Weekend roundup – 27th/28th July

The 1st XI travelled north to Broughty Ferry to take on Forfarshire in round 13 of the EPL.  Skipper Daniel Da Costa won the toss and chose to bat first.  Ru Main & Chris McBride got off to a flier putting on 51 for the 1st wicket before McBride fell for 37 in the 7th over.  That proved to be the biggest partnership of the day as wickets fell at regular intervals.  Main (14), Da Costa (28), Gav Murray (16), Lewis O’Donnell (20) all got starts but were unable to go on and make a telling contribution.  Angus Beattie was the last man out for 31 as the Arrows were bowled out for 172 in the 35th over in what looked to be a total well below par given it was the same wicket Scotland had scored 300 on the previous day.  In reply Beattie removed one of the openers in the 4th over thanks to a sharp catch at slip from Ruari Macpherson.  In the 9th over O’Donnell picked up the 2nd wicket to make it 21 for 2.  The introduction of McBride into the attack in the 13th over paid immediate dividends as he nicked off the other opener to reduce the home side to 45 for 3.  Rory Allardice was next to strike as Forfs slumped to 64 for 4 in the 18th over and then things got even worse for the home side as McBride took wickets in consecutive overs to make it 66 for 6.  Allardice then picked up 2 in the 24th over to leave Forfs 77 for 8.  The next over McBride got his 4th wicket and he completed his 5-for in the 25th over to bowl out Forfs for 82 to give the Arrows a 90 run win.

The 2nd XI welcomed Clackmannan County to Grange Loan looking to consolidate their position in 2nd spot in ESCA Division 1.  Captain Charles Stronach lost the toss and the visitors chose to bat first.  Conor Regan got 2 early wickets to reduce the Alloa side to 14 for 2 after 5 overs.  Max D’Ulisse was next to strike picked up the next 2 wickets to make it 43 for 4 in the 16th over.  A decent 5th wicket partnership for the visitors was broken in the 30th over by Mike Raikes with 97 on the board.  Oli Stones then got in on the act picking up a wicket to make it 98 for 6 and then the skipper picked up the 7th wicket in the 34th over with the score on 109.  Stones then cleaned up the tail, taking the last 3 wickets, to bowl out the visitors for 129 in the 39th over.  In reply Oscar Waters and Raikes put on 36 for the 1st wicket before Raikes holed out for 18.  Ally Evans joined Waters in the middle and the pair took the score to 70 in the 13th over before Waters was bowled for 42.   Charlie Kentish and Evans put on 45 for 3rd wicket before Kentish fell with just 15 runs needed.  Despite losing Stones for a duck, Evans and Ben Stronach saw the Arrows over the line in the 22nd over for a 6 wicket win with Evans finishing on 49*.

The 3rd XI travelled to the north of the city to take on Leith FAB at Leith Links.  Skipper Brad McKay won the toss and asked the home side to bat first.  Ferg Foley got the 1st wicket in the 8th over with 34 on the board.  Another 10 overs passed before the 2nd wicket fell as Matt Griffiths picked up the other opener to make it 74 for 2.  Griffiths claimed another just before drinks to leave the home side 77 for 3 at the halfway stage.  A useful 4th wicket partnership was broken in the 32nd over by Kyle Burgess but the score had moved on to 121 by the time the wicket fell.  Leith continued to up the scoring rate in the last few overs and although there were wickets for John Gill & Hamish Foley (2) the home side posted a total of 174 for 7 from their 40 overs.  In reply Shreyas Tekale & Cam Moore put on 36 for the first wicket before Tekale was out for 19.  Moore fell the next over and Euan Keatinge and Griffiths took the score to 59 before Keatinge was bowled for 18 in the 14th over.  Griffiths fell later that over to leave the visitors in trouble at 70 for 4 and despite some restistance from Ferg Foley (17); Gill (17) and Hamish Foley (10) the Arrows were bowled out for 121 in the 34th over to lose by 54 runs.

The last game on Saturday saw the 5th XI travel to Inverleith to take on Stew Mel 4s in ESCA Division 7.  Captain Keith Murray won the toss and chose to field first.  A strong opening stand from the home side was broken in the 13th over by Angus Turner.  In his next over he removed the other opener and then got a 3rd the over after that to leave Stew Mel 85 for 3 after 17 overs.  Turner claimed his 4th wicket in 19th over to make it 102 for 4 and then Rahul Khadse struck to leave the game nicely poised at 102 for 5 at drinks.  Turner got a 5th the next over but the home side dug in and it wasn’t until the 27th over that Noah Moncur was next to strike to make it 125 for 7.  Stew Mel kept the scoreboard moving and in the 32nd over Finlay Thompson got the 8th wicket with 165 on the board. Moncur got a 2nd in the next over but a stubborn last wicket partnership saw the home side post 211 for 9 from their 40 overs.  In reply Thompson fell early but Murray and Martin Robertson formed a good partnership.  At drinks they had taken the score to 68 and the partnership was eventually broken in the 25th over when the Robertson fell for 34 with the score 86 for 2.   The skipper was next to go for 38 in the 28th over with 102 on the board.  Vijay Raghavan hit a breezy 17 but was out in the 30th over to make it 117 for 4.  Benji Risi and Turner added 52 for the 5th wicket before the latter fell for 20 in the 38th over.  Despite losing Jake Heller for a duck Alan Ansell (18*) joined Risi (34*) and pushed the score to 197 for 6 before they ran out of overs and the Arrows fell 14 runs short.

On Sunday the 4th XI hosted Stew Mel 3s at Grange Loan.  Skipper Al Murray won the toss and chose to bowl first.  Atreya Subr was first to strike in the 6th over with 28 on the board.  Dan Mowat then picked up a wicket in the next over with the score still on 28.  Mowat got a 2nd in the 11th over to make it 41 for 3 but then a strong 4th wicket partnership formed for the visitors.  Stu Dawson eventually broke it in the 24th over but the score had moved on to 117.   Again Stew Mel got the scoreboard moving and Harry Charman picked up the 5th wicket in the 33rd over to make it 159 for 5.  Mowat came back and picked up 4 more wickets to finish with 6 for 36 but the visitors posted 214 for 9 from their 40 overs.   In reply, Dougie Scott fell early and Lewis King and Chris Sale took the score to 33 in the 9th over before Sale miscued one to go for 10.  Charman joined King at the crease and the young pair put on 25 before King was caught for 38 in the 14th over.  That proved to be the biggest partnership of the day for the Arrows as the remaining batting never really got going.  Charman hit 18 and the skipper finished on 27* but the home side fell well short, ending on 143 for 8 from their 40 overs to lose by 71 runs.