Weekend roundup – 29th/30th April
A fairly damp weekend got off to a delayed start at Grange Loan. In a match kindly sponsored by Paul Bailey the 1st XI were entertaining newly promoted Meigle and skipper Arun Pillai won the toss and chose to bowl first. A decent start from the visitors was undone by a direct hit run out from Rory Allardice and then shortly after Ally Evans pinned the other opener in front. Meigle consolidated and a rain break saw the game reduced to 45 overs a side. The 3rd wicket partnership was eventually broken by Allardice to leave the visitors 108 for 3 in the 22nd over. Another handy partnership was broken by a run out from Finn Thornton and Allardice collected another run out shortly after to leave Meigle 144 for 5 in the 33rd. Evans returned and picked up 2 wickets and Allardice claimed 2 more leaving Rudy Adair on debut to pick up the final wicket to bowl out the Perthshire outfit for 179 in 43 overs. In reply, Ru Main fell in the first over but Thornton and Daniel Da Costa ensured there was no more drama until the 17th over when Thornton holed out for a well made 40, just short of a 100 run partnership. Pillai joined Da Costa at the crease and with 75 runs still needed the skipper was content to push the ball about and let the well-set Da Costa make the running. The plan worked perfectly as the young South African brought up his century in the 26th over. All that was left was for Pillai to launch the ball for a straight 6 to wrap up an 8 wicket win with more than 18 overs to spare.
The 2nd XI travelled to Campbell Park to take on Edinburgh CC but unfortunately the weather got the better of conditions in Bonaly and the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled.
The 3rd XI were on duty in East Lothian taking on Tranent & Preston Village at Polwarth Oval. Captain Brad McKay loss the toss and the 3s were inserted. Only Ben Thurman (40) found any fluency with the bat and despite decent cameos from David Simpson (18*) and Abhi Mehta (19) the visitors were bowled out for 142 in the 38th over. That total always looked a little light and so it proved to be. A fighting performance with the ball saw Carlton pick up 8 wickets – 3 for Andrew Lang, 2 for young Hector Murray and one each for Mehta & Thurman plus a run out, but the home side got over the line in the 32nd over for a 2 wicket win.
The 5th XI were also on the road as they were guests of Murrayfield DAFS 3s at Roseburn Arti in the shadows of the national rugby stadium. Skipper Keith Murray won the toss and chose to bat first (possibly influenced by the late arrival of several of the side from their morning school games). Although Murray fell early Tom & Iain Hathorn put on 53 for the 2nd wicket before a mix up saw young Tom run out for 15. Hathorn Snr departed shortly after for 35 but all the other batters got starts. Martin Robertson (30) & Mike Kennedy (36) put on 64 for the 5th wicket in typically brisk fashion. All that was left was for U14 Hamish Turner to hit 48* off only 31 balls to propel the 5s to 214 for 7 from their 40 overs. With the ball late call up Jake Heller took 2 early wickets but a good 3rd wicket partnership was eventually broken by Turner. Hathorn Jnr claimed the next wicket but a strong 5th wicket partnership threatened to take the game away from the 5s. The skipper turned to Shreyas Tekale and the youngster did the job and picked up the wicket of the set batter in his second over. With 15 needed off the last two overs Turner & Tekale held their nerves, helped by run outs from Aadi Khadse & Tekale, ensured the 5s got off to a winning start with a 7 run victory as the home side were restricted to 207 for 7 from their overs.
On Sunday the Women were in action early against a Scottish Universities. Carlton batted first and lost Ashley Robertson early. Ciara Gibson & skipper Sarah Beith put on 67 for the second wicket before Beith was bowled for 17. Gibson went on and fell agonisingly 1 short of a well deserved half century. In the end the home side set the students a target of 96 in the damp conditions at Grange Loan. Saskia Aldridge picked up 2 wickets in the 3rd over and then Ajitha Rajan struck with her first ball in the 6th over to leave the visitors 23 for 3. There was no more success for the home side as a fine 4th wicket partnership saw the Universities side home in the 18th over for a 6 wicket win.
The final game of the weekend was the 4th XI entertaining Melrose at Grange Loan. Skipper Al Murray won the toss and elected to bowl first as the weather started to close in. In the end they only managed 8 overs before conditions became to wet to continue and the game was abandoned with the Borderers on 46 for 1 with Dan Mowat taking the solitary wicket with a fine delivery, squaring up the visiting skipper.