Weekend roundup 24th/25th August
The weekend got off to an early start on Friday night as the Women took on Stewart’s Melville in a rearranged Round 7 clash in the WPL, played as a T20. Skipper Sam Haggo won the toss and chose to field first. The Inverleith side got off to a positive start before Charis Scott made the breakthrough in the 8th over with 43 on the board. Agnes Foley then removed the other opener in the 11th over to make it 62 for 2. The run rate slowed down in the face of some accurate bowling and there were further wickets – 3 for Haggo and a second for Scott as the home side restricted Stew Mel to 93 for 6 from their 20 overs. In reply Abbi Aitken-Drummond and Sarah Beith put on 36 for the first wicket before Beith was bowled in the 7th over. Scott was the next batter in but her stay was brief as she was caught in the 8th over to make it 41 for 2. Haggo joined Aitken-Drummond in the middle and the experienced pair added 28 runs in good time before a mix-up saw the opener run out for 27 in the 13th over. Heather Tait was next in and she & Haggo saw the Arrows over the line in the 16th over with the skipper capping a fine all round display with 26* as the Women took another step further to retaining their WPL title with a 7 wicket win.
On Saturday the 1st XI were also up against Stewart’s Melville at Grange Loan in the penultimate round of the EPL. Captain Daniel Da Costa won the toss and chose to bat first. Rurai Macpherson and Chris McBride got off to a blistering start before McBride played on in the 3rd over to depart for 14 with 24 on the board. 2 overs later the captain was back in the hutch having failed to trouble the scorers and Ru Main joined Macpherson in the middle. The pair put on 57 for the 3rd wicket before Main was bowled for 19 in the 13th over only for Macpherson to depart an over later for 50 to make it 80 for 4. Gav Murray and Lewis O’Donnell consolidated things and took the score to 131 before O’Donnell holed out for 11 in the 23rd over. That prompted a collapse, including Murray for 27, as the last 5 wickets only yielded 19 runs and the home side were bowled out for 150 in the 3nd over. A relatively watchful start from the visitors was broken in the 7th over by O’Donnell to make it 25 for 1. A solid 2nd wicket partnership took the score into 3 figures before Harry Simpson removed both set batters to leave Stew Mel 116 for 3 just after drinks. There was no more success for the home bowlers and the Inverleith side cruised home in the 31st over to win by 7 wickets.
The 2nd XI travelled to Roseburn to take on Murrayfield DAFs in their final league game of the season knowing they needed to win to ensure promotion back to the ESCA Championship. Skipper Charles Stronach called incorrectly and the home side chose to bowl first. Oscar Waters & Will Hardie put on 57 for the 1st wicket before Hardie was stumped for 24 in the 20th over. Shiv Jhala was the next man in and he and Waters took the score to 95 before the opener departed for 25. Jhala fell for 30 in the 29th over with 101 on the board and Charlie Buchannan-Smith and Charlie Kentish took the score to 125 before Kentish was out for 16. CBS (30*) was the mainstay of the backend of the innings as he helped push the total up to 185 for 8 at the end of 45 overs with a useful cameo from Max D’Ulisse (16 off 16 balls). Conor Regan took 2 early wickets and then the skipper claimed 1 to leave the home side in trouble at 14 for 3 after 8 overs. MDAFs counterattacked and got the scoreboard moving only for Regan to claim a 3rd to make it 60 for 4 after 17 overs. With the asking rate climbing wickets started to tumble and in the end the home side were bowled out for 95 in the 32nd over with 3 wickets for Jhala and 2 for Rory Ledingham. That 90 run win means that the 2s have bounced straight back to the Championship after relegation last season.
The 3rd XI entertained Edinburgh CC 2s at Meadows 2 in the final round of fixtures in ESCA Division 2. Captain Brad McKay lost the toss and the visitors chose to bowl first. Openers Shreyas Tekale and Zaki Yusaf fell cheaply and when Anish Amin was out the 3s were in a spot of bother at 33 for 3. Calum Robertson (22) and Cam Moore (20) steadied the ship but when they both fell things looked precarious at 71 for 5. A fine 52 run partnership from Shaun Smith (27) & Hamish Foley (33) tipped things back the home sides way. Unfortunately the lower order failed to make an impression on the scoreboard and the Arrows were bowled out for 136 in the 35th over. A decent opening stand for the Campbell Park side was broken by Saif Khan with 24 on the board. A runout from Foley and then wickets for Smith (2) and McKay made it 48 for 5 and then Tekale struck to make it 50 for 6. The visitors kept the scoreboard ticking over until Firth came back to claim the 7th wicket with 73 on the board. With the game in the balance McKay struck in his final over to make it 106 for 8 to tip things back the home side’s way. Smith then picked up the final 2 wickets to bowl out Edinburgh CC for 119 in the 39th over to set up a fine 17 run win. Sadly results elsewhere means that that win may not be enough to keep the 3s in Division 2 next season.
The 4th XI game against Livingston 2s was called off early on Saturday due to a waterlogged outfield at Dresselrigg. That results sees the 4s finish 6th in ESCA Division 5.
On Sunday the Women were in action again, this time taking on RHC at Barnton. The match was reduced to 20 overs a side in the hope of beating the less than clement Scottish summer weather. Skipper Sam Haggo lost the toss and the home side chose to bowl first. Abbi Aitken-Drummond and Sarah Beith added 38 for the first wicket before Beith was bowled in the 7th over. A mix-up in the 9th over saw Charis Scott run out to make it 49 for 2 bringing Haggo to the crease. The pair added 55 in good time before Aitken-Drummond was caught for 49 and then Heather Tait fell cheaply
to leave the Arrows 112 for 4 at the start of the 17th over. Some big hitting from the skipper helped propel the visitors to a total of 149 for 6 as she departed in the final over for a fine 47 from only 36 balls. In reply the home side got off to a steady start but Gabriella Fontenla made the breakthrough in the 6th over with 30 on the board. Aitken-Drummond picked up the 2nd wicket in the next over and then the 3rd in the 11th over to leave RHC in real trouble at 46 for 3. A runout and 2 more wickets for Aitken-Drummond put the home side further behind at 51 for 6 and then further wickets for Saskia Aldridge, Haggo and Fontenla restricted RHC to 79 for 9 from their 20 overs. That 70 run win for the Women means that they retain the WPL title for the 4th year in a row.
The final game of the weekend saw the 5th XI host Drummond Trinity 5s at Grange Loan in the final league match in ESCA Division 7. Captain Keith Murray lost the toss and the 5s were invited to bat first. Murray and Martin Robertson put on 115 for the 1st wicket before the captain was bowled for 46 in the 27th over. Robertson followed for 56 in the 29th over to make it 120 for 2 and then wickets fell regularly as the Arrows tried to capitalise on the good platform set by the openers. Only Tom Dweck (27*) found any form a fluidity with the bat but the 5s posted a competitive looking 181 for 8 from their 40 overs. An early runout from Josh Cully reduced DTs to 4 for 1 in the 2nd over and then in the 7th over Atreya Subr removed the other opener to make it 22 for 2. A good 3rd wicket partnership developed and was broken just before drinks by Rahul Khadse with 85 of the board. Another runout in the 29th over, this time from Alan Ansell, made it 104 for 4 which prompted an almighty collapse from the visitors. Cully picked up the set batter thanks to a good grab at point from Subr, then 2 direct hit runouts from Cully & Harry Charman made it 116 for 7. Cully then claimed 2 wickets in the 32nd over to make it 116 for 9 before Subr picked up the final wicket to bowl DTs out for 117 and give the Arrows a 64 run victory. That win was enough to see the 5s finish in 6th place in ESCA Division 7.