VS The High School of Glasgow Report

Our first home game of the season saw The Glasgow Academy take on local rivals The High School of Glasgow. Despite exams, the 1st XI enjoyed a 100% turnout, with the inclusion of youngsters Siddiqui and Heginbottom in the side for the match. Having decided to bat, HSOG started tentatively, with captain Oliver(4.1-1-9-2) and Khan (3-0-9-1) putting the ball in the right areas to place pressure on the openers. Before long, Khan had Scotland hopeful, HSOG opener Sam Greene back in the pavillion with a brilliant inswinger. John Oliver followed this up with the archetypal dismissal: knocking over the top of off of HSOG's number 3 before Heginbottom did some good work in the field to rocket a throw into keeper Fraser Gordon who whipped off the bails in a flash to dismiss HSOG's other opener. One by one, the batsmen came and departed and scalps were shared between all four seamers and two spinners. Russell (4-0-18-2) and McMurray (3-0-8-1) both bowled well and picked up two thoroughly deserved wickets apiece. Legspinner Percival (3-0-12-1) and offspinner MacMillan (3-1-5-2) put any hopes of a HSOG recovery to bed and this meant HSOG were unable to bat the full 30 overs, instead making 65 all out having faced just 20.1 overs. Mention must go to Fraser Gordon for a brilliant performance behind the stumps whilst Tom Bouttell pouched the only catch of the match running in from mid-on. While the pitch was the typically two-paced Accies wicket, and although it clearly aided the bowlers, it still left The Glasgow Academy a fairly small task. Within 10 overs, Oliver, whose cover drives are becoming more eloquent by the day, and Khan, whose powerful shots are quite literally going from strength to strength, had claimed a victory by 10 wickets and with a multitude of overs to spare. Oliver's calm 24 Not Out and Khan's 28 (with 22 of those coming in boundaries!) Not Out was befittingly capped off with a towering six by Khan over the square leg boundary. After the handshakes and formalities were complete, coach Mr Hariharan praised a "strong all-round performance with the senior members playing their role well" and captain Oliver commented "This is hopefully the beginning of a very successful era for cricket at the Academy. With this win behind us, we will strive for greater victories in the fixtures to come. I'm proud of everyone who contributed today." Thanks must go to Mr Hariharan, the groundsmen for preparing a wonderful track for the first game of the season, the weather (for holding up) and above all a talented team for this win.Read more