Weekend roundup 29th/30th May
The 1st XI made the short journey to Myreside hoping to bounce back after last week’s loss. Watsonians won the toss and opted to bat first but Omar Ahmad picked up both openers with only 8 runs on the board. In the 12th over Ahmad got rid of the dangerous Oli Hairs for 24 with the home side in some trouble on 41 for 3. Chayank Gosain was introduced to the attack and immediately struck, clean bowling the Watsonians No 3. Gosain & Ahmad then ran through the rest of the home batting to each claim 5-fors and skittle Watsonians for 63 in 19 overs. The reply didn’t get off to the best of starts with both openers falling cheaply, but skipper Tom Simpson (23*), pictured below, dug in with support from first Fraser Burnett (7) and some clean striking from Hugo Southwell (25*) saw Carlton home with 7 wickets in hand in the 20th over.
Unfortunately for the 2nd XI, their opponents Kelso were forced to concede their Championship tie due to player unavailability.
The 3rd XI travelled to Falkirk to take on Westquarter & Redding. Skipper Brad McKay won the toss and chose to bowl first. A superb opening set from Saif Khan & McKay had the home side 3 down for just 14 runs in the 11th over with Khan claiming all 3 wickets. The home side recovered somewhat and despite 2 wickets apiece for spinners Max D’Ulisse and Charlie Kentish Westquarter posted 145 for 8 from their 40 overs. Anish Amin & Mo Nauman opened up in reply and put on 82 for the first wicket before Amin was bowled for 32. Despite losing Euan Keatinge shortly after, Kentish (15*) was able to stay with Nauman (73*) to see the 3s home with 8 wickets and 8 overs to spare.
Thanks to pitch availability issues in Edinburgh the 4th XI played their “home” game against Dunbar in Dunbar, swapping the sunshine of the city for costal haar. Having been inserted the 4s lost Iain Hathorn in the second over but an 89 run second wicket partnership between Adam Richardson (72) and David Simpson (31) gave Carlton the chance to post a competitive total. In the end the middle order struggled to accelerate and were indebted to some late order hitting from Fraser Kentish (17*) to finish on 160 for 8. In reply, Dunbar were always up with the rate but lost wickets at regular intervals. With 7 overs left the “visitors” were well placed at 143 for 6 but the bowlers stuck to their task and the fielders took their chances. 3 quick wickets tipped the scales in the 4s favour and Kentish returned to pick up the final wicket and his 4th in the 39th over with 2 runs to spare.
Th 5th XI were able to take advantage of the 2s lack of opposition to move their home game against Clackmannan County 2s to Grange Loan. They were also able to make use of the Championship umpires who hadn’t been told about the change of plans. Skipper Keith Murray won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first and the youthful opening attack had immediate success, reducing Clackmannan County to 7 for 5 with Kyle Burgess claiming 4 wickets and 1 for Hector Murray. The visitors staged something of a recovery but 3 more wickets for Nahum Appleton and 2 for Hamish Tuner saw them bundled out for 50 in the 20th over. Skipper Murray and Martin Robertson put on 37 for the first wicket before the latter was caught for 16. John Beattie (4*) joined Murray (25*) and saw the 5s to their first league win of 2021 by 8 wickets in the 16th over.
On Sunday the Women took on a strong Stewart’s Melville side at Grange Loan. Skipper Charis Scott lost the toss and Carlton were asked to bowl first. A strong opening stand for the visitors laid the platform for them posting 176 for 8 from their 30 overs. Samantha Haggo took 2 wickets and there was 1 each for Scott, Hannah Rainey and Maisie Maceira as well as 3 run outs. In reply the home side were unable to match the start of Stewart’s Melville and lost 3 wickets in the first 15 overs. Despite a valiant 53* from Haggo, Carlton finished on 160 for 8 to give the visitors a 16 run win.