Weekend roundup 24th/25th August
The 1st XI entertained Aberdeenshire for the final league game of the season. Opting to bat first skipper Ali Evans scored 91 batting at number 3 to provide the mainstay for the Carlton total of 271 for 9. In reply only Dons captain Kenny Reid (77) really got going as the visitors were bowled out for 158. Arun Pillai was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 28.
The 2nd XI travelled to Inch Park to play Morton. Batting first they made 122 on a challenging pitch with Angus Beattie (28) & Rory Allardice (24*) the main contributors. Rua McIntyre and Mikey Brown made early inroads into the Morton reply before Callum Sibley ripped through the home batting to bag 5-10 as they were bowled out for 65.
The 3rd XI were away at Holy Cross and bowled the home side out for 73. Ewan Hutchinson claimed 3-5 and Sam Haggo and Jamie Beattie picked up 2 wickets each. Mo Nauman hit a quick fire 40 to help see the 3s home by 6 wickets.
The 4th XI travelled to Melrose and were inserted on a very slow track. Runs were hard to come by early on and the 4s ended up posting 104 for 8 thanks to a hard-hitting 40 from Shaun Smith. Smith also picked up the first 2 wickets after Melrose got off to a quick start. Isaac Foley then bowled beautifully, taking full advantage of the conditions, to claim 5-5. Skipper Bob Irvine (3-3) then got in on the act to mop up the tail to see the 4s to a 15 runs win.
The 5th XI entertained Stewart’s Melville 4s at Cavalry Park 2 and bowled the visitors out for 122. Rory Ledingham was the most successful bowler as he picked up another 4 wicket haul. However, the 5s batting failed to fire again this week with Ian Thompson top scoring with 21* as they were bowled out for 83.
On Sunday the 1st XI travelled to Paisley to take on Heriot’s in the Scottish Cup Final. Winning the toss they opted to bat first on a green pitch but none of the batsmen really came to terms with wicket as they posted 142 for 7 in their 50 overs. Will Hardie top scored with 27* but ideally they would have like 20 or 30 runs more. Despite an early breakthrough as Evans had Pete Ross pinned in front, Heriot’s worked their way towards the total. Chayank Gosain claimed 4 wickets but Carlton could not dislodge Heriot’s pro Hayes Van Der Berg who’s 40 not out saw them lift the cup with 4 wickets in hand.
Over in Stirling the Women played GWCGCC in the Scottish Cup semi-final and batted first. They racked up 180 for 3 in their 20 overs with skipper Ruth Willis leading the way with 80*. A terrific bowling performance restricted GWCGCC to 44 to set up a 136 run win.
In the final against West of Scotland, Carlton won the toss and again chose to bat. Skipper Willis continued her fine form with the bat and her 60 plus 41 from Abbi Aitken-Drummond set West a target of 127 to win. The strong batting performance was backed up by another excellent effort with the ball. Sam Haggo and Georgia Henderson each took two wickets including the key wicket of Rachel Hawkins, caught by Heather Tait, to leave West 41 runs short and Carlton claimed the silverware for the first time since 2014.
