Weekend preview – 17th/18th August

It’s another important weekend for the Arrows as we are well and truly into the backend of the season.  There’s top of the table clashes for the 1s and 2s as well as a double header against Dunfermline and Carnegie for the 3s and 4s.

The First XI will head to Barnton where they will meet Royal High Corstorphine.  RHC are currently 4th in the EPL with 6 wins and 5 losses.  The match earlier this year at Grange Loan was reduced to 40 overs a side and skipper  Arun Pillai won the toss and chose to field first.  Lewis O’Donnell claimed the first wicket in the 8th over with 35 on the board.  The visitors rebuilt but Chris McBride picked up 3 wickets in successive overs to reduce RHC to 104 for 4 in the 23rd over.  Pillai then claimed a wicket to make it 136 for 5 in the 30th over.  Smart work from Tom Simpson behind the stumps brought the next wicket as he effected a runout at the bowler’s end with a direct hit.  Rudy Adair took the 7th wicket in the 37th over with 173 on the board.  RHC added some quick runs at the back end and although O’Donnell picked up 2 more wickets the visitors finished on 200 for 9 from their 40 overs.  In reply Ruari Macpherson got the Arrows off to a flying start and despite losing fellow opener Ruairidh Main cheaply.  With 69 on the board after 11 overs Macpherson ran past one and was stumped for 48.  The home side lost 3 wickets in quick succession to leave them in a bit of bother at 82 for 5 in the 15th over.  Will Hardie & Gav Murray consolidated and added 40 runs before Hardie fell for 11.  Tom Simpson joined Murray at the crease and the pair took the score to 165 before Murray was pinned in front for 39.  Wickets continued to fall and when Simpson picked out short 3rd man for 28 Carlton were bowled out for 178 on the 35th over to fall short by 22 runs.  Ben Stronach is set to make his First XI debut and Ali Evans returns to the side.

The Second XI will welcome Edinburgh CC to Grange Loan on Saturday in what surely will be the title decider in ESCA Division 1.  Edinburgh are currently 1 spot below the Arrows in 2nd place, but there is only 0.92% separating the two sides.  The first meeting this year was rained off but in the game last year at Grange Loan captain Ben D’Ulisse won the toss and elected to bat first.  That looked to be a brave decision as the home side were reduced to 20 for 4 in the 13th over.  That soon became 41 for 5 but Euan Keatinge (37) and Ben Stronach (33) dug in to ensure the 2s were able to post some sort of score.  Some enterprising hitting from the lower order, Charles Stronach (20) & Armaan Bedi (25), helped the home side to 162 for 9 from their 45 overs.  In reply Bedi picked up an early wicket but it took until the 14th over and the introduction of Charles Stronach for the second wicket fall.  Edinburgh CC took the attack to the bowlers but in the 17th over Bedi claimed another to make it 73 for 3.  Stronach claimed his second shortly after and the game was evenly poised at 76 for 4 in the 18th.  Chayank Gosain came into the attack and picked up 2 quick wickets to turn the game Carlton’s way.  A good 7th wicket partnership tipped things in favour of the visitors but a run out from Dan Potter brought things back in the balance.  2 more wickets fell and that left 11 needed of the last with one wicket in hand.  Two 2s made it interesting but Jamie Beattie castled the Edinburgh batter for a fine 6 run win.

The Third XI will take on Dunfermline and Carnegie at McKane Park.  The Fifers are currently 4th with 7 wins and 5 losses.  The match earlier this year was also contested at McKane Park in a game rearranged due to a Challenge Cup clash for the Fifers and captain Brad McKay won the toss and chose to bat first. A clatter of early wickets left the 3s in trouble at 23 for 3 after 6 overs.  Shreyas Tekale and Cam Moore dug in and took the score to 55 before Tekale was out caught for 39 in the 16th over.  Ashish Parlani joined Moore and the pair added 42 runs in 8 overs before the new man was pinned in front for 23.  Moore was the next man out in the 29th over for 27 to make it 109 for 6 but the lower order didn’t really fire which saw the 3s bowled out for 128 in the 37th over.  In reply Conor Regan took 2 early wickets to leave the home side 13 for 2 after 7 overs.  A decent 3rd wicket partnership was broken by Tekale in the 24th over with 52 on the board.  The next over Rory Ledingham took 2 wickets to make it 63 for 5 and then in the 30th over Tekale got a 2nd to leave the home side in trouble at 80 for 6.  That became 83 for 7 when Ledingham took an excellent catch off his own bowling in the 31st over.  3 overs later a smart stumping by Moore off Tekale saw the home side slump to 92 for 8 and things got worse for the Fife side as Ledingham claimed a 4th in the 35th over with no more runs on the board.  All that was left was for Ledingham to complete his 5-for as the Arrows bowled out Dunfermline Carnegie for 94 with the last ball of the over to win by 34 runs.  The game has subsequently been voided by the ESCA Competitions Committee so no points were gained or lost by either side.

The Fourth XI will compete against Dunfermline and Carneigie 2s at Meadows 3 on Saturday.  Dunfermline are currently 5 positions above the Arrows in 2nd place in ESCA Division 5.  In the game in June both sides agreed to reduce the overs to 30 overs per side and captain Al Murray won the toss and inserted the home side.  The Fifers got off to a fast start with some aggressive running and that ultimately led to the 1st wicket in the 9th over as Tom Hathorn & Hamish Foley combined for a runout with 38 on the board.  Stu Dawson claimed the next wicket in the 12th over and then another in the 14th over to make it 60 for 3.  Kartic Subr came into the attack and picked up 2 wickets in the 15th over to tip things the visitors way at 61 for 5.  The introduction of John Gill paid instant dividends as his first delivery induced the batter to clean out his own stumps.  Subr then claimed a 3rd in the 22nd over to make it 91 for 7 but the home numbers 8 & 9 added 59 for the 8th wicket.  Aadi Khadse bowled an excellent last over to pick up the remaining 3 wickets and only concede 2 runs as D&C were bowled out for 152.   In reply Al Murray & Tom Hathorn opened up for the Arrows and added 33 for the 1st wicket before the captain was bowled for 21.  Gill joined Hathorn and took the score to 61 before the opener holed out for 22.  Gill fell shortly after for 17 and when Dougie Scott was bowled the visitors were in trouble at 74 for 4 in the 19th.  Hamish Foley & David Simpson took the score to 106 before Foley was run out for 26 off the final ball of the 25th over.  With the required rate above 9s Simpson & Khadse tried hard to get the Arrows within sight of the win but ultimately had to settle for maximum batting points as the 4s finished on 138 for 5 from their 30 overs to lose by 14 runs.

The Fifth XI wrap up the league weekend as they host MDAFs 4s at Grange Loan.  DAFS are currently 6th in ESCA Division 7 with 5 wins and 9 losses. In the game in the middle of June captain Keith Murray won the toss and invited the home side to bat first.  Alan Ansell picked up the 1st wicket in the 6th over with only 12 on the board.  Robbie Murray & Benji Risi came on first change and Murray struck in the 13th to make it 30 for 2.  Risi then claimed a wicket in the 18th over to leave MDAFs 52 for 3.  The home side then started to accelerate and Ansell came back and picked up 2 wickets to make it 106 for 5 in the 29th over.  That became 108 for 7 when Angus Turner picked up 2 in the next over but the home side were starting to hit out.  Murray came back and took a wicket in the 33rd with 129 on the board and then Risi claimed the last 2 wickets to bowl out MDAFs for 157 in the 39th over.  In reply the skipper and John Beattie put on 25 for the 1st wicket before Beattie fell in the 11th over.  Harry Charman joined Murray in the middle but both fell in the space of 4 balls to leave the 5s in trouble at 34 for 3 in the 17th over.  Wickets continued to fall at regular intervals and the visitors were staring down the barrel at 65 for 8 in the 33rd over but Ansell & Harrison Fontenla added 28 for the 9th wicket.  Ultimately it was not enough as both fell with the score on 93 as the 5s were bowled out for 93 in the final over to lose by 63 runs.

The Over 50s are also back in action this weekend as they head to Portgower Place on Sunday to take on Grange for a 2pm start.  The game will be a 20 overs a side match and Bob Irvine will skipper a side featuring players from Carlton, Watsonians and Edinburgh South.