There's more than one way to skin a cat, and there are many ways to win a game of cricket. Fast bowling, destructive batting, sensational fielding can all do the trick. But, today it was some top class spin bowling that made the difference as Crown Canasia strangled Glenmore to limit them to just 149 in 50 overs.

Things started positively for Glenmore in the early overs. Jon Bray and Adam Knox opened the batting, and immediately had the scoreboard ticking along at a healthy rate. Poor old Reinhardt, who'd come down to watch but was somehow commandeered into scoring, could barely keep up with all the wides, singles and doubles being taken. The Crown seamers all struggled to find a consistent line and length and Bray and Knox picked them off with little trouble. Knoxy was the more aggressive of the two, twice pulling Aftab for boundaries behind square. Bray was more circumspect but was quick onto anything short and wide outside off.

The pair passed fifty in just the 9th over, but at that point the game quickly changed. The pace was taken off the ball as the spin twins Farrukh Abbas and Munir Afridi were introduced into the attack. Suddenly there were no more wides, and very few long hops on which to pounce. One slog-sweep for four from Bray was all the spinners gave up and at drinks things had slowed down considerably, but Glenmore were still well set at 67-0.

Games involving Glenmore often change direction rapidly, with a multitude of wickets going down in quick succession. It happened again at Riley Park. First to go was Knox, who had batted comfortably throughout for his 28. Farrukh Abbas had barely conceded a run with his nagging slow left arm, and so Knox tried to get down the pitch to him but was out stumped. In came big Dave Sherjan, and despite an equally big stride when facing his first ball the umpire's finger went up to give him out lbw. Farrukh's dismantling of the Glenmore top order continued in his next over when he deceived Jason Goldsworthy with his flatter, quicker one which Jason played back onto his stumps. Farrukh's was an excellent spell and set the tone for the innings.

The leg-spin of Munir Afridi was just as dangerous and consistent at Abbas' slow left arm, and he thoroughly deserved his first wicket. Bray (29) had repeatedly tried to break the shackles by resorting to the slog sweep, but seldom connected. When he took the shot on this time it found the top edge and popped up to a grateful mid wicket fielder.

Things continued to go from bad to worse when Nasir Abbas was brought into the attack. Another probing spinner, this time sending down off-breaks with the occasional doosra thrown in for good measure. It was too much for Bart Smith, who was bowled for 2, and Regan Black (4) who was caught trying to whack the ball over the legside.

It felt like a long time since the fruitful partnership at the top of the order, and with six wickets down for less than 100 Glenmore were now in desperate need for another partnership. Thankfully Marcus Levermore and Bobby Gajendra were in the mood to stick around for a while. The pair batted very sensibly together, maintaining excellent concentration against the spin, but still looking to be positive when the opportunity allowed. Marcus in particular looked in excellent touch. The tall Kiwi played the spinning ball very well, but most impressive was the way he always looked to score runs and put pressure on the fielders. On numerous occasions he drove the ball well on the off side, while he also picked up a number of runs playing a very controlled sweep shot.

Bobby had some trouble reading the spin of Nasir but he played another excellent rear guard innings. As his knock went on he found some form, best represented by a big six he put into the flowerbeds. Bobby finished up unbeaten on a well made 25 but he saw three of his teammates go at the other end. Marcus eventually went for 29, Hope-Johnstone was bowled by Chadda, and Chris Williams was caught at mid-off for just 2.

Bobby and Bijju stayed together to the end of the 50th over but Glenmore could only manage 149-9. The trio of Munir Afridi and the Abbas brothers had bowled beautifully, and squeezed the life out of the Glenmore batting order.

Farrukh Abbas and Sanki James opened the innings for Crown. Dave Hope-Johnstone started proceedings for Glenmore and was immediately into his usual, probing line and length. Abbas and James looked to target Bobby Gajendra in the early overs, with two or three of his deliveries being sent crashing to the rope. The batsmen had looked reasonably comfortable in the early exchanges, but Hope-Johnstone removed both in quick succession to give Glenmore some hope. First up he bowled Farrukh with a beauty which nipped back a little. He then found some extra bounce to find the shoulder of James' bat and the ball lobbed to Sherjan in the gully. This was just reward for Hope-Johnstone, who's bowled fantastically this season with little or no luck.

Unfortunately for Glenmore, any hopes of ripping through the Crown middle order were dashed by an impressively solid partnership between Fakhar Abbas (53 not out) and Osama Ahsan (27). The pair safely negotiated any accurate bowling that came their way, but were also quick to get on the attack. Not only did they put away any loose balls to the boundary, but they ran extremely well together.

In fairness to the Glenmore bowlers, they all performed well but were unable to make inroads. Bijju was again consistent in his line and length, conceding just 14 from his five overs. Chris Williams showed his best form of the season so far, and was unfortunate not to have two or three wickets. Adam Knox had taken the keeping gloves for the day but was unable to take a couple of chances that came his way off Chris' bowling.

Ahsan was eventually out thanks to a catch by Hope-Johnstone at cow corner. Regan Black was the bowler who sent down a dirty half tracker which the batsman sent straight to Dave.

Glenmore had one more success when Bobby returned to the attack and clean bowled Talha for 14, but by the then the game was all but lost. It was left to Afridi to come in and smash a boundary to deservedly win it for Crown. They had played extremely well for the majority of the match.

For Glenmore it was a third loss in a row. Their talented squad will need to find some improved performances soon, with the batsmen in particular needing to find some big runs.