Weekend roundup – 1st/2nd August

The 1s made the short journey to Myreside to take on Watsonians in round 14 of the EPL.  On winning the toss the Arrows batted first but both openers fell cheaply.  Arun Pillai (sponsored by Umair Mohammed Cosmetic & Sports Dentistry); Daniel Da Costa; James Stronach and Shovik Chakraborty all got starts but no one could go an and make a telling contribution.  When Chakraborty was out in the 35th over with the score on 148, it looked like the Arrows would struggle to post a competitive total but Ferg Foley (45) and Ben Stronach (65*) added 109 for the 7th wicket.  Rain meant the match was reduced to 48 overs a side and the visitors finished on 259 for 7.  Unfortunately the home side set off like a train and none of the Arrows bowlers could contain former Scotland star Oli Hairs.  There were wickets for Conor Regan, Rudy Adair & Chakraborty but Hairs hit 186* off only 74 balls to take Watsonians over the line in the 23rd over for a 7 wicket loss for the Arrows.

The 2s were at home for the visit of Gala in the ESCA Championship.  Skipper Gav Murray lost another toss and the visitors chose to bat first.  Charles Stronach picked up an early wicket and tight early bowling kept the scoring rate in check.  In the 16th over with only 27 on the board Stronach took 2 in 2 balls to leave the Borderers in trouble at 27 for 3.  Hamish Foley then got in on the act with 2 more wickets to leave Gala 64 for 5 in the 23rd over.  The visitors did manage to up the scoring rate in the second half of the innings despite 2 wickets for Rory Ledingham and they finished on 175 for 7 from their 50 overs.  In reply, Ben D’Ulisse fell in the 10th over with 30 on the board.  Tom Hathorn and Pete Gill added 44 runs before Gill was caught behind for 29.  Murray and Hathorn took the score to 123 at drinks before Murray went immediately after for 25.  Tom Pedley didn’t last long but Barry Vosloo and Hathorn got the Arrows in sight of victory before the Irishman was bowled for 22.  Ledingham and Hathorn ensured there was no late drama with the latter finishing on 61* as the home side completed a 5 wicket win in the 37th over.

The 4s were at “home” at Peffermill for the visit of Penicuik 2s.  Bowling first the Arrows kept the openers in check before wickets for Kyle Burgess and Abhi Mehta reduced the visitors to 23 for 2 in the 8th over.  Penicuik dug in and took the score to 64 for 2 at drinks before Aaradhy Khadse eventually made the breakthrough in the 25th over.  That prompted a clatter of wickets inlcuding 2 for Stu Dawson and 2 more for Khadse as the visitors slumped to 86 for 7.  Mehta came back and picked up his second wicket and then a smart bit of work in the field from Khadse saw the Penicuik No 10 run out with 97 on the board.  Burgess returned to claim the final wicket as the Arrows bowled the visitors out for 112 in the 39th over.  In reply skipper Al Murray went early but Basil Khan and David Simpson took the score to 38 before Simpson was trapped in front in the 16th over.  Ishan Samanta joined Khan at the crease and after a watchful start began to score more freely.  Khan eventually fell for 42 but Euan Burgess (10*) joined Samanta (30*) and knocked off the remaining runs for a 7 wicket win for the Arrows.

The final game on Saturday saw the 5s play Edinburgh South 4s.  The Arrows bowled first and new man Benito Santosh struck in the first over.  Fellow opening bowler Rohan Kumar Jena also picked up a wicket in his first over but the Arrows had to wait until the 23rd over for their next success with Arjun Shelke making the breakthrough with 112 on the board.  Each of those bowlers would go on to take 3 wickets each and Sam Gilmour claimed the final wicket to bowl out the home team for 203 in the 39th over.  Martin Robertson and Gilmour made a watchful start with the bat until Robertson was bowled in the 11th over for 10.  Vijay Raghavan and Sid Narayanaswamy both fell cheaply as did Seb Gupta and the Arrows looked in trouble at 52 for 4.  Gilmour found good support from fellow U13 Dilan Amin and the pair added 69 for the 4th wicket before Gilmour was run out for his first senior 50.  Amin kept going and skipper Keith Murray hit a brisk 28* to ensure the Arrows got maximum batting points as they finished on 166 for 5, to fall short by 37 runs.

On Sunday the Women’s 1s were playing West of Scotland for the third time in 3 weeks.  They were again at Hamilton Crescent although this time it was a WPL 40 encounter.  Batting first the Arrows lost Sarah Beith early but Holly Sladen and Sophie Thomas took the score to 117 before Sladen fell for 43.  Thomas went shortly after for 58, her first half century for the Arrows, and the experienced pair of Samantha Evans and Ikra Farooq took the score to 168 before skipper Evans fell for 25.  Farooq was caught soon after and there was a flurry of wickets to leave the visitors 185 for 8 but Aggie Foley and Varsha Suresh added 58 valuable runs before Foley holed out for 31.  In the end the Arrows were bowled out for 257 in the 37th over.  Foley continued her good form with the bat to her bowling performance claiming the first 3 wickets to reduce West to 51 for 3 in the 9th over.  Saskia Aldridge and Suresh both picked up wickets with the score on 72 and then Evans got involved to make it 108 for 6.  Foley came back to claim her 4th and Farooq wrapped up the win in the 28th over, bowling the home side out for 132 to set up a 125 runs win and make it 3 wins in 3 weeks against West.

The Women’s 2s were also in action on Sunday in the final of the Challenger T20 Cup at Brechin.   Perth Panthers won the toss and invited the Arrows to bat.  Ajitha Rajan fell early, quickly followed by skipper Amelia Beattie but Abby Caton and Ashley Robertson took the score to 39 before Robertson fell for 10.  Sarah Law and Caton added 48 for the 4th wicket before Law was bowled for 12.  Caton retired on 30 and Lindsay Thompson (16) added some useful late order runs as the Arrows finished on 118 for 6 from their 20 overs.  Mathilda Ellis and Lindsay Thompson opened the bowling and Thompson struck in the 4th over with 10 on the board.  Rajan & daughter Krithi Subr then came on and Rajan picked up a wicket to make it 19 for 2 after 7 overs.  Caton replaced Rajan and struck immediately to make it 26 for 3 and then Thompson came back and  claimed the next 2 wickets to leave Perth in all sorts of trouble at 28 for 5.  Ellis then took a wicket and Caton claimed her 2nd.  Subr then struck and a Caton run out got the Arrows in touching distance of the silverware before Rajan took the final wicket in the 17th over to bowl Perth out for 42 and Carlton retained the Challenger T20 cup.

The final game of the weekend saw the 3s host RHC 3s at Grange Loan.  The visitors won the toss and chose to bowl first.  Anish Amin went early but Charlie Kentish and Pavan Yaradi took the game to the RHC bowlers.  Kentish made 86 before being bowled in the 22nd over with 155 on the board.  Robbie Murray made his way to the middle and the pair added 62 runs before Yaradi was out caught for 89.  The Arrows couldn’t quite maintain the scoring rate and finished on 289 for 6 with Murray (25), Aadi Khadse (20) and Atreya Subr (21*) adding useful runs late on.  With the ball Khadse got an early strike and fellow opening bowler Dougie Firth also picked up a wicket to make it 44 for 2.  Khadse claimed his 2nd shortly after and the skipper Brad McKay struck in the 14th over to make it 54 for 4.  The visitors recovered and it took until the 23rd over for Elliot Peltenburg to make the breakthrough but RHC had a mountain to climb.  There were further wickets for John Gill, McKay and 2 for the returning Khadse and Gill got the final wicket in the 37th over to bowl RHC out for 197 and give the Arrows a convincing 92 run win.