1st XI v Fort William CC

Opening Fixture of 2015 19/04/15

Cricket Report

Oban v Fort William 19/04/15

Oban regained the West Coast Cup with a nail biting victory against Fort William at Taynuilt on Sunday 19th April.

On a lovely spring day, the margin of victory could not have been closer as Oban won by one wicket, making 101 for 9 to overtake their near neighbours' total of 100 all out.

Fort William made a a total of exactly 100 which was mainly due to a fine innings of 62 from David Duncan who punished any loose bowling in a fine knock before he was brilliantly caught by Neill Belshaw at mid wicket when he mistimed a pull shot. Oban's bowling and fielding were tight throughout. Andrew Leach and Taj Islam were the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets each but special mention should be made for Jacob Barnsley, making his debut for the club, who bowled a fine spell of 8 tight overs.

Oban required 101 runs to win and made a bad start losing some early wickets. Opener Andrew Leach was playing superbly though but lost partners regularly at the other end as wickets fell regularly and Oban looked as if the would come up short of their target. With the score on 85 though, Leach was joined by last man Oban captain Davy Hannah and somehow they managed to see off all that Fort William could throw at them and score the remaining runs to win by the narrowest margin.