Weekend Roundup – 22nd/23rd April

The Women had another early start on Saturday entertaining a young Watsonians side at Grange Loan for a T20 contest.  Batting first the visitors posted 94 for 6 from their 20 overs with 2 wickets for Gabriella Fontenla and 1 each for Masie Maceira, Sarah Beith, Ajitha Ranjan & Ashley Robertson.  In reply the home side lost Robertson early but Beith and skipper Haggo put on 56 for the second wicket to break the back of the chase.  In the end the home side ran out comfortable winners in the 15^th over with Haggo finishing on 39 not out.

Straight after the Women’s match, the 1^st XI took on Watsonians at Grange Loan and skipper Arun Pillai lost the toss and visitors chose to bat first.  The strong Myreside batting line up took full advantage of the good surface to amass 287 for 4 from their 40 overs.  Pillai, Ally Evans, Shaun Smith & Ben Stronach all picked up wickets.  In reply a few of the top order got starts but only Evans (62) and Will Hardie (49 from only 27 balls) went on.  When Hardie holed out off the last ball of the 36^th over the home side still needed 28 runs with youngsters Smith & Stronach the last pair.  A few big hits and some excellent running saw Carlton need just 2 of the last over and the young Arrows scampered home with 2 balls to spare.

The 2^nd XI were at Myreside to take on Watsonians 2s.  Captain Ben D’Ulisse lost the toss and Carlton were invited to bat first.  Chayank Gosain made a triumphant return with a half century and there were also useful contributions from Ben Thurman (30), skipper D’Ulisse (24) and Fraser Burnett (48).  Carlton were bowled out for 213 in the 40^th over.  The home side lost wickets at regular intervals although a 5^th wicket partnership got them within sight of the Carlton total.  Gosain had other ideas and his 4 wickets helped the 2s to a 25 run victory in the 38^th over.

The 4^th XI were also in action against Watsonians 3 at Craiglockhart.  With concerns about the weather the match was cut to 30 overs a side and Carlton negotiated to bowl first.  An excellent bowling & fielding performance restricted the home side to 95 with Tom Hathorn picking up 5 wickets with his leg spin.  Harrison Fontenla (2); David Mowat (2) and Hamish Foley (1) were the other successful bowlers.  In reply the home side were reduced to 16 for 4 but Iain Hathorn and Joe Griffin steered the 4s home in the 24th over.

The final match on Saturday saw the 5^th XI take on Watsonians 4s at Myreside Arti.  John Beattie was at the helm and won the toss and elected to bat first.  The Grange Loan men posted 170 for 3 from their 30 overs with Beattie; Ian Thompson; Martin Robertson; Freddie Charman and Kartic Subr all retiring. In reply the John Gill took 4 wickets with 2 for Kartic Subr and 1 each for Josh Cully & Atreya Subr plus a run out as the 5s restricted the home side to 133 for 9 to set up a quintet of victories against neighbours Watsonians.

Back at Grange Loan, Andrew Lang had organised the first social event of the year, a Sausage Sizzle, which was a great success helped by the 1^st XI providing a nail-biting finish for the fans watching on.

On Sunday the 3^rd XI took on Dollar at Grange Loan.  Skipper Paul Kentish won the toss and opted to bat first in a 30 overs a side game.  Kentish & Gav Murray opened up and made a positive start before the skipper fell for 28.  Murray kept going and found good support from Ruaraidh Main (24) before the opener eventually fell for 60.  Andrew Lang hit a useful 23* as the home side finished on 181 for 7 from their 30 overs.  The visitors lost a wicket to Kyle Burgess in the first over but kept up with the rate early on.  Change bowlers Hector Murray & Abhi Metha picked up wickets is successive overs and then Lang and Vijay Nagarajan also struck with later going on to pick up a total of 3 wickets.  In the final over Robbie Murray claimed a well deserved wicket as the visitors fell 9 runs short.

Also on Sunday there was a second fixture for the 5^th XI as they travelled to the north of the city to take on Stewart’s Melville in round one of their multi-match series for the 2023 season.  Led by Keith Murray the 5s fielded first as a strong home outfit hit 219 as they were bowled out in the 39th over. Aadi Khadse was the pick of the bowlers with a 5-for and there were also wickets for Stu Dawson, Euan Murray, Noah Moncur, John Gill & Benji Risi.  In reply, skipper Murray fell early and although Khadse retired on 27* and Joe Griffin (21) and Gill (23) made good contributions the 5s fell well short finishing on 161 for 7 from their 40 overs.  One highlight was Moncur hitting 7 of the final ball – the only one he faced, leaving him with an impressive 700% strike rate!