Dornoch Cricket Club made it back-to-back victories to kick off their 2026 league season, with their latest success over Highland coming in the most dramatic form possible.
Phil Fenech scored his first ever run for Dornoch Cricket Club to help them to a final-ball victory over Highland in the 2026 Development League. Picture: Vish Mohan
It was the visitors at Fraser Park in Inverness who won the ross and chose to bowl first, with openers Vince Greaves-Newall (2-19) and Matt Millward (2-8) keeping things tight early on while taking a couple of early wickets to pile the pressure on their hosts.
Sukesh Sundaran (20) and Prashant Sharma (24) rebuilt a base for Highland to work from, only for Dornoch wicket-keeper Corrie Thompson to step out from behind the stumps and take 2-19 with the ball in hand.
Again, Highland attempted to rebuild, with Ravindra Bhosale top scoring on 29, backed up by keeper/batsman Wahiduzzaman Zaman who added another 20.
Dornoch’s Colin Fraser kept chipping away with wickets though, and ended up with career best bowling figures of 5-19 as Highland were bowled out for 147.
The second innings followed a similar pattern to the first.
While Dornoch saw several players get into their innings – skipper Romal Shah leading the charge with 35, Stuart Tode hitting 19 and Thompson and Vish Mohan reaching the same tally – wickets continued to fall.
From being 27 runs away from victory with five wickets in hand at the 30-over mark, Dornoch lost four quick wickets, leaving the final outcome in the balance.
The last of those four wickets, which saw Hector Barlow (6) stumped off the bowling of Giridhar Ravi (3-39), left the scores tied with just two deliveries left in the match.
That brought 59-year-old Phil Fenech – nicknamed “Falcon” because of his Maltese roots – to the crease.
Fenech had never scored a run in Development League cricket before, playing just his third innings, and a dot ball in the penultimate delivery of the innings ramped up the pressure for the decisive final ball.
However, he nudged the final ball into the off side for a single run that saw Dornoch over the line to victory.
Afterwards, Fenech said: “The one not out is the proudest moment of my sporting life.
“I had never played cricket until we moved to Dornoch. Being over 50, I didn’t think I’d ever find a club in the Highlands that I could join, but the guys at Dornoch have been so welcoming and helpful.
“It’s been an honour to be part of such a friendly and fun team.”
Dornoch club captain Shah added: “Phil’s comments epitomise what Dornoch Cricket Club is all about.
“The togetherness of the squad is taking us over the line. We have continued to make good progress after our achievements last season and that has got us three wins out of three games.
“We will keep the momentum going and with more players yet to make themselves available we are looking to have a great season.”
Dornoch Cricket Club are next in action this Sunday, hosting Huntly 3s at The Meadows.
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