Weekend roundup – 23rd/24th April

After a run out at home last week against Ferguslie, the 1st XI made the short journey to Myreside for their final warm up game against Watsonians.  Skipper Tom Simpson won the toss and opted to bat first.  Wickets fell regularly before Simpson and Ali Shah managed to build a partnership.  When the skipper fell for 42 with the score 73 for 5, Ally Evans joined Shah at the crease.  The pair put on 52 for the 6th wicket before Evans (23) was bowled.  Shah kept going and eventually fell for 71 in the 38th over and with 2 balls left of the 40 overs Carlton were bowled out for 196.  Ru McIntyre picked up an early wicket and then Rory Allardice cleaned up the dangerous Oli Hairs in the 11th over.  A decent 3rd wicket partnership was broken by Shiv Gupta and there then followed a clatter of wickets to leave the home side well behind the required rate.  In the end Watsonians reached 168 from their 40 overs, as the 1st XI secured a 28 run win.

Back at Grange Loan the 3rd XI entertained Watsonians 2s.  Captain Brad McKay won the toss and chose to bat.  The 3s also lost early wickets but there was some resistance from the middle order.  Zaki Yusaf (20); Cameron Keatinge (19) and Bruce Smith (22) but it was young Ben Stronach with an unbeaten 35 that saw the home side to 138 as they were bowled out in the 38th over.  That total proved to be well below par as Watsonians knocked off the runs in the 28th over with skipper McKay claiming 2 wickets and 1 for Rudy Adair.

The 4th XI were in action at Craiglockhart against Watsonians 3s and skipper Al Murray called incorrectly and the home side decided to have a bat.  Dougie Firth took 2 wickets in the first over to put the home side on the back foot.  Firth claimed his 3rd in the 5th over with only 1 run on the board.  Watsonians recovered to 27 for 3 after 15 overs before Robbie Murray claimed 2 in 2.  Tom Hathorn bowled the young number 7 round his legs and then the left arm spin of Harry Charman caused chaos in the home ranks, picking up 4 wickets including a hattrick.  Freddie Megaw claimed the final 2 wickets and the 13 men of Watsonians were bowled out for 66.  In reply Keith & Al Murray got off to a solid start before both fell for 15.  David Simpson went cheaply by James Stronach and Joe Griffin got to the total in the 16th over.  Watsonians very sportingly bowled the rest of their overs as the 4s took the score to 164 for 8 with Robbie Murray’s 33* the highlight.

On Sunday the 2nd XI entertained Huntly at Grange Loan.  This game saw the club trial the new livestreaming equipment and the full match can be found on our YouTube channel.  Ben D’Ulisse won the toss and continued the trend to bat first.  Gav Murray and Harris Aslam opened up for the Arrows and put on 58 for the first wicket before Murray fell for 34.  Aslam was the next to fall for 38 and although Kyle Macpherson and Hayden Laing fell cheaply, 36 from Ruari Macpherson and a century partnership between Pete Deakin (60) and Ruaridh Main (44*) saw the home side post 283 for 7 from their 40 overs.  In reply Charles Stronach and Ruari Macpherson picked up 2 wickets each and then Max D’Ulisse (4) and Euan Keatinge (1) completed the job, bowling the visitors out for 85.

The final match of the weekend saw the 5th XI travel to Inverleith to take on Stewart’s Melville 4s.  John Beattie was at the helm and he too opted to bat first on wining toss.  A decent opening stand from Beattie (21) and Lewis King (18)  laid the base and there were useful contribution from Martin Robertson (11); Mike Kennedy (15); Martin Firth (12); Stu Dawson (25) and Finlay Thompson (12).  In the end the 5s posted 146 for 9 from their 40 overs.  With the ball Theo Griffin and King opened and picked up a wicket apiece.  Aadi Khadse replaced Griffin and struck in his second over to reduce the home side to 54 for 3.  The home side, at 137 for 5 after 24 overs, were poised for victory despite only having 10 men.  Joe Griffin had other ideas and took his second wicket quickly followed by Thompson bowling the number 8.  A further 2 wickets for Griffin Snr saw the 5s to victory with 6 runs to spare.  Those 6 runs were then knocked off when one of the home side batted again to ensure a win-win outcome for both sides.