Weekend roundup – 6th/7th July

The 1st XI welcomed Heriot’s to Grange Loan for match 10 in the EPL.  Skipper Arun Pillai won the toss and inserted the Goldenacre side.  Rudy Adair struck early and then Lewis O’Donnell picked up a wicket to leave the visitors 57 for 2 after 9 overs.  A strong 3rd wicket partnership for the visitors was taking the game away from the Arrows but it was eventually broken by O’Donnell in the 37th over with 206 on the board.  A good fight back from the home side saw Heriot’s bowled out for 255 in the 48th over with O’Donnell finishing with 4 wickets, 3 for Angus Beattie, 1 for Ally Evans and a runout from Gav Murray.  The reply got off to a good start with 84 runs added for the 1st wicket before Chris McBride fell in the 15th over for 48.  Wickets then fell regularly, including Ru Main for 24, and with the weather closing in the game was abandoned with Carlton 134 for 9 in the 31st to lose by 122 runs on DLS.

The 2nd XI made the short trip to the north of the city to take on Drummond Trinity on the grass at Inverleith Park.  Captain Charles Stronach lost the toss and the home side chose to bowl first.  In tricky conditions the 2s were bowled out for 99 in the 37th over with Ben Thurman top scoring with 28.  The only other batters to make it to double figures were Euan Keatinge (16) and Jamie Beattie (13).  With conditions worsening the 2s picked up 3 wickets through Ben Stronach, Harry Simpson and the skipper but the game was abandoned before a result was possible with the home side 55 for 3 after 13.3 overs.

The 4th XI also had a short journey as they took on Watsonians 3s at Craiglockhart.  Skipper Al Murray won the toss and invited the home side to bat first.  Kyle Burgess struck in the 3rd over to make it 7 for 1 before Andrew Lang picked up the first of his 3 wickets in the 6th over.  At the end of his 8 overs Lang finished with figures of 3 for 14 and the home side was in trouble at 56 for 4.  John Gill claimed the next wicket to make it 74 for 5 and then Hamish Foley took the 6th wicket with the score still on 74.  Aadi Khadse then picked up 2 wickets and Foley claimed his 2nd with the last ball of the innings to restrict Watsonians to 118 for 9 from their 40 overs.  In reply Murray & Shreyas Tekale put on 60 for the 1st wicket before the skipper gloved one behind for 23.  Tekale fell shortly after for 29 to make it 64 for 2 after 16 overs but David Simpson & Lewis King got the scoreboard moving again.  King was eventually run out for 20 and Sam Haggo fell cheaply but Simpson (24*) and Dougie Scott (4*) saw the 4s home in the 31st over for a 6 wicket win.

The final game on Saturday saw the 5th XI host Holy Cross 2s at Peffermill.  Captain Keith Murray lost the toss and the 5s were inserted.  Murray led the way with 45 but struggled to find anyone to stay with him until Stu Dawson came the crease at 40 for 4.  The pair added 52 for the 5th wicket before Dawson was bowled for 24.  In the end the 5s were bowled out for 108 in the 39th over with Extras (19) the only other contributor in double figures.  2 quick wickets for Benji Risi gave the home side some hope but the Holy Cross numbers 3 & 4 got the scoreboard moving.  Dawson eventually broke the partnership and there were further wickets for Risi (2), Rahul Khadse, Tom Sweet on debut and second for Dawson but the visitors got over the line in the 37th over with 2 wickets to spare.

A busy Sunday got off to an early start for the 3rd XI as they hosted Kirkbrae at Grange Loan.  Skipper Brad McKay won the toss and chose to bowl first in a game reduced to 30 overs to accommodate the U15s Cup tie later the same day.  Conor Regan made the breakthrough in the 2nd over and then fellow opening bowler Dougie Firth struck in the 5th to leave the visitors on the back foot at 14 for 2.  A bit of a revival from Kirkbrae was broken in the 10th overs as Regan claimed his 2nd wicket to make it 46 for 3 and things for worse for the visitors with a runout at the start of the 11th over.  Regan got a 3rd wicket in the 12th over to leave Kirkbrae 52 for 5 and then Robbie Murray came on and took 4 quick wickets.  All that was left was for Rory Ledingham to take the final wicket and the visitors were bowled out for 70 in the 22nd over.  Anish Amin & Shreyas Tekale put on 22 for the 1st wicket before Amin was bowled for 10.  Ledingham joined Tekale and the pair added a further 33 runs before the opener holed out for an enterprising 28.   Ledingham fell for 21 with the scores level but Alex Fedenczuk (7*) and James Stronach (1*) saw the 3s home for a 7 wicket win in the 15th over.

The Women were in action on Sunday, away at RHC in the qualifying round of the Beyond Boundaries Women’s Scottish T20 Cup.  Captain Sam Haggo won the toss and invited the home side to bat first.  A good opening stand was broken in the 15th over by Abbi Aitken-Drummond with 70 on the board.  She also produced a runout in the next over to make it 71 for 2 and then claimed a 2nd wicket in the 17th over to leave RHC 75 for 3.  A late flurry of runs saw the home side finish their 20 overs on 96 for 4 with Charis Scott claiming the final wicket.  In reply Aitken-Drummond and Sarah Beith put on 59 for the 1st wicket before Aitken-Drummond was bowled in the 8th over for 25.  Scott joined Beith in the middle and took the score to 67 before the new batter departed for 7 in the 10th over.  Haggo ‘s stay was brief before Holly Sladen (9*) made her way to the crease and she and Beith (36*) knocked off the remaining runs to see the Arrows over the line in the 17th over for a 7 wicket win.   That result sees them safely through to finals day on 10th August at New Williamfield where they will meet Stew Mel in the semi-final.

Also on Sunday the 1st XI were competing in the revamped Masterton Finals day at Portgower Place.  Their semi-final against RHC was the first game up and skipper Daniel Da Costa won the toss and chose to bat first.  Ru Main fell early but a 107 run partnership for the 2nd wicket from Chris McBride & Da Costa took the score to 114 before the skipper was pinned in front for 37 in the 12th over.  Wickets fell regularly after that, including McBride for a fine 79, and the Arrows ended up posting 164 for 9 from their 20 overs.  RHC got off to a blistering start but a fine running catch on the boundary from Rory Allardice off the bowling of Lewis O’Donnell stemmed the flow at 23 for 1 in the 2nd over.   O’Donnell claimed a 2nd and then Angus Beattie got in on the act to leave RHC 54 for 3 at the start of the 7th over.  A good 4th wicket partnership was broken in the 12th over by Charlie Buchannan-Smith to make it 93 for 4 and then that became 121 for 5 when Beattie claimed a 2nd in the 17th over.  With 26 need off the last 2 overs O’Donnell picked up 3 wickets in the 19th for the cost of 8 runs.  Ally Evans had 18 to defend in the final over and despite going for 6 off the first ball, a runout off the 2nd and a wicket off the last saw RHC bowled out for 160 and Carlton were through to the final by a margin of 4 runs.

In the final they would meet Grange who chased down Heriot’s total of 136 for 7 in 16 overs for the loss of 3 wickets.  Daniel Da Costa again won the toss and chose to bat first.  A 72 run opening stand from Ru Main & Chris McBride was broken when Main fell for 41 in the 9th over.  McBride was bowled for 32 two overs later to make it 79 for 2.  Da Costa & Arun Pillai took the score to 116 before Pillai holed out for 19.  Gav Murray joined the skipper and they added 22 runs before Murray was also out caught for 11.  Lewis O’Donnell and Da Costa accelerated nicely to take the total up to 177 when O’Donnell fell off the last ball of the innings for 25, leaving the skipper unbeaten on 45.  In reply Grange put on 69 for the 1st wicket before Rory Allardice struck in the 8th over.  Another for Allardice and 2 quick wickets for Charlie Buchannan-Smith had the Arrows well placed at 86 for 4 in the 11th over.  Grange regrouped and were up with the rate when O’Donnell got both set batters out in the 16th over to make it 124 for 6.  Unfortunately for the Arrows they could make no more inroads into the Grange batting and the home side knocked off the remaining runs in the penultimate over to win the Masterton trophy by 4 wickets with 7 balls to spare.

Back at Grange Loan the U15s were hosting their counterparts from Benwell Hill in Newcastle in the next round of the ECB Vitality U15 Cup.  Captain James Stronach lost the toss and the visitors chose to bowl first.  Oli Stones and Tom Hathorn put on 73 for the 1st wicket before Hathorn fell for 30 in the 12th over.  Stones was out for 40 2 overs later with the score on 84.  None of the other batters was able to make a meaningful score and wickets fell regularly chasing late runs as the young Arrows posted 122 for 6 from their 20 overs.  A good opening stand for the visitors took the score to 44 in the 7th over before Hamish Foley claimed the 1st wicket.  A maiden from John Gill next over increased the pressure and when Foley picked up a 2nd in the 9th things looked better for the home side at 44 for 2.  Gill then got the other opener out thanks to a great one-handed catch from Foley at mid on.  Gill took a 2nd to make it 70 for 4 in the 12th and then Benji Risi got one the next over to leave the Newcastle youngsters in trouble at 74 for 5.  Things got worse for the visitors with a runout in the 13th over and then Finlay Thompson took a simple caught & bowled chance to make it 77 for 7.  Some tight bowling left Benwell Hill needing 27 off the last 2 overs and Foley bowled the 19th conceding 2 runs off the first 3 balls before inducing a leading edge, well caught by Gill, as the rain started to fall.  The covers came on but fortunately only for a brief time.  When the game resumed Foley & Gill combined again to make it 98 for 9 and all that was left was for Thompson to bowl the last and complete a runout off the 1st ball to see the young Arrows to a 23 run victory.  Next up is a trip away to the winners of the Cumbria section in 2 weeks time.