Weekend roundup – 13th/14th June

The 1s hosted RHC in round 7 of the EPL at Grange Loan on Saturday.  The visitors won the toss and chose to bowl first.  The Arrows lost Angus Guy early but Shovik Chakraborty (29) and Shiv Jhala (25) got the scoreboard moving.  They both fell in quick succession and at 73 for 3 the home side looked in a bit of trouble.  Daniel Da Costa & Olly Davidson (sponsored by Haldi) put on 50 for the 4th wicket before Davidson went for 17.  Another decent partnership formed between Tom Pedley and Da Costa taking the score to 179 before Pedley was out for 23.  Da Costa fell shortly after for 64 and the tail got the Arrows to 225 before being bowled out in the final over.  RHC got off to a fast start before Conor Regan struck in the 8th over to make it 44 for 1.  Another good partnership for the visitors was broken by Jhala just before drinks with the score on 135.  Immediately after drinks Rudy Adair picked up the key wicket of Liam Naylor and then 2 more for Jhala and 1 for Davidson had RHC 144 for 6.  Jhala completed his 5-for with 2 more wickets and 1 for Ben Stronach made it 183 for 9 but the final RHC pair reached the target with 4.3 overs to spare to leave the Arrows nursing a 1 wicket loss.

The 2s were away at Campbell Park to take on Edinburgh CC in the ESCA Championship.  Choosing to bowl first the Arrows got the first wicket courtesy of Rory Ledingham in the 16th over with 52 on the board.  Aadi Khadse struck the next over but the home side dug in and were 89 for 2 at drinks.  They began to accelerate and when Max D’Ulisse picked up the 3rd wicket in the 36th over the score had moved on to 143.    Although the Arrows took 4 more wickets – 1 for Hamish Foley, 2 more for Khadse & 1 for Isaac Coates, Edinburgh CC posted a formidable looking 252 for 7 from their 50 overs.  In reply Barry Vosloo fell to the first ball he faced and none of the top order made a significant impact on the scoreboard.  At 65 for 4 things looked bleak for the Arrows but Tom Hathorn & Zaki Yusaf put on 59 for the 5th wicket.  Hathorn eventually departed for 36 and Coates didn’t last long but Yusaf found good support from Ledingham.  They took the score to 176 before Ledingham departed for 20 and Yusaf went shortly after for 56.  In the end the Arrows were bowled out for 200 to lose by 52 runs.

The 4s made the short journey to the Meadows to take on Morton 3s in ESCA Division 5.  Losing the toss the Arrows were inserted on a challenging surface and lost Basil Khan with only 5 on the board.  More wickets fell and at drinks Carlton were 44 for 3.  Skipper Al Murray’s dogged resistance at the top of the order was eventually undone as he fell for 17 in the 25th over with 60 on the board.  Wickets kept falling and things looked bleak as the Arrows were reduced to 76 for 9 in the 33rd over but Jake Heller and Stu Dawson kept their composure and added 21 valuable runs as the 4s finished on 97 for 9.  In reply Heller picked up an early wicket and a direct hit from Abhi Mehta saw off the other opener to make it 5 for 2.  Mehta then claimed 2 with the ball to leave Morton 27 for 4 but the home side started to counter attack. Mehta kept his composure and picked up 2 more to keep the Arrows in the hunt at 71 for 6 before Taha Khan struck to make it 78 for 7.  Dawson then came into the attack and took 2 wickets to leave the game in the balance at 94 for 9.  Heller then came back on and took a superb diving return catch to complete an unlikely victory by a margin of only 2 runs.

The final game on Saturday saw the 5s host TPV 5s at Peffermill.  Rahul Khadse won the toss and invited the visitors to bat.  Early strikes for Tom Sweet and Rohan Jena reduced TPV to 14 for 2 but the visitors recovered.  An unfortunate injury to Aaradhy Khadse left the Arrows short handed for most of the game but Khadse Snr picked up a wicket in the 12th over to make it 54 for 3.  TPV kept their momentum going and although there were more wickets for Khadse, Abijeet Shelke (2), Arjun Shelke and a Euan Sweet run out the East Lothian side looked set for a big total.  Tom Sweet came back on and claimed the final 2 wickets to bowl out the visitors for 186.  In reply the Arrows lost 4 wickets early but Vijay Raghavan and John Carpenter recovered things to leave the 5s 79 for 4 at drinks.  Both fell in the 23rd over, Raghavan 5 short of a half century.  Euan & Tom Sweet battled hard but the rate was climbing.  Sweet Snr departed in the 36th over for 29 with 33 runs still needed.  In the end it was too much for the lower order with Sweet Jnr finishing 30* as the Arrows fell short by 9 runs.

On Sunday the Women’s 1s were in WPL 40 action at Merchiston School against Stew Mel.  Bowling first the Arrows struck early through Keira Ansell and then Agnes Foley picked up a brace to leave the visitors in trouble at 37 for 3.  A Sophie Thomas run out made matters worse for Stew Mel and then Flora Corbin bowled the visitor’s captain to make it 40 for 5.  Foley then claimed her 3rd wicket and then Corbin picked up another and a Sonia Amin run out reduced Stew Mel to 57 for 8.  Corbin then took the final 2 wicket to bowl the visitors out for 63.  The Arrows lost 3 early wickets in the chase but Samantha Evans and Corbin steadied the ship and took the score to 52 before Corbin was bowled for 11.  Amin joined the skipper at the crease and saw the Arrows over the line in the 13th over for a 6 wicket win, with Evans finishing on 22* as they maintained their unbeaten start to their league campaign.

The Women’s 2s were on the road at Portgower Place taking on table topping Grange in the WPL 30.  The home side had won all 4 of their league games this season and proved to be tough opposition for the Arrows.  Panashe Muzambe claimed the first wicket to make it 44 for 1 in the 10th over but the only other success came from Lindsay Thompson late on as the home side finished on 189 for 2 from their 30 overs.  Christina Evans and Amelia Beattie put on 38 for the first wicket before the skipper was bowled for 13.  Evans kept going but wickets kept falling at the other end.  When Evans was pinned in front for 28 the Arrows were in trouble at 65 for 4.  Only Ashley Robertson of the remaining batters found any form of fluency and when she was run out in the 27th over for 32 the Arrows were all out for 130, to fall short by 59 runs.

The final game of the weekend saw the 3s host Kelso at Grange Loan.  Invited to bat first the visitors lost an early wicket to Dougie Firth, well caught by keeper Cam Moore.  The 2 players combined again to remove the Kelso number 3 to make it 42 for 2 in the 11th over.  Felix Lisher was the next to strike and then a horrible mix up in the 23rd over saw a run out to make it 86 for 4.  Brad McKay then chipped in with a wicket and Tom Hathorn picked up 3 to keep the borderers in check.  Firth came back and claimed his 3rd wicket as Kelso finished on 152 for 9 from their 40 overs.  Tight bowling early on from the visitors made scoring difficult for the Arrows and wickets started to fall.  At drinks the home side were 66 for 3 but Hathorn was looking comfortable at the crease.  Unfortunately he offered a return catch to the bowler in the 28th over to depart for 32.  Lisher then entered the fray and got the scoreboard moving but wickets kept falling at the other end.  In the end the Arrows left themselves too much to do and McKay was bowled off the final ball of the innings to finish 9 runs short, Lisher ending with 36*.