Weekend roundup – 4th/5th May

On Saturday the 1st XI travelled to the north of the city to take on Heriot’s at Goldenacre.  Skipper Arun Pillai won the toss and chose to bowl first in damp conditions.  The home side got off to a fast start and Chris McBride eventually got the breakthrough in the 13th over with 89 on the board.  The home side continued to take the attack to the Arrows and Pillai eventually removed the other opener in the 22nd over to make it 123 for 2.  Angus Beattie claimed another after drinks and although there were more wickets for Lewis O’Donnell, Ally Evans, Beattie & Pillai Heriot’s posted 267 for 7 from their 50 overs.  In reply Gav Murray fell in the 2nd over and Daniel Da Costa & McBride followed in the 9th over to leave Carlton in trouble at 43 for 3.  Wickets continued to fall and although there were some starts, none of the batters was able to go on and make a telling contribution.  Ruari Macpherson top scored with 31 as the Arrows were bowled out for 184 in the 42nd over to lose by 84 runs.

Back at Grange Loan, the 2nd XI entertained Drummond Trinity.  Captain Charles Stronach won the toss and inserted the visitors.  Things did not go according to plan as DTs put on 195 runs for the first wicket before Rory Ledingham made the breakthrough in the 36th over.  Saif Khan and Max D’Ulisse combined for a runout in the 4oth over to make it 230 for 2 and there were 2 more runouts and a wicket for Khan as the visitors posted 262 for 5 from their 45 overs.  In reply Ben Thurman fell in the 7th over with 32 on the board as Ben D’Ulisse joined Mike Raikes at the crease.  The pair put on 49 before Raikes was stumped for a run-a-ball 42.  Charlie Buchannan-Smith and D’Ulisse took the score to 151 before the keeper was yorked in the 29th over for 67.  With 112 runs still need in 15 overs Ledingham & CBS kept up with the rate before CBS was runout for 51 to make it 213 for 4 in the 38th over.  Ben Stronach didn’t last long but Jamie Beattie joined Ledignham and put on some quick runs before Ledingham fell for a fine 40.  That left 30 needed from 24 balls and although wickets fell the home side needed 12 off the last with the skipper and Max D’Ulisse at the crease.  A big 6 from the skipper second ball calmed the home nerves and a scampered 2 saw Carlton home to with 2 balls to spare for the highest successful chase for the 2nd XI for more than a decade.

The 3rd XI made the short journey to Double Hedges to take on Kirk Brae.  Skipper Brad McKay won the toss and chose to bowl first.  Hector Murray struck with the final ball of the 2nd over and then Dougie Firth picked up 2 in the 7th over to leave the home side 20 for 3.  That became 29 for 5 as Murray claimed another 2 wickets in the 10th over.  McKay then got in on the act to make it 36 for 6 but a strong rear-guard action from Kirk Brae got the scoreboard moving.  Although McKay picked up 2 more wickets and there was a 4th for Murray and 1 for Hamish Foley, the home side were bowled out for 170 in the 36th over.  A fine opening stand of 71 between Iain Hathorn (37) and Calum Robertson (29) provided a good base but both openers fell either side of drinks.  Wickets then fell regularly as the 3s batters struggled to come to terms with the conditions.  In the end the visitors were bowled out for 119 in the 38th over to lose by 51 runs.

The 4th XI were at “home” at Meggetland for the visit of Watsonian 3s.  Captain Al Murray won the toss and invited the opposition to bat first.  A decent opening spell from Scott Fraser & Lewis Broster brought no reward but the breakthrough came in the 14th over as Stu Dawson disturbed the young opener’s furniture.  Kartic Subr struck the next over to remove the other opener and Dawson claimed another to reduce Watsons to 54 for 3.  2 more wickets for Subr just before drinks made it 66 for 5.  The visitors regrouped and it took until the 31st over before Finlay Thompson claimed an LBW with the score on 118.  Thompson got a second in the 35th over but some good lower order hitting saw the visitors post 180 for 7 from their 40 overs.  In reply Alan Ansell fell early and when Martin Robertson & the captain were both back in the hutch prospects looked bleak at 31 for 3.  Dougie Scott & Chris Sale got things moving again but both fell in quick succession.  2 more wickets went down to leave the 4s 92 for 7 but Fraser & Subr put on 51 for the 8th wicket to make the game interesting.  Ultimately the 4s fell short with Fraser top scoring with 42 as they lost by 20 runs.

The 5th XI were in the north of the city as they travelled to Arboretum to take on Holy Cross 2s.  Skipper Keith Murray made it a clean sweep of toss wins and also asked the home side to bat first.  Atreya Subr claimed the first wicket in the 4th over and fellow opening bowler Aadi Khadse struck in the 9th over to leave Holy Cross 30 for 2.  Noah Moncur grabbed another wicket just before drinks and then Angus Turner took 2 in an over to make it 66 for 5 after 21 overs.  The Crossers accelerated and took the score past 100 before Turner removed the opener.  Heather Tait then claimed a wicket to make it 116 for 7 with 10 overs to go.  The home side pressed on and although another wicket fell in the final over to Subr they posted 179 for 8 from their 40 overs.  In reply Murray & Aadi Khadse put on 38 for the first wicket before the skipper fell for 23.  Khadse was out in the same over and Mike Kennedy also didn’t last long but John Beattie & Tait took the score to 66 for 3 at drinks.  Unfortunately the visitors were unable to bring the same acceleration as the home side and when Beattie (16) & Tait (26) fell in consecutive overs it left Carlton 84 for 5.  The lower order struggled to make an impact on the total and in the end the 5s were bowled out for 108 in the 37th over to lose by 71 runs.

On Sunday the 1st XI were back in action on Scottish Cup duty.  West of Scotland were the visitors to Grange Loan and captain Arun Pillai lost the toss and the Hamilton Crescent side chose to bat first.  Ru McIntyre struck in the first over and then Lewis O’Donnell nicked off the other opener with the first ball of the second over thanks to a spectacular diving catch from Daniel Da Costa.  McIntyre claimed another in the 3rd over to make it 3 for 3 and then took a 3rd wicket in the 7th over to reduce West of Scotland to 14 for 4.  O’Donnell struck again in the next over to leave the visitors reeling at 14 for 5.  A bit of rebuilding was undone as O’Donnell cleaned up the West number 7 with 27 on the board in the 12th over.  Not to be outdone, McIntyre claimed his 4th the next over as the visitors subsided to 31 for 7.  The West skipper attempted to counterattack but none of the tail was able to support him as O’Donnell claimed the last 3 wickets to bowl West out for 58 in the 20th over.  In reply, Gav Murray nicked off in the 6th over but there were no more dramas as the Arrows marched into the next round thanks to 41 not out from Ru Main as they ran out winners by 9 wickets.  In the next round Carlton will face Aberdeenshire at Grange Loan after the Mannofield outfit eased past Greenock by 6 wickets.