Weekend roundup – 17th/18th August

The 1st XI travelled to the west of the city to take on Royal High Corstorphine at Barnton.  Skipper Arun Pillai won the toss and chose to bowl first.  Things did not get off to an auspicious start as both openers fell cheaply.  Daniel Da Costa and Pillai consolidated and took the score to 71 before Da Costa fell for 35 in the 17th over.  Angus Beattie was next man in but he was out in the 23rd over with 84 on the board.  Ally Evans joined Pillai in the middle and the experienced pair took the game to the bowlers.  They added 154 runs in 21 overs to set the basis for a large total.  Evans eventually went for 75 off only 61 balls in the 44th over but Pillai was still going strong.  Wickets fell at the other end but Pillai brought up 3 figures in the 46th over.  He finally fell off the penultimate ball of the innings for a fine 124 as the Arrows finished on 300 for 8 from their 50 overs.  In reply RHC got off to a fast start but Chris McBride got the breakthrough in the 9th over with 53 on the board.  Another good partnership for the home side developed before Rory Allardice struck in the 24th over to make it 127 for 2.  Angus Beattie was next to strike in the 35th over to leave RHC 181 for 3 and then the left-armer claimed another in his next over to make it 187 for 4.  In the 40th over with 99 runs still needed Lewis O’Donnell removed the RHC opener who had anchored the innings.  That prompted something of a procession for the home side as the final 5 wickets fell in the space of 20 balls – 4 more for O’Donnell and 1 for Jamie Beattie.  When O’Donnell claimed the last wicket he completed his 5-for and the Arrows bowled out RHC for 210 in the 44th over to set up a 90 run win.

Back at Grange Loan the 2nd XI entertained Edinburgh CC in a top of the table clash in ESCA Division 1.  Captain Charles Stronach won the toss and asked the visitors to bat first.  Stronach struck in the 6th over to make it 28 for 1 and Ruari Macpherson picked up the 2nd wicket in the 10th over to reduce the Campbell Park side to 40 for 2.  The visitors consolidated and Ferg Foley was next to strike in the 19th over to leave Edinburgh 85 for 3.  A good 4th wicket partnership developed which was eventually broken by the skipper in the 36th over with 151 on the board.  Macpherson claimed a 2nd in the 42nd over to make it 200 for 5 but some big hitting saw the visitors to a total of 238 for 6 with Mike Raikes picking up the last wicket.  The reply got off to a poor start as the Arrows were 16 for 2 in the 7th over.  Ben D’Ulisse fell in the 11th over to put the 2s further behind at 31 for 3.  Raikes (37) and Charlie Kentish (26) got the innings back on track but both fell in quick succession to make it 90 for 5 in the 25th over.  3 wickets fell with the score on 105 to put the 2s well and truly in the mire but Rory Ledingham coming in at 10 had other ideas.  Well supported by Harry Simpson the young leggie started to hit out.  The pair put on 82 for the 9th wicket before Simpson was run out for 23 in the 42nd over.  Sadly the skipper was out in the next over leaving Ledingham stranded on 53* (only the 2nd player to score 50 batting at number 10 in recent history) meaning the 2s were bowled out for 188 to fall short by 50 runs.   The 2s will now need to win away at Murrayfield DAFS in the final week of fixtures to ensure promotion back the Championship.

The 3rd XI travelled over the bridge to Fife to take on Dunfermline Carnegie at McKane Park.   Skipper Brad McKay won the toss and chose to bowl first.  Saif Khan picked up the 1st wicket in the 4th over with 15 on the board.  Dougie Firth was next to strike in the 9th over to make it 34 for 2 and tight bowling took the score to 57 for 2 at drinks.  A run out in the 22nd over made it 62 for 3 and then the introduction of the spin of Shreyas Tekale paid immediate dividends in the 25th over to reduce the home side to 73 for 4.  Tekale struck again in the 27th over to make it 82 for 5 thanks to a juggling catch from Anish Amin.  Max D’Ulisse then came into the attack and he claimed a wicket in the 30th over to leave the home side in trouble at 89 for 6.  D’Ulisse struck again in his next over to make it 98 for 7 before Tekale picked up his 3rd in the 33rd over with the score on 107.  D’Ulisse claimed a 3rd in the 34th over and then Tekale wrapped up the inning in the 35th over to pick up his 4th wicket and bowl the Fifers out for 115.  In reply Zaki Yusaf fell early but Tekale and Calum Robertson took the score to 87 before Tekale was bowled for 36 in the 23rd over.  Robertson fell 2 overs later for 25 with only 21 runs still required.  Anish Amin (19*) and Cam Moore (2*) saw the 3s over the line in the 32nd over to win by 7 wickets.

The final game on Saturday saw the 4th XI entertain Dunfermline & Carnegie 2s at Meadows 3.  Captain Al Murray won the toss and inserted the visitors.  Hamish Foley struck in the 4th over to make it 7 for 1 but the visitors dug in on the challenging track.  The introduction of Kyle Burgess to the attack in the 11th over proved timely as he picked up the 2nd wicket to make it 26 for 2.  That became 29 for 3 after his next over but some sensible batting saw the visitors to 52 before Burgess claimed his 3rd in the 19th over.  He took a 4th with the 1st ball after drinks to make it 53 for 5 and then when John Gill came into the attack in the 24th over he claimed a wicket as a low full toss was powerfully hit back and unfortunately hit the non-striker to loop up for a simple return catch to leave the visitors 60 for 6.  Sam Haggo was next to strike in the 31st over to make it 89 for 7 and then Foley retuned to bowl the dangerous number 8 to make it 119 for 8 in the 36th.  Andrew Lang then effected a run out to make it 120 for 9 and then he claimed the final wicket to bowl out the Fifers for 123 in the penultimate over.  In reply after 6 over both openers had gone but there were 23 runs on the board.  David Simpson and Haggo dug in and survived some hostile bowling before Haggo fell in the 15th over to make it 38 for 3.  Wickets continued to fall and with 10 overs to go the score was 69 for 7.  Lang and Gill started running with purpose and putting the odd bad ball away.  They added 52 for the 8th wicket and took the side to the brink of victory before Lang was bowled for 23.  With 4 needed Burgess slapped his 1st delivery to the off-side fence to see the 4s over the line with Gill finishing on 22* as the Arrows won by 2 wickets with 13 balls to spare.

On Sunday the 5th XI hosted MDAFs 4s at Grange Loan.  Skipper Keith Murray lost the toss and the visitors chose to bat first.  Dan Mowat took the 1st wicket in the 7th over with 26 on the board.  Benji Risi was next to strike in the 10th over to make it 31 for 2 and the next over Alan Ansell was introduced to the attack and picked up a wicket to reduce the Roseburn side to 35 for 3.  Robbie Murray then got in on the act to claim the 4th wicket in the 14th over with the score on 43.  The visitors consolidated and were 71 for 4 at drinks but the introduction of Aadi Khadse had an immediate effect as he picked up the 5th wicket.  Stu Dawson then came into the attack in the 26th over and also picked up a wicket in his 1st over to make it 81 for 6.  The scoring rate slowed right down and Dawson claimed 2nd in the 32nd over with only 10 runs added to the total.  A run out in the 38th over saw MDAFs reduced to 112 for 8 but some positive batting in the last couple of over saw them finish on 131 for 8 from their 40 overs.  The skipper and Marc Dweck opened up for the home side and after a watchful start began to get the scoreboard moving.  At drinks they were just ahead of the rate at 70 for 0 but the experienced pair were able to up the run rate and remained unbeaten as they got over the line in the 32nd over.  Dweck finished on 69* and Murray 43* as the 5s recorded a 10 wicket win.

The final game of the weekend saw the Over 50s XI featuring several guests from Watsonians & Edinburgh South travel to Stockbridge to take on the Grange Masters.  A negotiated toss saw Grange bat first.  Rahul Khadse & Chris Cox opened the bowling and Cox struck in the 4th over to make it 14 for 1. Khadse got in on the act the next over to leave Grange 24 for 2 after 5.  The home side began to score more freely with 2 of their batters retiring.  Dan Hackney came on and picked up a wicket in his 1st over and then 2 more as the home side finished their 20 overs on 129 for 5.  In reply John Beattie fell cheaply but Cox hit 20 to get the scoreboard moving.  David Simpson didn’t last long but Abdul and Sarah Beith formed a useful partnership.  Abdul retired and Ewan Robertson joined the fray before he too retired and Al Murray joined Beith in the middle.  With 28 needed of 4 overs Beith was bowled for 13.  Euan Murray made his was to the middle but the Murrays were not quite able to get the Arrows over the line.  Al Murray finished on 12* and Euan Murray on 10* as the Over 50s ended on 124 for 4 from their 20 overs.