Weekend roundup – 3rd/4th August
The 1st XI made the short journey to Portgower Place to take on Grange. Skipper Arun Pillai won the toss and chose to bat first. Ruari Macpherson and Chris McBride put on 135 for the 1st wicket before Macpherson holed out for 39 in the 25th over. Daniel Da Costa then joined McBride in the middle and took the score to 182 before the opener was caught behind 5 short of a century. The skipper was next in and he and Da Costa added 73 for the 3rd wicket before Da Costa was bowled at the start of the 42nd over for 55. Pillai was next out for 37 and there were useful contributions from Tom Simpson (21); Will Hardie (19*) and Lewis O’Donnell (17) as the Arrows posted a total of 326 for 6 from their 50 overs. In reply McBride took the first wicket in the 11th over with 41 on the board and he came back on to claim the 2nd wicket in the 19th over to make it 92 for 2. Wickets for Macpherson and Jamie Beattie reduced the Stockbridge side to 125 for 4 in the 25th over but unfortunately there was no more success for the bowlers as Grange reached the total in in the 48th over to win by 6 wickets.
Back at Grange Loan the 2nd XI entertained Penicuik. Captain Charles Stronach lost the toss and the visitors opted to bat first. Their openers got off to a flier but the skipper made the breakthrough in the 11th over with 62 on the board. Harry Simpson struck in the next over to remove the other opener but another useful partnership was forming. Conor Regan came back into the attack and picked up the 3rd wicket in the 23rd over with the score on 101. Regan picked up 2 more wickets in the 27th over to leave the visitors 112 for 5 but again Penicuik consolidated. The skipper again provided the breakthrough in the 37th over to make it 140 for 6 and then Chayank Gosain got in on the act an over later. In the 39th Stronach claimed a 3rd to leave the visitors 145 for 8 but the lower order kept the scoreboard moving. Regan came back and took the final 2 wickets to complete his 5-for and bowl out Penicuik for 181 in the final over. In reply Oli Stones fell early but Ben Thurman and Shiv Jhala took the score to 88 in the 19th over before Jhala was bowled for 27. 2 more wickets fell cheaply before James Stronach and Thurman came together and broke the back of the chase. Thurman eventually fell for 70 in the 35th over with the score 159 for 5 and although there was a clatter of late wickets including James Stronach for 40, the Arrows made it over the line in the 41st over for a 3 wicket win that keeps them at the top of the table.
The final game on Saturday saw the 4th XI travel to the Borders to take on Melrose at Huntlyburn. Captain Al Murray lost the toss and the home side chose to bowl first. Both openers fell cheaply but David Simpson and Sam Haggo dug in and provided a good platform for the innings. Scoring was challenging with the sluggish outfield but the experienced pair took the score to 42 before Haggo fell for 19 in the 13th over. Simpson departed for 16 5 overs later with 62 on the board and Robbie Murray fell just before drinks to leave the Arrows 77 for 5 at the halfway stage. Vijay Raghavan, having got used to the conditions, started to accelerate and found good support from the captain. They took the score to 101 before Raghavan nicked off in the 26th over for 31. Aadi Khadse was the next man in and he & Murray added 55 for the 7th wicket before the captain was bowled for 23 at the start of the final over. The over proved productive for the visitors ending with a straight 6 from Stu Dawson as they finished on 167 for 8 with Khadse unbeaten on 32. In reply the home side got off to a fast start but Robbie Murray made the breakthrough in the 7th over with 44 on the board. In his next over he picked up 2 wickets in 2 balls including the dangerous opener to leave the home side 49 for 3. In the 11th over Murray claimed his 4th wicket to make it 55 for 4. Those wickets slowed the scoring rate and with further wickets for Dawson & Khadse the home side was in trouble at 80 for 6 at drinks. Khadse claimed a 2nd in the 22nd over to make it 97 for 7 and then Murray came back to take his 5th wicket in the 25th over to leave Melrose 111 for 8. Finlay Thompson then took the 9th wicket thanks to a sharp stumping from Lewis King before Tom Hathorn wrapped things up in the 29th over to bowl the home side out for 125 and give the Arrows a 42 run win.
On Sunday the 3rd XI entertained Edinburgh Accies 2s on the main square at Myreside. Skipper Brad McKay won the toss and chose to bat first. Things did not go according to plan as the 3s were reduced to 13 for 4 in the 7th over. That became 34 for 5 in the 13th and although there was some dogged resistance from the lower order including Hamish Turner (16); Hamish Foley (14) and Dougie Firth (25) the Arrows were bowled out for 109 in the 39th over. That total proved to be well below par and although Firth picked up 2 early wickets and the skipper claimed 1 to reduce Accies to 28 for 3 in the 12th over a strong 4th wicket partnership got the visitors in sight of victory. A late wicket for Kyle Burgess was not enough as Accies reached the target 4 down in the 31st over to win by 6 wickets.
The final game of the weekend saw the 5th XI host Tranent & Preston Village 4s at Grange Loan. Captain Keith Murray won the toss and inserted the side from East Lothian. Benji Risi picked up a wicket in the 3rd over with 7 runs on the board. A decent 2nd wicket partnership was broken when Atreya Subr removed the other opener in the 10th over to make it 39 for 2. The introduction of Alan Ansell to the attack paid immediate dividends as he picked up the dangerous No 3 to leave TPV 41 for 3 in the 11th over. Rahul Khadse then got in on the act in the next over and a runout in the 16th over put the visitors in more trouble at 53 for 5. A bit of a recovery was broken by Ansell in the 19th to make it 75 for 6 and then Kartic Subr struck in the 1st over after drinks to leave TPV 82 for 7. Noah Moncur then came into the attack and took the last 3 wickets in 9 balls for no runs to bowl out the visitors for 82 in the 24th over. In reply Murray and Tom Dweck took the score to 17 before the young keeper was caught at gully. Martin Robertson joined the captain in the middle and the pair added 37 runs before Robertson picked out extra cover in the 14th over. The skipper fell 6 runs short of a half century in the 22nd over with his side needing 6 more runs to win. Those runs were duly knocked off by John Beattie (12*) & Aadi Khadse (4*) in the following over to set up a 7 wicket win for the Arrows.