Weekend roundup – 13th/14th May

The weekend got underway at Grange Loan where the 1st XI entertained city rivals Grange.  Skipper Arun Pillai lost the toss and the Stockbridge side elected to bat first.  Despite an early wicket for Ruaridh McIntyre the visitor’s top order all got starts as several useful partnerships kept the scoreboard ticking over.  Carlton did pick up wickets too and eventually bowled Grange out for 220 in the 49th over.  McIntyre finished with 4 wickets and there were 2 each for Rory Allardice & Umair Mohammad plus 1 for Pillai and an Ali Shah run out.  The reply never really got going with 3 wickets falling in the first 4 overs.  Only Daniel Da Costa made it to double figures with his 31 comfortably the top score as the home side were bundled out for 73 in the 25th over.

The 2nd XI travelled to Kirkaldy to take on newly promoted Dunnikier.  Captain Ben D’Ulisse lost the toss and the 2s were invited to bat first on the newly restored square at Dunnikier Park.  Batting proved challenging and only Zaki Yusaf (17); Charlie Buchannan-Smith (37) and Rory Ledingham (38) finding any fluency with the bat.  In the end the 2s were bowled out for 147 in the 43rd over but at least they had a total to defend.  There was an early run out from Buchannan-Smith and then Rudy Adair claimed another to leave the Fifers 32 for 2 in the 1th over.  Then 4 wickets fell with the score on 43, 3 to Buchannan-Smith and 1 to Charles Stronach.  David Saul then came into the attack and picked up the final 4 wickets with his leg spin, including 3 catches from Yusaf to add to the one off Adair, and the home side were bowled out for 89 in the 29th over.

The 3rd XI made the journey south to take on Selkirk.  Skipper Brad McKay called incorrectly and home side chose to bowl first.  Bruce Smith fell to the 3rd ball of the game and Carlton struggled to get to grips with conditions in the face of some accurate bowling from the Borderers.  Chris Sale (17); Andrew Lang (10) and Dan Potter (15) offered some resistance but in the end the 3s were bowled out for 66 in the 30th over.  That was always going to be a tough total to defend and so it proved although McKay & Tom Ritchie picked up wickets Selkirk cruised home in the 15th over for an 8 wicket win.

The final match on Saturday saw the 4th XI make the short journey north to the Meadows to take on Morton 2s.  Captain Al Murray won the toss and opted to bowl first.  A decent bowling and fielding performance saw the home side make 182 for 4 from their 40 overs – there was plenty hit in the air but little fell to fielders.  The wickets that did fall were claimed by Stu Dawson, John Gill, Dougie Firth & Josh Cully.  The Carlton reply never really got going as the home side extracted much more out of the soft Meadows surface.  Skipper Murray was the only batter to get anywhere near coming to terms with conditions as wickets fell in something of a procession at the other end.  In the end the 4s were skittled for 33 in the 22nd over with Murray finishing on 14*.

On Sunday the 1st XI were on Scottish Cup duty at Campbell Park taking on Edinburgh CC.  Arun Pillai won the toss and inserted the home side.  Ruaridh McIntyre picked up 2 quick wickets to leave the home side in trouble at 24 for 2 but the men from Bonaly consolidated with a good 3rd wicket partnership.  That was eventually broken by Rory Allardice who then took 3 more wickets to leave Edinburgh CC 79 for 6.  Another recovery was broken by Will Hardie and with the skipper picking up 1 and McIntyre returning to claim 2 more the home side were bowled out for 118 in the 39th over.  In reply opener Finlay Thornton had to retire hurt early on with a nasty knee injury but Ruairidh Main (38) and Daniel Da Costa (36) broke the back of the chase.  There was a late clatter of wickets but in the end Carlton got over the line in the 23rd over with 5 wickets in hand.  This sets up a second round tie against Falkland this coming Sunday at Grange Loan.

The Women’s 1st XI began their defence of their WPL crown with a trip to Hamilton Crescent to take on West of Scotland.  Skipper Sam Haggo lost the toss and Carlton were asked to bowl first.  Flora Corbin picked up the first wicket in the 4th over with 16 on the board.  Abbi Aitken-Drummond was next to strike in the 9th over to leave the home side 50 for 2.  Aitken-Drummond claimed another in the 13th over and there was a run out in the 15th over, reducing West to 84 for 4.  Sarah Beith then picked up another wicket and Haggo claimed 2 and there was one more run out which restricted the home side to 139 for 8 from their 30 overs.  In reply Aitken-Drummond hit 29 off only 25 balls and Beith (33*) and Zaara Dancu (36*) saw Carlton home in the 26th over for a 9 wicket win.

In the final match of the weekend the 5th XI entertained Livingston 3s at Grange Loan.  Captain Keith Murray lost the toss and the 5s were invited to bat first.  The skipper fell for 11 in the 8th over and fellow opener Tom Hathorn was joined by his dad Iain at the crease and the pair took the score to 51 before Hathorn Snr nicked off for 16.  Aadi Khadse and Hathorn Jnr put on 46 for the 4th wicket until Khadse fell for 12.  Freddie Charman hit a brisk 11 before a clatter of wickets fell chasing quick runs, but not before Tom Hathorn completed his half century, only to be out shortly after.  In the end the 5s posted 134 for 9 from their 40 overs.  In reply, Harry Charman bowled a miserly opening spell but it wasn’t until Rahul Khadse was thrown the ball that the first wicket fell in the 14th over.  Khadse Snr picked up 2 more and Livingston were 53 for 3 at drinks.  The visitors picked up the pace however, and despite Kartic Subr claiming 3 late wickets plus 1 for Tom Hathorn the West Lothian side knocked off the runs in the 39th over for a 3 wicket win.