Weekend roundup 17th/18th July

The 1st XI made the long journey north to play Stoneywood Dyce  in the first game of a double-header weekend of EPL action.  Carlton won the toss and skipper Ally Evans chose to bat first.  Both Arun Pillai & Tom Simpson fell without scoring but Shujaa Khan & Fraser Burnett recovered the situation, putting on 192 for the 3rd wicket.  Burnett was the first to go for 81, followed shortly after by Khan 6 runs short of his century.  Ali Shah hit 58 as Carlton posted a commanding 297 for 9 from their 50 overs.  Early wickets for Omar Ahmad and Evans had the home side on the back foot and the visitors pressed home the advantage with Shiv Gupta claiming 4 for 15 and Rua McIntyre 3 for 11.  In the end Stoneywood were bowled out for 69 in the 30th over to give Carlton a 228 run win.

The 2nd XI travelled to New Willaimfield in Stirling to take on Morton.  Captain Pete Deakin lost the toss and the home side chose to bat first.  Charles Stronach picked up an early wicket and there was also one for Calum Everett coming on first change.  The introduction of the left arm spin of Angus Beattie caused Morton all sorts of problems and the student returned impressive figures of 10-4-19-5 to leave the home sides batting in disarray.  There were further wickets for Everett and Harry Simpson and a Beattie run-out as Morton were bowled out for 139 in the 44th over.  The 2s lost openers Murray Whitaker and Gav Murray cheaply but a good partnership between Hayden Laing (40) and Deakin (35)  broke the back of the chase and it was left to Ben D’Ulisse (17*) and Beattie (13*) to see Carlton across the line with 6 wickets in hand in the 36th over.

The 3rd XI entertained Stew Mel 2s at Grange Loan on Saturday.  Skipper Brad McKay won the toss and chose to bat first.  Adam Richardson (29) and Zaki Yusaf (28) made a good start but the 3s lost 4 wickets for 7 runs to cede the initiative to the visitors.  Euan & Cam Keatinge rebuilt, putting on 78 for the 5th wicket before Euan fell for 24.  Cam kept going and helped the 3s post 172  for 8 from their 40 overs with the older brother being run out off the last ball of the innings for 71.  There was early success for Cam Keatinge and McKay but a good 3rd wicket partnership for Stew Mel which put on 73 runs. Max D’Ulisse chipped in with 3 wickets but the visitors ran out winners with 5 wickets in hand in the 37th over.

Also on Saturday the 5th XI were at Inch Park to take on Division 7 leaders Edinburgh South 2s.  Keith Murray won the toss and invited the home team to bat first.  The 5s restricted Edinburgh South to 167 for 9 from their 40 overs.  Ben Stronach was the pick of the bowlers picking up 3 wickets and Shuaib Farooq claimed 2 before taking the gloves after drinks.  Kyle Burgess and Euan Murray also took a wicket and there were direct hit run outs for Iain Hathorn and James Stronach.  A solid opening stand between the skipper (15)  and Hathorn (34) put the 5s in a decent position but there was a clatter of middle order wickets.  Ben Stronach (26*)  stuck in well and found support from Oli Stones (14) but Carlton were bowled out 42 runs short in the final over.

On Sunday the 1st XI were in action again at Portgower Place taking on Grange.  Ally Evans again won the toss and opted to bat.  The start was only slightly better than the previous day with both openers gone with only 25 on the board.  The Carlton total was built around Tom Simpson’s 85 with Fraser Burnett, Hugo Southwell, Ali Shah and Umair Mohammed all chipping in with 20s.  In the end the visitors were all out for 232 off the last ball of their 50 overs.   Grange got off to a good start but Evans picked up two quick wickets but a good 3rd wicket partnership was broken by Mohammed, shortly after the halfway point, to leave the hosts 110 for 3.   Angus Beattie then claimed 4 wickets to leave Grange 174 for 7 with 9 overs left.  Wickets for Khan and another from Mohammed put Carlton in control and a run out from Evans sealed a 26 run win for Carlton which takes them to second in the table.

Back at Grange Loan the U13s hosted Chester-le-Street in the ECB Club T20 North Section Second Round having won the Scotland section five weeks ago.  The visitors won the toss and chose to bat first.  Oli Stones claimed an early wicket and restricted the Durham side to 48 for 1 after 10 overs.   The good fielding performance continued in the second half although there was only one more wicket, for Lewis King, Chester-le-Street finished on 105 for 2.  In reply, Stones fell in the first over but King and skipper Fergus Foley kept the scoreboard ticking over.  King fell for 26 in the 8th over with the home side well up with the required rate.  James Stronach joined the skipper and took the score to 79 before Foley went for 20.  When Stronach retired on 31 the home side were well placed needing 18 from 6 overs.  A flurry of wickets kept the game in the balance and it went down to the wire with 5 runs needed off the last with 2 wickets in hand.  The Carlton youngsters held their nerve and reached the target off the penultimate ball to see them through to the next round in Cheshire later this month.

Also on Sunday the 4th XI entertained Edinburgh 3s to the grass at Inch Park.  Skipper Brian Kaczynski won the toss and chose to bowl first.  A good opening set from Rudy Adair and Isaac Foley kept the visitors quiet with Foley picking up the first wicket in the 12th over.  Edinburgh started to up the pace but Fraser Kentish fought back with a wicket and then Joe Ward claimed 2 quick scalps to leave the visitors 67 for 4 after 22 overs.  It was another 12 overs before the 4s picked up another wicket with Ward claiming a 3rd and Stu Dawson chipped in with 1 as well.  A strong finish, however, from Edinburgh saw them post 185 for 6 from their 40 overs.  Al Murray (18) and David Simpson (14) made a watchful start against some accurate bowling but wickets started to fall at regular intervals.  Mike Kennedy managed to up the pace and put on 60 with Stu Dawson (14) for the 6th wicket.  Despite some more lusty blows from Kennedy, who finished 62 not out, the 4s fell 47 runs short.

The final game of the weekend saw the Mixed Development XI travel to Boghall to take on Linlithgow.  A strong batting performance for the home side saw them post 181 for 8 in their 30 overs with Rahul Khadse the most successful bowler with 3 wickets.  The total proved too much for the Mixed Dev side and despite a solid performance from guest player Jeremy Blood (32*), Carlton were bowled out for 67.