DEFENDING champions Prestwick suffered a huge setback in their quest to retain the title.

They went down to Uddingston in a Western Premier Division match which was reduced to 24 overs a side owing to heavy rain.

The visitors won the toss and opted to bat first.

Prestwick got off to a good start when Willie Rowan and Craig Morrison took the wickets of the visiting openers for just 10 and 14 respectively.

However Muhammad Awais then stepped up to the plate and hit 38, while Gavin Bradley hit 25 and Ross Lyons was unbeaten on 27 as the hosts ended their innings on 146-7.

Prestwick began well in their reply, with skipper Shahzad Rafiq hitting 16 and Fasail Awad 18.

They were going reasonably well on 101-4 in the 21st over although were needing a big effort to secure the necessary runs.

However Fraser Macdonald, Mitchell Rao, Craig Morrison and Tom Fleet were all bowled out in four successive balls, between the end of the 21st and beginning of the 22nd over, leaving them facing an impossible task.

They were all out for 112, giving Uddingston a 34-run win.

Skipper Rafiq said: "They really scored 20 more than they should have and we didn't bat well. It's a crucial game at Ferguslie on Saturday and we must look to win it."

?Prestwick on Thursday defeated West of Scotland in the last over at home t progress into the semi final of the Rowan Cup.?

Once again, it was another disappointing weekend for Ayr as they fell to a narrow defeat against Clydesdale at Cambusdoon on Saturday. In one of only two Western Union games to take place due to the inclement weather play eventually got underway with the game reduced to 25 overs. On winning the toss the visitors put Ayr into bat and soon had them in trouble taking wickets at regular intervals with only Scott McElnea (29) and Puskhar Bhandari (17 not out) able to trouble the Clydesdale bowlers as they finished on 92-9. In the Clydesdale reply, Kenroy Peters struck early removing the dangerous Barbour, but a second wicket partnership between Sturgess and Awan swung the game back in the visitors favour even with some tight Ayr bowling, but when Sturgess was run out, Peters struck again with two wickets in successive balls to give Ayr a glimmer of hope and further strikes from the McElnea brothers made for tense final overs, but Anwan 44 not out saw the visitors home with ten balls to spare.

Rain put paid to Ayr’s other games as both their McCulloch Cup game against GHK and Rowan Cup tie away to Stirling were cancelled.

The Development XI continued their Western Cup campaign against Albert Park on Tuesday. Batting first they set the visitors a target of 136 for victory, Richie Simpson who the previous night had made his first century for the club in the U16’s match against Glasgow Accies top scoring with 35. In reply Albert Park took advantage of some wayward bowling from the home team and reached their target with almost four overs to spare.

On Sunday they travelled to Glasgow to face West of Scotland in the Sunday League and scored 135 in their innings with the main contributions coming from openers Andi McElnea (36) and Pushkar Bhandari (37). West then reached their target for the loss of seven wickets, with Johnny Baines the pick of the bowlers taking 4-14 in his eight overs.

This week sees Ayr at home to Dumfries on Saturday in the Western Union and on Thursday will try again at Stirling in the Rowan Cup. The Cambusdoon XI are away to Deanpark in the Reserve League, while the Development XI are at home to Victoria in the Evening League on Tuesday and Irvine in the Sunday League.

Match Sponsors

Ayr v Dumfries: Sam Hornell

Stirling v Ayr: Clancy Consulting.