Partick XI secure Premiership 3 Title
11 happy Partick players after the win!
After 18 rounds of cricket, it all came down to this; defeat Hillhead and the Partick XI were guaranteed the WDCU Premiership 3 title and promotion to Premiership 2. On the flip side, defeat would see Hillhead promoted in our place.
Firstly, following a typically wet Friday, a huge thank you to Hillhead for their efforts in getting the game on. Skipper Williams won the toss and chose to field first with Etheridge and Anwar opening the bowling. Hillhead batted defensively from the outset, with little aggression being shown to the moving ball. Two early wickets for Anwar meant Hillhead were 9/2 at the end of the 6th over. Horn and Holland then put on a partnership of nearly 40 before the latter was dismissed by Hulatt. Horn followed his captain just before the drinks break to an excellent ball from Rawat for 23 from 73 balls. That left Hillhead 53/4 after 25 overs. Things didn’t change much in the second half, Hillhead slowly accumulating runs through Lindley-Dawe and More. The latter fell in the 46th over and some good running at the end saw Hillhead finish 125/9 off their 50 overs. At the halfway point, it felt like a par score on a tough wicket and a slow outfield.
Page and Awar following their century partnership
So it would be 126 to win the league and secure promotion. Page and Anwar opened the batting and got Partick off to the perfect start, going at around 4 an over during the powerplay. From there on, both kicked on and scored multiple boundaries to propel Partick towards promotion, Page hitting an over for 20 and Anwar 23 as the partnership neared 100. The incredible partnership ended on 109 (Page falling for 41 from 65) but the game was essentially won with just 17 needed from 186 balls. Anwar fell for 54 from 56 balls before a few silly run outs delayed the inevitable, a wide finishing proceedings. An incredibly dominant chase with 26.2 overs to spare, demonstrating why Partick deserves to win the league and be promoted.
On return to Hamilton Crescent, the trophy was presented to Ben Cole.
