Weekend roundup – 12th/13th August
The weekend started with the 1st XI entertaining Falkland in round 16 of the Eastern Premier League at Grange Loan. Skipper Arun Pillai won the toss and invited the Fifers to bat first. A steady opening stand for the visitors was broken by Lewis O’Donnell in the 12 over with the score on 33. At the start of the 16th over there was a rain delay but fortunately no overs were lost. Pillai brought himself on in the 21st over and struck with his second ball to leave Falkland 56 for 2. A good 3rd wicket partnership developed and added 67 to the total before Angus Beattie made the breakthrough. 72 runs were added for the 4th wicket and this time it was Shujaa Khan who struck in the 45th over. O’Donnell came back and claimed a 2nd in the final over as the visitors were restricted to 219 for 5 from their 50 overs. In reply Tom Simpson and Khan made a positive start adding 63 for the first wicket before Khan skied one in the 14th over. Daniel Da Costa joined Simpson and the pair upped the tempo before Simpson fell for 42 in the 23 over with 116 on the board. Da Costa was out one run shy of his 50 in the 28th over having added 20 with Pillai. Ru Main joined the skipper and was happy to rotate the strike before he fell in the 36th with 49 runs still needed. Harry Simpson (20*) made his way to the middle and he and Pillai (61*) saw the Arrows over the line in the 43rd over for a 6 wicket win.
The 2nd XI travelled to Newfield to take on Edinburgh Accies in the ESCA Championship. Captain Ben D’Ulisse lost the toss and the home side chose to field first. Another poor display with the bat saw the 2s bowled out for 72 in the 25th over. Only the skipper (28) and Extras (22) made it into double figures. In reply the home side made short work of the total although they did lose 3 wickets in the process. Charles Stronach, Armaan Bedi and Max D’Ulisse were the successful bowlers as the home side completed a 7 wicket win in the 13th over.
The 3rd XI were hosting Dunfermline & Carnegie at Peffermill. Skipper Brad McKay lost the toss and the visitors chose to bat first in a match reduced to 35 overs a side. Dougie Firth picked up a couple of early wickets but a good 3rd wicket partnership was eventually broken by McKay to leave the Fifers 73 for 3. McKay then picked up 2 more wickets as well as a runout and Sam Haggo also claimed 3 (all lbw). Kyle Burgess claimed the final wicket to bowl out the visitors for 152 in the 34th over. In reply Anish Amin fell early but Rory Ledingham (21) and Dougie Scott (32) got things moving for the home side. A flurry of wickets saw Carlton reduced to 65 for 4 but Haggo & Paul Kentish started a rebuilding job. In the end the Arrows left themselves too much to do and despite 43* from Kentish they finished on 141 for 7 from their 35 overs to lose by 11 runs.
The final game on Saturday saw the 5th XI travel to Inverleith Park Arti to take on Drummond Trinity 4s. Captain Keith Murray won the toss and chose to bowl first. Things did not go according to plan as the home side put on 69 for the first wicket before Rahul Khadse made the breakthrough in the 18th over. Aadi Khadse picked up a wicket in the next over and a second just after drinks to make it 80 for 3. The next wicket fell in the 31st over, again to Aadi Khadse, with 134 on the board. DTs were scoring freely and despite Rahul Khadse coming back and picking up 3 more wickets the home side posted an imposing total of 216 for 7 from their 40 overs. In reply Carlton got off to a watchful start but struggled to take the attack to the bowlers. John Beattie (15) and Aadi Khadse (11) both made it to double figures but were unable to push on. In the end the 5s were bowled out for 62 to lose by 154 runs.
On Sunday the 4th XI entertained RHC 3s at Grange Loan. Skipper Al Murray won the toss and inserted the Barnton side. A great first over from Shaun Smith saw the visiting captain’s furniture rearranged second ball and four more dots competed a wicket maiden. Heavy rain forced the players from the field and unfortunately no more play was possible as puddles formed on the square.