Weekend preview – 6th/7th July
A blockbuster weekend of action awaits the Arrows with 7 senior fixtures including two T20 cup matches.
The First XI will welcome Heriot’s to Grange Loan on Saturday. The side based at Goldenacre are currently 3rd in the EPL with 5 wins and 3 losses. The two sides met last weekend at Goldenacre in the quarter final of the Scottish Cup. In that match skipper Arun Pillai again lost the toss and the home side chose to bat first. A strong opening stand was eventually broken by Chris McBride in the 17th over with 72 on the board. Rory Allardice was next to strike in the 20th over and McBride claimed a 2nd the next over to leave the home side 93 for 3. Lewis O’Donnell then picked up a wicket in the 26th over to make it 106 for 4 and put the Arrows in a good position. The home side recovered and put on 134 for the 5th wicket before it was eventually broken in the 48th over by Ally Evans. Despite another Evans wicket Heriot’s posted 269 for 6 from their 50 overs. In reply Ru Main & Ruari Macpherson got off to a watchful start. Macpherson was the first wicket to fall in the 10th over with 26 on the board. Main was the next man out for 24 in the 13th over making it 40 for 2. A good 65 run partnership between Daniel Da Costa and McBride was broken in the 27th over when McBride went for 25. 2 more quick wickets put the Arrows in trouble at 108 for 5 in the 29th. The situation got worse when Da Costa went for 53 in the 34th over to make it 123 for 6. Despite 21 from Will Hardie & 20 from Angus Beattie the Arrows were bowled out for 177 in the 43rd over to lose by 92 runs and end their Scottish Cup run for this year.
The Second XI will head north to Inverleith Park on Saturday where they will meet Drummond Trinity. DTs are currently 3rd in ESCA Division 1, moving above Penicuik and narrowing the gap to 1 place behind the Arrows. In their 9 completed fixtures they have picked up 6 wins and 3 losses. In the first meeting between the sides this year captain Charles Stronach won the toss and inserted the visitors. Things did not go according to plan as DTs put on 195 runs for the first wicket before Rory Ledingham made the breakthrough in the 36th over. Saif Khan and Max D’Ulisse combined for a runout in the 4oth over to make it 230 for 2 and there were 2 more runouts and a wicket for Khan as the visitors posted 262 for 5 from their 45 overs. In reply Ben Thurman fell in the 7th over with 32 on the board as Ben D’Ulisse joined Mike Raikes at the crease. The pair put on 49 before Raikes was stumped for a run-a-ball 42. Charlie Buchannan-Smith and D’Ulisse took the score to 151 before the keeper was yorked in the 29th over for 67. With 112 runs still need in 15 overs Ledingham & CBS kept up with the rate before CBS was runout for 51 to make it 213 for 4 in the 38th over. Ben Stronach didn’t last long but Jamie Beattie joined Ledignham and put on some quick runs before Ledingham fell for a fine 40. That left 30 needed from 24 balls and although wickets fell the home side needed 12 off the last with the skipper and Max D’Ulisse at the crease. A big 6 from the skipper second ball calmed the home nerves and a scampered 2 saw Carlton home with 2 balls to spare for the highest successful chase for the 2nd XI for more than a decade.
The Fourth XI will face off against Watsonians 3s at Craiglockhart on Saturday. Sonians 3s are currently 3 spots above the Arrows in 4th position. In the game between the two sides earlier in the year captain Al Murray won the toss and invited the opposition to bat first. A decent opening spell from Scott Fraser & Lewis Broster brought no reward but the breakthrough came in the 14th over as Stu Dawson disturbed the young opener’s furniture. Kartic Subr struck the next over to remove the other opener and Dawson claimed another to reduce Watsons to 54 for 3. 2 more wickets for Subr just before drinks made it 66 for 5. The visitors regrouped and it took until the 31st over before Finlay Thompson claimed an LBW with the score on 118. Thompson got a second in the 35th over but some good lower order hitting saw the visitors post 180 for 7 from their 40 overs. In reply Alan Ansell fell early and when Martin Robertson & the captain were both back in the hutch prospects looked bleak at 31 for 3. Dougie Scott & Chris Sale got things moving again but both fell in quick succession. 2 more wickets went down to leave the 4s 92 for 7 but Fraser & Subr put on 51 for the 8th wicket to make the game interesting. Ultimately the 4s fell short with Fraser top scoring with 42 as they lost by 20 runs.
The Fifth XI wrap up Saturday as they host Holy Cross 2s at Peffermill for a 12pm start. Holy Cross 2s are currently 2nd in ESCA Division 7, 6 positions above the Arrows. Holy Cross 2s have won eight games and lost just once to the hands of TPV’s 4th team. In the game earlier this year at Arboretum skipper Keith Murray made it a clean sweep of toss wins and also asked the home side to bat first. Atreya Subr claimed the first wicket in the 4th over and fellow opening bowler Aadi Khadse struck in the 9th over to leave Holy Cross 30 for 2. Noah Moncur grabbed another wicket just before drinks and then Angus Turner took 2 in an over to make it 66 for 5 after 21 overs. The Crossers accelerated and took the score past 100 before Turner removed the opener. Heather Tait then claimed a wicket to make it 116 for 7 with 10 overs to go. The home side pressed on and although another wicket fell in the final over to Subr they posted 179 for 8 from their 40 overs. In reply Murray & Aadi Khadse put on 38 for the first wicket before the skipper fell for 23. Khadse was out in the same over and Mike Kennedy also didn’t last long but John Beattie & Tait took the score to 66 for 3 at drinks. Unfortunately the visitors were unable to bring the same acceleration as the home side and when Beattie (16) & Tait (26) fell in consecutive overs it left Carlton 84 for 5. The lower order struggled to make an impact on the total and in the end the 5s were bowled out for 108 in the 37th over to lose by 71 runs.
On Sunday the First XI will take on RHC in the Masterton Trophy semi final at Portgower place at 10am. This year the Masterton Trophy knockout rounds are being contested in a finals day format. The second semi final between Heriot’s and Grange will start at 1.30pm and the final will start at 5.15pm. The Arrows’ most recent meeting with RHC came in last year’s Masterton Final at Boghall. Due to the weather the game was reduced to 18 overs a side and on winning the toss Umair Mohammed opted to bat first. The Arrows lost wickets in all 3 of the first powerplay overs but Shujaa Khan and Hugo Southwell managed to consolidate things. With the score on 47 Khan went for 14 in the 8th over leaving the Arrows in a precarious position. Southwell (32) and Ali Shah put on 58 for the 5th wicket before Southwell was bowled. By the end of the 18 overs the Arrows had amassed 143 for 5 with Shah finishing unbeaten on 60 off just 36 deliveries. RHC response faltered early on with Ali Evans picking up 2 wickets in his first 2 overs. Khan took another 2 wickets in his first over leaving RHC struggling at 32 for 4 after 5 overs. Things did not improve for the men from Barnton as Khan took a hattrick off the first 3 balls of the 8th, completing his double hattrick as he’d picked up a wicket off his final delivery of the previous over. Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and Khan fittingly put an end to the game, cleaning up RHC’s final batters’ off stump to finish with figures of 6 for 12 and ensuring a 41 run victory for the Arrows.
Also on Sunday the Women’s First XI get their Beyond Boundaries Women’s Scottish T20 Cup underway as they face RHC away at Barnton in the quarter final. The two sides are still yet to play in the WPL this year but in last season’s meeting at Grange Loan skipper Sam Haggo won the toss and chose to bat first. Janie Hemsley fell early but Ciara Gibson and Charis Scott were scoring freely and added 78 for the 2nd wicket before Scott was bowled for 44. Haggo joined Gibson and the pair together a 135 run partnership, broken when Haggo went for 62 off only 34 balls. Priyanaz Chatterji didn’t stay long but Zaara Dancu joined Gibson and took the score to 298 for 4 from their 30 overs with Gibson finishing with an unbeaten 120 from 85 balls. A tight opening spell from Masie Maceira and Chatterji made sure the visitors were always behind the required rate. It took to the 12th over for the first wicket to fall, claimed by Saskia Aldridge, with 60 on the board. Carlton remained in control and with 6 overs to go the opening bowlers returned. Chatterji claimed 1 wicket and Maceira 3 as RHC finished on 148 for 5 from their 30 overs to give the Arrows a win by 150 runs.
The Third XI will finish up the weekend as they host Kirk Brae at Grange Loan for a 9:30am start. Kirk Brae are currently four spots above the Arrows in 4th and have won 4 and lost 4 so far this year. In the game earlier this season at Double Hedges skipper Brad McKay won the toss and chose to bowl first. Hector Murray struck with the final ball of the 2nd over and then Dougie Firth picked up 2 in the 7th over to leave the home side 20 for 3. That became 29 for 5 as Murray claimed another 2 wickets in the 10th over. McKay then got in on the act to make it 36 for 6 but a strong rear-guard action from Kirk Brae got the scoreboard moving. Although McKay picked up 2 more wickets and there was a 4th for Murray and 1 for Hamish Foley, the home side were bowled out for 170 in the 36th over. A fine opening stand of 71 between Iain Hathorn (37) and Calum Robertson (29) provided a good base but both openers fell either side of drinks. Wickets then fell regularly as the 3s batters struggled to come to terms with the conditions. In the end the visitors were bowled out for 119 in the 38th over to lose by 51 runs.
The early start for the 3s is to allow for the U15s to host the next round of the ECB Cup. Fresh from winning the Scottish section last week the young Arrows will take on the Champions of the Northumbrian region Benwell Hill CC at Grange Loan with a 2pm start.