Weekend preview – 13th/14th July

Just the five fixtures for the Arrows this weekend with 3 games on Saturday and 2 games on Sunday.

The First XI will travel to Victory Park where they will meet Meigle on Saturday.  Meigle are currently 7th in the EPL with 4 wins and 4 losses.  The two sides last met in round 2 of the EPL on a historic day at Grange Loan.  In that match skipper Arun Pillai won the toss and chose to bat first.  Gav Murray fell early but Ru Main and Daniel Da Costa took the score to 70 before Main was bowled for 25 in the 13th over.  This brought Chris McBride to the crease and he and Da Costa took the game to the bowlers.  At the halfway stage they had taken the score to 147 for 2 with both batters passing 50.  Da Costa brought up his 5th century for the club in the 37th over with McBride joining him on 3 figures 2 balls later.  Da Costa holed out for 112 in the 40th over having added 205 for the 3rd wicket with the skipper joining McBride in the middle.  McBride powered on and brought up his double century in the penultimate over.  The man from Dumfries finished 220 not out, a new club record score, from only 114 balls with Pillai on 39 as the Arrows posted 420 for 3 from their 50 overs, beating the previous highest score for the 1s of 388 for 5 against Stoneywood Dyce in 2016.  In reply Meigle lost a wicket with the second ball, clean bowled by Lewis O’Donnell.  O’Donnell struck again in the 9th over with 63 on the board.  Angus Beattie picked up another next over to snuff out any hopes of the Perthshire side chasing down the mammoth home total.  In the end Meigle were bowled out for 183 in the 43rd over with Beattie claiming 2 more wickets and 2 for Ally Evans & Ruari Macpherson and 1 for Pillai as the Arrows cruised to a 237 run win.  James Stronach is set to make his First XI debut as Dan Da Costa takes charge in Arun Pillai’s absence. 

The Second XI will welcome Marchmont to Grange Loan on Saturday.  Marchmont are currently 9th in ESCA Division 1.  In their 10 completed fixtures they have picked up 3 wins and 7 losses.  In the first meeting between the sides this year captain Charles Stronach lost the toss and the home side chose to bat first.  Jamie Beattie struck in the 4th over with 11 on the board and Rudy Adair picked up the second wicket in the 9th over to make it 15 for 2.  Rory Allardice was introduced to the attack and proved unplayable on the sporting Cavalry Park surface.  He took the next 6 wickets returning the remarkable figures of 6 for 14 from his 9 overs.  Saif Khan claimed the final 2 wickets to shoot Marchmont out for 77 in the 40th over.  Zaki Yusaf & Ben Thurman opened up for Carlton but both were back in the hutch in the 6th over with only 10 on the board.  Charlie Kentish was next to go with the score on 22 but Ben D’Ulisse (20) and Harry Simpson (13) took the score to 55 before both fell in quick succession.  Allardice fell cheaply but Rory Ledingham blasted a quickfire 23* to see the 2nd XI to a 4 wicket win.

The Third XI will tie up Saturday as they head south to Shedden Park to face off against Kelso.  Kelso are currently five spots above the Arrows in 3rd and have won 5 and lost 2 so far this year.  In the game earlier this season at Peffermill skipper Brad McKay won the toss and opted to make first use of the artificial surface.  Both openers fell early to leave the home side in trouble at 12 for 2 in the 7th over.  Cam Moore (11) was next out with the score on 23 at the end of the 12th over.  That prompted an all mighty collapse as the 3s subsided to 27 for 7 in the 16th over.  Some dogged resistance from Alex Fedenczuk (16*) helped the 3s get close to a batting point but in the end they were bowled out for 63 in the 31st over.  Hector Murray struck with the 1st ball of the reply but the Borders dug in on the challenging surface.  The skipper claimed the 2nd wicket in the 11th over with 18 on the board and Max D’Ulisse took the 3rd wicket in the next over to make it 29 for 3.  The visitors consolidated once more and punished the odd loose ball.  Kyle Burgess took a wicket just before drinks with only 10 runs needed and although McKay & Burgess struck in consecutive overs Kelso got over the line in the 24th over for a 4 wicket win.

On Sunday the Fourth XI will face off against Drummond Trinity 4s at Grange Loan.  DT 4s are currently rock bottom in ESCA Division 5 as they are yet to win a match.  In the game between the two sides earlier in the year captain Al Murray lost the toss and the 4s were asked to bowl first.  The opening bowlers, Dan Mowat & Lewis Broster each claimed a wicket to leave the home side 31 for 2 after the first 10 overs.  First change bowlers Abhi Mehta & Hamish Foley also picked up wickets with Mehta getting a second to make it 63 for 5 at drinks.  Andrew Lang & Robbie Murray then came on and despite a few big hits from the home side they too picked up a wicket a piece.  Mehta and Foley then came back and cleaned up the tail to bowl DTs out for 144 in the 38th over.  Mehta finished with 4 wickets and Foley had 2.  In reply, Marc Dweck and Shreyas Tekale put on 57 for the first wicket before Tekale was out caught for 21 in the 16th over.  David Simpson joined Dweck at the crease and added another 54 runs before Simpson fell for 13.  The skipper made his way to the middle and was happy to knock the ball about and let Dweck punish any loose deliveries.  In the end the 4s got over the line in the 35th over thanks to 81* from Dweck as they ran out winners by 8 wickets.

The Fifth XI wrap up the weekend as they visit Leith FAB 3s at Leith Links.  Leith FAB 3s are currently 3rd in ESCA Division 7, 5 positions above the Arrows.  Leith FAB have won 8 games and lost 2 so far this year.  In the game earlier this year at Myreside Arti skipper Keith Murray lost the toss and the visitors chose to bat first.  There were early strikes for Alan Ansell & Aadi Khadse and then John Gill struck to reduce Leith FAB to 40 for 3 in the 14th over.  Finlay Thompson took the 4th wicket in the 24th over to make it 81 for 4 but the visitors were able to make use of the compact playing area to keep the scoreboard ticking over.  Ansell returned and picked up another couple of wickets and Khadse also claimed 2 more.  Benji Risi took 2 wickets of the last 2 balls of the 40 overs to bowl out the visitors for 213.  That total proved to be a bit too much for the 5s to chase and despite 37 from the captain, 25 from John Beattie, 23 from Risi and 20 from Scott Fraser the 5s finished on 145 for 7 from their 40 overs to lose by 68 runs.