Weekend roundup – 21st/22nd May

The 1st XI welcomed near neighbours Watsonians to Grange Loan on Saturday, and skipper Tom Simpson lost the toss and Carlton were asked to bowl first.  A horrible mix-up in the 3rd over saw a runout and then Ally Evans picked up the prize wicket of Oli Hairs with the first ball of the 4th over.  The visitors consolidated but the introduction of Shujaa Khan saw two wickets fall in quick succession.  Another decent partnership for Watsonians was broken by Arun Pillai just before drinks with 93 on the board.  Pillai also claimed the 6th wicket and then Gupta got in on the act an over later.  Khan then came back and took 3 wickets in the 41st over to bowl Watsonians out for 148.  In reply, Simpson & Khan put on 70 for the first wicket before the latter was pinned in front for 28.  Hugo Southwell joined the skipper and put on 58 before Simpson fell for a composed 45.  Evans came out and saw the home side over the line in the 36th over with Southwell (56*) hitting a big six to finish the game and give Carlton an 8 wicket win.

The 2nd XI made the short journey to Cavalry Park to play Marchmont.  Ben D’Ulisse won the toss and chose to bowl first.  The 2s also had an early run out and opening bowlers Omar Ahmad & Saif Khan picked up a wicket each to leave the home side at 46 for 3 after 13 overs.  Calum Everett then claimed 3 quick wickets to make it 52 for 6.  Spin was introduced and Max D’Ullisse struck first, soon followed by one for Rory Ledingham and a second for D’Ulisse to leave Marchmont 75 for 9.  The final wicket proved hard to come by and it wasn’t until the introduction of Kyle Macpherson that the home side were bowled out for 102 in the 34th over.  With the bat, none of the top order really came to terms with the conditions and wickets fell regularly.  Only Harris Aslam (19); Ben D’Ulisse (13) and Omar Ahmad (13) made it to double figures and in the end the 2s were bowled out for 79 in the 34th over.

The 3rd XI were also on their travels as they headed to Newfield Arti to take on Edinburgh Accies 2s.  With Brad McKay away, Paul Kentish was in charge and he lost the toss and Accies chose to bat first.  Kyle Burgess claimed an early wicket and then Shaun Smith picked up 2 to leave the home side 25 for 3 after 9 overs.  7 overs later Mark McKay got the next wicket with the score 59 for 4.  A good 5th wicket partnership was broken by Amit Bij, who went on to claim 3 more victims before Smith & McKay returned to pick up the last to wickets to bowl out the home side for 178 in the final over.  Adam Richardson and Ben Thurman opened up in the reply but Richardson (16) fell in the 7th over.  Charlie Kentish joined Thurman and put on 53 for the 2nd wicket before Kentish went for 27.  David Simpson (8) didn’t last long, replaced by the skipper which led to another Thurman-Kentish half century partnership. When Thurman went for a fine 73, Kentish Snr was run out next over it still left the 3s needing 22 runs in 4.3 overs.  Amit Bij (6*) & Smith (14*) saw the 3s home with 4 balls and 5 wickets to spare.

In the final game on Saturday the 4th XI travelled to take on Watsonians 3s at Craiglockhart.  Skipper Al Murray called incorrectly and the home team chose to bat first.  Fraser Kentish took 2 wickets in his first over to put the home team on the back foot and when he and Robert Rowlands finished their opening spell the home side were on 22 for 2 after 10.  A good third wicket partnership for Watsonians was eventually broken in the 25th over by Joe Ward.  Oli Stones picked up a wicket in the 34th over with the score 101 for 4 and Kentish came back on to claim another.  Stones picked up two more and there was a 4th for Kentish as the home side finished on 132 for 8 from their 40 overs.  In reply, Murray, Joe Griffin and Stones went cheaply but John Beattie (23) & Martin Robertson (16) dug in and set a decent base.  When Robertson was the 5th wicket to fall in the 25th over there was still plenty to do and when 3 more wickets fell the 4s were up against it.  However Kentish (25*) and Ward (18*) ran hard and put enough bad balls away to see the 4s home with 2 balls & 2 wickets to spare.

On Sunday the Women had their first league game of the season with West of Scotland being the visitors to Grange Loan.  Annette Aitken-Drummond lost the toss and West decided to bat first.  A fine opening stand of 128 was eventually broken by a fine piece of glovework from the skipper off the bowling of Ashley Robertson.  Despite further wickets falling to Charis Scott; Zaara Dancu; Masie Maceira and a run out the visitors were able to amass 186 for 5 from their 30 overs.  In reply Abbi Aitken-Drummond hit 70 but the skipper (17) and Leanne Farmer (25)  were the only other batters to make it to double figures.  In the end there was too much left for the lower order to do and Carlton fell an agonising 2 runs short at end.

Also on Sunday the 5th XI played Watsonians 4s at Craighlockhart.  Captain Keith Murray lost the toss and the 5s were invited to bat first.  A good opening stand from Murray (26) and James Stronach (32) set a solid base but a clatter of middle order wickets saw Carlton reduced to 94 for 7 after 25 overs.  Robbie Murray and Hamish Foley steadied the ship and when Foley was run out in the 31st over the score had moved on to 117.  Aadi Khadse joined Murray Jnr at the crease and the young pair took the score to 152 for 8 at the end of the 40 overs with Murray finishing on 28*.  A tight opening spell from Murray Jnr & Foley restricted the home side to 32  off the first 10 overs.  The change bowlers had immediate impact with Rahul Khadse & Angus Turner each picking up a wicket in their first overs.  Khadse Snr took another and Turner ran through the Watsonians middle order to claim 5 for 4 and then Khadse Jnr came on and took 3 for 3 to bowl the home side out for 53 in the 25th over.

The final game of the weekend was the Mixed Development XI taking on Leith FAB at Cavalry Park 2.  Skipper Bob Irvine negotiated the toss to allow Leith to bat first.  The visitors finished on 176 for 7 with Ian Hunter claiming 2 wickets and there was one each for Tomos, Noah, Shourjo & John.  The Mixed Dev weren’t able to really threaten that total, although extras made a good attempt along with a fine effort of 14 from John.