On a grey May day at the Gatehouse of Fleet cricket ground, Galloway went down to defeat by eight wickets on Saturday against a team likely to be one of the strongest in their league that contained two South African professionals.
East Kilbride won the toss and chose to bowl first on a soft, green pitch which generally behaved well. With the help of a series of no balls, wides and powerful off side shots from Anup Domanic, Galloway reached 22 in the third over before the top order began to crumble.
Domanic was unfortunately run out when he made his ground, but moved out of it again when the throw hit his bat. The other opener Andy Naylor was yorked by an inswinger, Alan Lamb caught at slip, Akhil Sudhi bowled and Andrew Marsay LBW to leave the home side 35-5.
Sifat Rabby batted sensibly and solidly, helped by the more cavalier style of youngster Mackenzie Sharples, who at one point was dismissed off a no ball. The pair added 51 for the sixth wicket in just ten overs, with Mackenzie striking three boundaries, which was as many as the rest of the team combined. It earned him the Player of the Match award.
His innings ended controversially when bowled by spinner Doyle, amid suspicion that the bail had been removed by the wicketkeeper’s glove rather than the ball. Unlike this one, too many of the other Galloway dismissals were self-inflicted.
Plans to build a decent total after drinks, taken at 100-6, evaporated when skipper John Goodenough went LBW first ball after the resumption to one that kept low, quickly followed by Andy Sharples caught at mid off and Anandhu Santhosh at mid on. Top scorer Sifat was last out for a patient 22.
Alan Lamb and Anup Domanic shared the new ball, and each picked up a wicket LBW early on, before East Kilbride cruised to victory with an unbroken stand of over ninety between left-handers Kampman and De Villiers.
Galloway 1st XI 110 (30.1 overs) S Rabby 22, M Sharples 21, A Domanic 12, R Mariyappan 5-24
East Kilbride 114-2 (14.1 overs) A Domanic 1-20, A Lamb 1-34, C De Villiers 50*