Uddingston notch up a seven-wicket win to lift their second Scottish Cup in seven years.

Sep 9 2010 by Andrew McGilvray, Hamilton Advertiser

UDDINGSTON Cricket Club stormed to their second Scottish Cup triumph in seven years with a seven-wicket win over Stirling County at Hamilton Crescent on Saturday.

After the young Stirling side had posted a disappointing 131 all-out, Uddingston coasted to 135 for 3 to win at West of Scotland’s Glasgow ground.

With a terrific 65 not-out, departing Samir Zia pipped veteran Paul Hoffmann to the man of the match crown, despite the Australian’s whirlwind 43 from 23 balls, which launched Uddingston’s swift response to County’s total.

Unlike Uddingston’s last Scottish Cup win in 2003, when they came from behind to beat strongly-fancied West of Scotland in a tension-filled last over, this was a comprehensive win over newly-promoted Stirling.

Stirling won the toss and surprisingly opted to bat first.

Captain Ricky Bawa and Hoffmann opened and pinned Stirling down with their relentless pace and accuracy.

Stirling surrendered their first two wickets with the total on three.

James Miller and Josh Edwards steadied things for County, albeit temporarily, but when the latter went for 14, having been bowled by Aamir Gul, any realistic hope of a lofty tally were effectively gone, as they stood on 51 from 41 overs.

In the meantime, wickets had fallen at regular intervals, with the professional Ras Priyadarshana taking four wickets for 20 runs. The final wicket fell in the 42nd over, with the total on 131.

On a bright sunny day, this looked like a soft target for the Premier League outfit and so it proved.

Any thoughts of a Stirling comeback vanished in the first over when Hoffmann scored 16 runs with four sublime boundaries.

By the eighth over, when the big Australian was caught for 43, the total was on 69.

With County completely dejected, Zia took command of his final game for the club and with a sumptuous display of off-driving the UAE internationalist compiled a magnificent knock of 65 not-out to win the trophy for the club in the 19th over.

Zia will leave Uddingston in the close season to work in England, and will be sorely missed.

A raucous Uddingston crowd, ably assisted by a lone trumpeter, returned to the Bothwell Castle Polices clubhouse, where the win was celebrated late into the night.

Once the afterglow of the win dies down, planning will begin for the 2011 season.