Weekend roundup 24th/25th July

The 1st XI welcomed Watsonians to Grange Loan looking to keep up the momentum of their title challenge.  Ally Evans won the toss and chose to bat first with Murray Whitaker and Shujaa Khan opening up for the home side.  Khan fell early but Tom Simpson joined Whitaker and took the score to 99 before the opener was out for 70.  Evans was the next man in and he and Simpson added 135 runs before the skipper holed out for an aggressive 62.  2 more wickets fell in the search for quick runs including Simpson one short of his century, and Carlton finished on 267 for 5 from their 50 overs.   Opening bowlers Omar Ahmad and Shiv Gupta kept this quiet early on and Gupta made the first breakthrough in the 12th over.  Evans then claimed 3 quick wickets, but danger man Oli Hairs was still at the crease and seeing the ball well.  Hairs continued to accelerate but finally hit one straight to Evans off the bowling of Ruaridh McIntyre to leave the visitors 120 for 5.  Spinners Angus Beattie and Umair Mohammed then rattled through the rest of the Watsonian batting to bowl the visitors out for 130 in the 33rd over.

The 2nd XI made the journey south to Kelso looking for another win to keep the pressure on league leaders Gala.  Skipper Pete Deakin lost the toss and Carlton were asked to bat first.  Hayden Laing and Gav Murray made a strong start and took the score to 172 before Laing was pinned in front for an aggressive 97.  Euan Keatinge made 20 before he was bowled and Deakin joined Murray and the youngster brought up his maiden 100 in the 43rd over.  Murray eventually went for 109 and with Deakin hitting 42 and a rapid 23 not out from Calum Everett the 2s posted 336 for 8 from their 50 overs.  The home side made a good start and were up with the rate before Saif Khan took 2 quick wickets in the 10th over.  Fellow opening bowler Charles Stronach then got in on the act and the two pacemen, each bowling 10 overs straight through, claimed 8 wickets between them.   Stronach finishing with 5 for 27.  A run out from Everett and wicket for Charlie Kentish ended the game in the 23rd over to give the 2s a 248 run win.  With Gala losing at Campbell Park, the 2s move above them to now lead the ESCA Championship.

The 4th XI travelled along the coast to Dunbar for the second time this season.  Captain Al Murray won the toss and invited the home side to bat first.  Ben Stronach struck in the first over and a direct hit run out from the boundary from Stu Dawson in the second over left Dunbar 2 for 1.  Andrew Lang picked up a deserved wicket and the 4s kept the pressure on with some accurate bowling, well backed up in the field.  As the home side tried to up the scoring rate Joe Ward claimed a wicket and Shuaib Farooq took 2 fine stumpings off Amit Bij.  Stronach came back to claim a second wicket and Dunbar were restricted to 148 for 7 from their 40 overs.  The chase was built around a solid innings of 37 from opener David Simpson, well supported by Farooq (14) and then Lang (24).  Simpson was the 6th wickets to fall with 32 runs still required but Bij (20*) and Sam Haggo (12*) batted sensibly to see the 4s home in the 37th over.

The 5th XI travelled to The Arns to take on Clackmannan County 2s.  Skipper Keith Murray won the toss and opted to bat first.  Two early wickets fell but Murray and John Beattie dug in to try to rebuild the innings.   However when the skipper fell for 20 with the score on 41, 2 more quick wickets left the 5s in all sorts of trouble at 45 for 5.  Beattie and Angus Turner put on 68 for the 6th wicket to ensure Carlton reached a respectable total before Beattie was bowled for an excellent 48.  Turner (36*) and young Harry Charman (19*) saw out the remaining overs to get the 5s to 147 for 6 from their 40 overs.  In reply Charman picked up the first wicket with his left arm spin while Kyle Burgess claimed a brace to leave Clacks 29 for 3.  Angus Turner then returned the remarkable figures of 8-5-6-4 to further dent the hopes of the home side.  Euan Murray also chipped in with 2 wickets and when Hamish Turner claimed the final wicket, Clacks were bowled out for 83 in the 30th over.

On Sunday the 3s entertained Westquarter & Redding at Grange Loan.  Captain Brad McKay lost the toss and the visitors elected to bat first.  They got off to a flying start but the introduction of the skipper put the brakes on as he bowled both openers.  Young off-spinner Max D’Ulisse was then introduced and bowled a miserly spell, picking up a wicket in the process.  Gav Rittoo replaced McKay and ran through the middle order, claiming 4 for 19 while Charlie Kentish operating at the other end took 3 for 12 to skittle the Falkirk side for 110 in the 33rd over.  Zaki Yusaf and Mo Nauman opened up for the 3s but a mix-up saw Yusaf run out with only 16 on the board.  Charlie Kentish joined Nauman and took the score on to 54 before Nauman was bowled for 26.  Paul Kentish was next in and the father & son combination saw Carlton over the line in the 23rd over with Charlie hitting 45 and Paul 24.