Weekend roundup – 9th/10th August
The 1s hosted Grange at Grange Loan in a match kindly sponsored by Angus Mair. Bowling first Rudy Adair & Conor Regan kept things tight early on and Regan struck in the 12th over with 35 on the board. Olly Davidson then came into the attack and picked up a wicket in the 19th over to make it 58 for 2. The visitors dug in and took the score to 157 before Shiv Jhala broke the partnership in the 40th over. Grange tried to accelerate but kept losing wickets as Jhala & Davidson finished with 4 and 3 wickets respectively as the Arrows restricted the visitors to 228 for 8 from their 5 overs. Ruari Macpherson got the chase off to a flier hitting 56 of just 36 balls before holing out in the 9th over with 78 on the board. Chris McBride came in and also took the attack to the bowlers as both he & Angus Guy hit half centuries. Despite losing 4 more wickets the home side cantered home in the 30th over for a fine 5 wicket win and leapfrog Grange into 2nd place in the EPL table.
The 2s travelled to Loretto to take on Morton in the ESCA Championship. Bowling first the Arrows were well placed getting the home side 35 for 3 with skipper Charles Stronach picking up all of the wickets. Too many extras, however, threatened to let Morton off the hook. The visitors kept taking wickets and eventually bowled the home side out for 160 in the 38th over with Rory Ledingham (3); Harry Simpson (2) and Jamie Beattie (2) the successful bowlers. The Morton total included 63 extras, so the 2s were left to rue what might have been a much smaller chase. In reply the visitors were in a spot of bother at 64 for 5 but Kyle Macpherson and Harry Simpson steadied the ship. The pair added 69 for the 6th wicket before Macpherson was bowled for a patient 56. Unfortunately none of the lower order could form a meaningful partnership with Simpson and he was the last wicket to fall for 38 with the Arrows just 8 runs short of victory.
The final game on Saturday saw the 4s host Watsonians 3s at Peffermill. Bowling first Abhi Metha removed both openers and then a runout reduced the visitors to 49 for 3. A decent partnership developed and was eventually broken by Stu Dawson and another runout made the score 125 for 5. Andrew Lang then got in on the act to make it 148 for 6 but there were no more wickets as the 4s restricted Watsons to 161 for 6 from their 40 overs. Stand in skipper David Simpson and Anish Amin put on 57 for the 1st wicket before Simpson was bowled for 12. Josh Cully (22) and Amin (51) took the score to three figures before both fell in quick succession to leave the Arrows 104 for 3. A typically eventful cameo from Benji Risi (19) and more of an anchor role from Chris Sale (15) got the 4s within sight of victory and Metha hit the winning runs in the 34th over for a solid 3 wicket win.
On Sunday the Women’s 2s travelled north to Brechin to play Strathmore Ospreys in the final of the CS Women’s Challenger Cup. Bowling first the Arrows had Strathmore under pressure from the start and 2 wickets in the 4th over reduced them to 12 for 2 and then they took 2 more wickets to leave Strathmore 29 for 4 at drinks. The Arrows kept the pressure on the batting side and eventually bowled the side from Forfar out for 44 in the 18th over. Libby Wallace was the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 3 from 2.1 overs. Abby Caton (2); Agnes Foley; Ajitha Rajan & Lindsay Thompson were the other successful bowlers with captain Sarah Beith chipping in with a runout. In reply the Arrows opened up with Rajan and Sonia Amin who were patient at first and then started to make inroads into the total. The openers saw the Arrows home in the 12th over for a superb 10 wicket win finishing on 20* & 21* respectively to register the club’s first bit of silverware of the season.
Also on Sunday the 3s were at Grange Loan for the visit of MDAFs. The visitors invited the home side to bat first but must have regretted that as Shaun Smith & Euan Keatinge put on 123 for the 1st wicket. Keatinge eventually fell for 45 in the 24th over bringing Pete Gill to the crease. Smith went shortly after for 82 but Gill kept the pressure on the bowling side. He found good support from Aadi Khadse but eventually holed out for 52 in the penultimate over. The 3s finished their 40 overs on 221 for 6. Dougie Firth took 2 in 2 in the 5th over to reduce MDAFs to 18 for 2 before Raghuram Parasur took a return catch in the 8th over to make it 27 for 3. Just after drinks, stand in keeper Robbie Murray took a juggling catch off Max D’Ulisse to put the 3s in the box seat at 82 for 4. Brad McKay then made it 98 for 5 in the 25th and 5 overs later Khadse took a great grab in the deep off John Gill’s bowling to leave the visitors needing 100 runs of the last 10 to win. MDAFs gave it a really good go despite Gill picking up a 2nd wicket the visitors were 205 for 7 going into the last over. McKay took responsibility and produced a fine display of death bowling to concede only 1 run and pick up a wicket to give the 3s a 15 run win.
The final game of the weekend saw the 5s make the short journey to Inch Park to take on Edinburgh South 4s. Bowling first Rohan Kumar Jena cleaned up the openers and claimed a 3rd wicket to leave the home side 7 for 3. A direct hit from Ollie McCallum made things worse for South but the batters dug in. Aaradhy Khadse eventually made the breakthrough to make it 58 for 4 in the 19th over. Continued good work in the field kept the scoreboard under control and there were further wickets for Angus Turner and 2 more for Khadse as well as another direct hit runout as the home side finished on 111 for 9. In reply Keith Murray and Martin Robertson put on 36 for the 1st wicket before the skipper was pinned in front in the 13th over. Noah Moncur joined Robertson and took the score to 51 before Robertson fell for 28. Wickets continued to fall, including Moncur for 27, but the Arrows were edging towards the target. It was left to young Arjun Shelke (16*) to hit the winning runs in the 30th over to set up another successful chase for the 5s and a 5 wicket win.