Weekend roundup – 22nd/23rd June

The 1st XI travelled to the north of the city to take on Stewarts Melville at Inverleith.  Skipper Arun Pillai lost the toss and home side chose to field first.  That proved to be a good call as the Carlton top order collapsed to 14 for 5 in the 5th over.  Ally Evans and Pillai stabilised things somewhat before the skipper fell with 49 on the board.  Ben D’Ulisse joined Evans and took the score to 72 before the new man fell in the 19th over.  Angus Beattie was in next and he & Evans added 20 for the 8th wicket before Evans was caught for 52.  Lewis O’Donnell joined Beattie and the pair rescued a perilous position for the Arrows putting on 103 for the 9th wicket before Beattie fell for 57 in the 45th over.  Rudy Adair then came to the middle and the final pair took the score to 214 before Adair was out in the final over leaving O’Donnell unbeaten on 56.  In reply the home side were reduced to 58 for 3 in the 13th over with 2 wickets for O’Donnell and 1 for Evans.  A good 4th wicket partnership was broken by a runout from Beattie but the score had moved on to 126 in the 23rd over.  Another good partnership took the game away from Carlton and although O’Donnell picked up 2 late wickets and a 2nd for Evans the home side got over the line in the 38th over to win by 3 wickets.

Back at Grange Loan the 2nd XI entertained MDAFs in an ESCA Division 1 clash.  Captain Charles Stronach won the toss and chose to bowl first.  A strong opening stand was broken in the 15th over by Chayank Gosain with 69 on the board.  The skipper was next to strike 3 overs later to make it 80 for 2.  Harry Simpson claimed the 3rd wicket in the 26th over with the score on 100.  Rory Ledingham came into the attack and picked up a wicket in the 31st over thanks to a sharp slip catch by Shiv Jhala despite having done a hamstring earlier in the day.  Ledingham struck again in the 35th over to make it 129 for 5 and again in the 41st to reduce MDAFs to 153 for 6.  The young legspinner claimed his 4th wicket 2 balls later and then in the following over Saif Khan struck to make it 158 for 7.  The final ball of the innings saw Ledingham complete his 5-for as the visitors finished on 181 for 9 from their 45 overs.  In reply Ben Thurman got off to fast start but fell in the 4th over for 18.  Fellow opener Oscar Waters was more watchful and put on 25 for the 2nd wicket with Charlie Kentish before Kentish was caught for 12 in the 7th over.  Harry Simpson joined Waters in the middle and the pair took the score to 89 before Simpson was bowled for 25 in the 18th over.  The injured Jhala was the next man in with Kentish acting as his runner and he and Waters saw the 2s home in the 34th over with Jhala hitting 60 and Waters 54 for a fine 7 wicket win.

The 3rd XI made the short journey to Campbell Park to take on Edinburgh CC 2s.  Skipper Brad McKay won the toss and inserted the home side.  There was an early runout and then wickets for Hector Murray & Dougie Firth as Edinburgh were reduced to 18 for 3 in the 7th over.  A mini recovery was blunted by 2 quick wickets for Robbie Murray to make it 44 for 5 in the 18th over.  That became 58 for 6 as the skipper picked up a wicket in the 19th and he struck again in the 23rd to make it 58 for 7.  Abhi Mehta then claimed a wicket in the 31st over with 78 on the board but some late order hitting got the scoreboard moving.  Hector Murray came back into the attack and claimed a wicket and then a runout next ball to see the home side all out for 111 in the 36th over.  In reply Anish Amin and Marc Dweck put on 36 for the 1st wicket before Amin was bowled in the 13th over.  Cam Moore joined Dweck at the crease and took the score to 63 before Moore fell for 10 in the 25th over.  Dougie Scott entered the fray and he and Dweck added another 18 runs before Scott was out in the 31st over with 29 still required.  Alex Fedenczuk was the next man in and they halved the deficit before both he & Dweck fell in the 35th over – Dweck having hit a classy 54 in challenging conditions.  Hamish Turner and Mehta knocked off the remaining runs with the minimum of fuss to see the 3s win by 5 wickets with 17 balls to spare.

The final game on Saturday saw the 4th XI host Livingston 2s at the Gyle.  Captain Al Murray won the toss and chose to bowl first.  A strong opening stand was eventually broken by Atreya Subr in the 16th over with the 74 on the board.  Kartic Subr was next to strike just before drinks to make it 101 for 2 and he picked up another in the 26th over to leave Livingston 131 for 3.  Tom Hathorn picked up a wicket in the next over but the West Lothian side were beginning to score freely.  Despite Subr senior claiming another and a Tom Dweck runout the visitors posted an impressive 250 for 6 from their 40 overs.  In reply the skipper fell in the 2nd over but Hathorn & David Simpson took the score to 33 in the 8th over before the young opener went for 12.  Sam Haggo joined Simpson at the crease but with 49 on the board in the 12th over Simpson fell for 20.  Chris Sale and Haggo added 25 for the 4th wicket but Sale was bowled in the 14th over to leave the home side in trouble at 74 for 4.  Haggo continued to bat well but found little support from the lower order as wickets continued to fall.  She was the 8th wicket to fall for a well made 38 in the 23rd over with 100 on the board.  In the end the 4s were bowled out for 115 in the 28th over to lose by 135 runs.

On Sunday the 1st XI welcomed Aberdeenshire to Grange Loan for a rearranged Scottish Cup second round tie.  Skipper Arun Pillai won the toss and chose to bat first.  Both openers fell early but Daniel Da Costa & Chris McBride took the score to 71 in the 12th over before McBride was bowled for 25.  Pillai joined Da Costa in the middle and the pair added 58 for the 4th wicket before the skipper fell for 17.  Ally Evans & Angus Beattie were unable to recreate their efforts with the bat from the previous day at Inverleith but Da Costa kept going and brought up his 6th century for the club in the 35th over.  Da Costa eventually went for 105 in the 38th over to make it 199 for 7 and despite 17* from Ben D’Ulisse the tail could only take the score to 214 before the home side was bowled out in the 42nd over.  In reply Beattie took 2 wickets with the first two balls of the 2nd over to get the home side off to a flier.  Some doughty resistance from the visitors was eventually broken by Evans in 15th over to make it 50 for 3.  Jamie Beattie was next to strike, marking his 1st team debut with a wicket in the 16th over.  Harry Simpson picked up the next 2 wickets to reduce the visitors to 99 for 6 in the 24th over.  The Aberdeenshire lower order dug in but were eventually prised out with Lewis O’Donnell taking 3 wickets and a runout seeing the visitors bowled out for 142 in the 41st over.  The 72 run win sets up a quarter-final clash with Heriots next Sunday at Goldenacre.

Also on Sunday the 5th XI took on Drummond Trinity 5s at Peffermill.  Captain Keith Murray lost the toss and the visitors chose to bat first.  Early strikes by Stu Dawson & Alan Ansell reduced the visitors to 12 for 2 in the 6th over.  Ansell picked up a 2nd wicket and Rahul Khadse got in on the act to make it 42 for 4 in the 18th over.  Khadse claimed another in the 24th over with the score on 78 but the visitors were starting to accelerate.  Ansell came back and picked up 2 more wickets in the 33rd over but the score had moved on to 133.  There were further wickets for Benji Risi & Scott Fraser but DTs finished their 40 overs on 181 for 9.  In reply the skipper got going but was unable to find much support.  He was the 5th wicket to fall in the 30th over for 43 with 86 on the board.  Some good lower hitting from Dawson (21*) and Finlay Thompson (12) ensured the 5s got some extra batting points but they finished on 130 for 7 from their 40 overs to fall 51 runs short.