Weekend roundup – 13th/14th July
The 1st XI travelled north to Victory Park in Meigle for round 11 of the EPL. Skipper for the day Daniel Da Costa lost the toss and the home side chose to bat first. 2 early strikes for Lewis O’Donnell left the Perthshire outfit in trouble at 8 for 2 in the 5th over. A good 3rd wicket partnership was broken by Ally Evans in the 16th over to make it 71 for 3. Another useful partnership developed and Evans again got the breakthrough in the 30th over to leave the home side 132 for 4. The scoring rate slowed right down and Jamie Beattie was next to strike in the 35th to make it 149 for 5. Evans claimed a 3rd the next over and a 4th in the 38th over to reduce Meigle to 157 for 7. The next over O’Donnell got his 3rd and then Angus Beattie picked up the 9th wicket an over later. O’Donnell then completed the job in the 42nd over to bowl the home side out for 159. Due to Chris McBride suffering a suspected concussion in the field a makeshift opening partnership of Ru Main & Angus Beattie set out to chase down the runs. A mix up saw Main run out in the 4th over with 18 on the board. Da Costa joined Beattie and the pair put on 84 for the 2nd wicket before Da Costa holed out for 41. Gav Murray’s stay at the crease was brief but Evans and Beattie produced another useful partnership to get the Arrows in sight of victory before Evans miscued one to go for 23. With 10 runs needed to win James Stronach on 1st XI debut joined Beattie in the middle. There were no more alarms as Beattie finished the game with a big 6 down the ground to end on 70* as Carlton won by 6 wickets in the 29th over.
The 2nd XI welcomed near neighbours Marchmont to Grange Loan. Captain Charles Stronach lost the toss and the home side was invited to bat first. Oscar Waters & Marc Dweck put on a 53 run opening stand before Waters went for 29. Oli Stones was next out in the 17th over with 70 on the board. Dweck followed him back to the pavilion the next over for 25 to make it 74 for 3. Charlie Kentish & Euan Keatinge took the score to 106 before Kentish went for 29 in the 27th over. In the next over Rory Ledignham was pinned in front to make it 115 for 5. Keatinge was the next man out for 26 in the 35th over with the score on 138. None of the lower order were able to make a telling contribution and the 2s were bowled out or 163 in the 42nd over. The covers went on in the tea interval and after a long delay the Marchmont innings eventually got underway as a 30 over contest with a reduced target. A good start with the bat saw the visitors race to 34 from the 1st 7 overs. The skipper brought himself on and made the breakthrough in the 8th over. Conor Regan removed the other opener the next over and 2 more strikes for the Stronach Snr left Marchmont in trouble at 39 for 4 in the 10th over. With the weather conditions deteriorating the game was eventually abandoned at 47 for 4 after 13 overs, well short of a possible result.
The 3rd XI were due to travel south to Kelso for their ESCA Div 2 clash but damp conditions in the Borders meant that the game was cancelled.
On Sunday the 4th XI welcomed Drummond Trinity 4s to Grange Loan. Skipper Al Murray won the toss and chose to bowl first. A wayward start with the ball saw the visitors get off to a flier and it wasn’t until the 17th over that Aadi Khadse got the 1st wicket to a smart catch from keeper Lewis King with 75 on the board. Andrew Lang got the 2nd wicket in the 20th over to make it 78 for 2 and then removed the other opener in his next over to leave DTs 81 for 3. That become 83 for 4 as John Gill got the batter to run past one in the 23rd over. Lang claimed his 3rd in the 26th over to make it 88 for 5 and then Gill got 2 in 2 in the 29th over to leave DTs in trouble at 98 for 7. Gill claimed 3rd in the over with a simple return catch to make it 102 for 8 but a decent rear-guard action from the visitors added some useful late runs. Kyle Burgess came back and got the breakthrough in the 36th over with 137 on the board and then Khadse claimed the final wicket to bowl DTs out for 150 in the 37th over. In reply King fell early but the skipper and David Simpson took the score to 37 in the 9th over before Murray was caught cutting once too often for 21. Robbie Murray and Simpson then added 52 for the 3rd wicket before Simpson went for 16 in the 26th over. Josh Cully joined Murray at the crease and the youngsters took the score to 109 with some aggressive running before Murray holed out for 41 in the 30th over. Lang joined Cully and more good running saw the score to 131 before Lang was bowled for 14 in the 35th over. Gill was the next man in and he & Cully got the home side to the verge of victory before Cully fell for 21 in the 38th over. Khadse came and went but Finlay Thompson and Gill saw the Arrows over the line as Gill hit the 1st ball of the final over for 4 to win the match by 3 wickets.
The final match of the weekend saw the 5th XI travel to Leith Links to take on Leith FAB 3s. Captain Keith Murray won the toss and invited the home side to bat first. Benji Risi got the breakthrough in the 7th over with 24 on the board and then Alan Ansell removed the other opener in the next over. Noah Moncur was next to strike in the 15th over to make it 45 for 3 and then he struck again in his next over thanks to a stumping from Tom Dweck. Moncur claimed a 3rd in the 19th over to leave the home side 70 for 5. Stu Dawson then picked up a wicket to make it 74 for 6 just before drinks. Rahul Khadse was next to strike in the 32nd over with 115 on the board but the scoring rate was beginning to pick up. A run out from Freddie Charman in the 37th over left the home side 150 for 8 and then 2 late wickets for Khadse saw Leith FAB bowled out for 164 in the final over. In reply the skipper and Dweck made a watchful start before Murray fell in the 8th over for 10 with 16 on the board. John Beattie joined Dweck but both fell cheaply to leave the visitors in trouble 27 for 3 in the 14th over. The Charman brothers took the score to 41 before Freddie was out in the 20th over. Wickets continued to fall including Harry Charman for 17, but the lower order was getting the scoreboard moving. Stu Dawson made 14, including 1 big 6, and Ansell also hit the same score. Euan Murray (21*) and Moncur (7*) took the score to 131 for 8 and ensured a good haul of losing bonus points as the 5s fell 33 short against a strong Leith side.