Blair Amos. Tressider was joined by Adham Aslam and they settled the nerves and began to score some boundaries the pick of which being a square cut by Aslam off of Fenton’s bowling. Kenny Paterson replaced Fenton from the wall end and Aslam (17) mis directed a full blooded swipe straight back to the bowler Paterson instinctively held on.
Paterson (3-16) then took 2 wickets in consecutive overs, including the opener Tressider (15) who was beginning to build the confidence which had helped him score 50 runs the previous week. At the other end Greg Fenton (2-14) also chipped in with a couple of wickets which saw the visitors at 57 for 6 wickets after 22 overs. Westquarter and Redding needed a partnership of substance to set a reasonable target for Selkirk and Umar Salik (19) and Cameron Graham (32) gave the visitors some hope.
Graham was timing the ball beautifully and the lanky Salik was proving adept at finding space for quick singles. The pair pushed the total to three figures with 6 overs remaining but Salik succumbed to the deception of Blaine Gillie, swiping the ball into the grateful hands of Bob Wilkinson at mid-wicket. Michael Fenton returned to remove Graham, Kenny Paterson taking the plaudits from the large crowd at Philiphaugh with an assured catch on the deep mid-wicket boundary. Gillie (2-16) and Fenton (3-46) combined to finish off the tail with Selkirk set 117 runs for the win.
Greg Fenton and Kenny Paterson opened the batting for Selkirk and took a measured approach initially with just a couple of flashes of the bat from Fenton for boundaries from opening bowler Imran Mazhar. The Selkirk pair were running well between the wickets and Fenton was punishing the bad ball, pick of which being a one bounce four to square leg off a full toss from Cameron Graham. It took another bowling change to get a reward and in the last ball before drinks Paterson didn’t fully commit to his shot and popped the ball up to the grateful fielder at cover. However this was Selkirk’s biggest opening partnership in Division 2 so far.
Michael Fenton came to the crease full of intention as ever and looking to score all the time, kicking off with a 5 as the visitors began to look scrappy in the field. It took a patient 84 balls for the opening pair to get to 50 but the next half century came quickly with another partnership of 52 achieved with a thumping 6 from Greg Fenton over the fence at long on. This was both the shot that saw the team past 100 and gave Fenton his second half century in league games. It proved to be Fenton’s last scoring shot of the game as he fell the next ball but this in turn set up a fitting finale.
Blaine Gillie joined Michael Fenton at the crease and they worked together to take Selkirk past the total, Fenton taking the score to 117 by smashing the ball back over the bowler’s head for four. Prior to the game a bench was unveiled to commemorate the life of George Oliver, arguably the team’s greatest ever supporter having been watching them at Philiphaugh since the 1930s until his death last year. That Saturdays game was finished off by his grandson (Gillie) and his favourite current player (Michael Fenton) was a fitting tribute to the man.
Selkirk have a rare common riding week fixture at home next Sunday with the visit of high fliers Clackmannan County who will be buoyed by a 96 run victory over Kelso at the weekend.