Weekend preview – 10th/11th August

It’s a Super Saturday for the Arrows this weekend as all 6 senior teams are in action.

The First XI will welcome Falkland to Grange Loan.  The Fifers are currently 4th in the EPL with 6 wins and 5 losses.  In the match earlier this year at Scroggie Park skipper Arun Pillai lost the toss and the home side chose to bat first.  Rudy Adair picked up a wicket with the first ball of the match and although Falkland rebuilt things Adair struck again in the 13th over to make it 41 for 2.  That soon became 45 for 4 as Pillai claimed 2 quick wickets.  The home side rebuilt again and Rory Allardice struck just after drinks to make it 75 for 5.  Wickets continued to fall with 2 more for Allardice and 1 each for Lewis O’Donnell & Angus Beattie to leave the Fifers in trouble at 82 for 9 in the 31st over.  A stubborn last wicket stand was finally broken by Beattie to bowl out Falkland for 114 in the 45th over.  In reply 4 wickets fell for 36 including a controversial runout of Chris McBride.  Pillai (21) and Will Hardie (30) added 56 for the 5th wicket to get the Arrows in sight of victory but a flurry of wickets made it 96 for 9 with 19 still needed to win.  The final pair of Beattie & Adair took their time but knocked off the required runs in the 32nd over to set up a 1 wicket win.

The Women’s First XI will be on T20 Scottish Cup duty on Saturday as they head to New Williamfield.  The Arrows will take on Stewart’s Melville in the semi final starting at 11am.  The winner of that game will progress to play the winner of East Kilbride and West of Scotland.  In the WPL match against Stew Mel skipper Samantha Haggo lost the toss and the visitors chose to bowl first.  Abbi Aitken-Drummond and Sarah Beith put on 50 for the 1st wicket before Beith was bowled for 10. Charis Scott joined Aitken-Drummond at the crease and the pair put on 159 in quick time before Scott picked out a fielder to depart for 75.  Haggo made her way to the middle and gave the opener good support to see her through to a third century for a Carlton player on that pitch this weekend.  Aitken-Drummond eventually went for 108 as the home side posted an impressive 247 for 4 from their 30 overs.  Unfortunately there were only 19 balls able to be bowled in the second innings before the rain arrived and although conditions improved there was no more time for play so the game was abandoned.  In the previous round Stewart’s Melville hammered Grange by 9 wickets whilst the Arrows eased past RHC to set up the all Edinburgh second semi final.

The Second XI will head east where they will meet Tranent & Preston Village.  TPV are currently 4 spots below the Arrows, sitting 5th in ESCA Division 1.  In their 13 completed fixtures they have picked up 6 wins and 7 losses.  In the first meeting between the sides this year skipper Charles Stronach won the toss and chose to bowl first.  TPV made a reasonably quick start but when Jamie Beattie removed both openers that seemed to put the brakes on things.  Saif Khan then struck in the 16th over to make it 41 for 3 and then in the 21st over Ben Stronach claimed a wicket with the score on 58.  Chayank Gosain got in on the act in the 28th over to make it 66 for 5 before a 33 run partnership was broken by Rory Ledingham in the 38th over.  Ledingham picked up 2 more wickets and there was one for the skipper to leave TPV struggling at 97 for 9 but another stubborn rearguard action from the East Lothian side saw them finish in 113 for 9 from their 45 overs.  Gav Murray & Ally Evans opened up for the Arrows but Murray was quickly back in the hutch.  Ben D’Ulisse and Evans took the score to 46 before the Scotland man fell for 26 in the 16th over.  Dan Potter went cheaply but Charlie Kentish and D’Ulisse took the score to 87 before D’Ulisse was runout for a patient 24.  Kentish was going well and although 3 wickets were lost for just 1 run he saw the 2s home with 40* for a 3 wicket win in the 30th over.

The Third XI will take on Drummond Trinity 2s at Inverleith Park Arti on Saturday in an important match in the ESCA Division 2 relegation battle.  The North Edinburgh side are currently 9th with 2 wins and 8 losses.  The match earlier this year was contested at Grange Loan and captain Brad McKay lost the toss and DTs chose to bat first.  A strong opening stand was broken by Dougie Firth in the 9th over with 45 on the board and then McKay claimed a wicket next over.  The skipper got another in the 14th to make it 65 for 3 and then Matt Griffiths took one in the 17th.  Griffiths got a 2nd in the 23rd to make it 108 for 5 and then there were wickets for Kyle Burgess & Shreyas Tekale to leave DTs 138 for 7 in the 30th.  McKay came back on and picked up the set batter in the 35th over with the score on 170 quickly followed by 1 for Hector Murray.  McKay claimed the final wicket in the 37th over to bowl the visitors out for 180.  In reply Tekale fell early but Calum Robertson and Anish Amin took the score to 102 before Amin ran past one to be stumped for 42.  Oscar Waters & Cam Moore fell cheaply but Robertson (59*) found good support from James Stronach (31*) as the pair added an unbeaten 65 to see the 3s to their first win of the campaign by 6 wickets in the 34th over.

The Fourth XI will compete against MDAFs 3s at Roseburn Arti on Saturday.  MDAFs are currently 1 position above the Arrows in 5th place in ESCA Division 5.  In the game in June stand-in skipper Iain Hathorn lost the toss and DAFs chose to bat first.  Opening bowlers Dan Mowat & Lewis Broster reduced the visitors to 30 for 4 after 12 overs with 3 wickets for Broster and 1 for Mowat.  Kartic Subr was the next to strike just before drinks to make it 62 for 5 and Abhi Mehta also picked up a wicket in the 24th over to leave MDAFs 68 for 6.  A good 7th wicket partnership was broken by a Mowat runout in the 28th over with 103 on the board.  Aadi Khadse (2) and Tom Hathorn (1) cleaned up the tail to bowl out the visitors for 122 in the 34th over.  In reply Iain & Tom Hathorn fell early and when Euan Keatinge was out in the 14th over the home side were struggling at 26 for 3.  David Simpson (15); Dougie Scott (14), Chris Sale (16) & Khadse (11) inched the 4s towards the total but wickets kept falling and in the end they were bowled out for 100 in the 36th over to lose by 22 runs.

The Fifth XI wrap up Super Saturday as they play against Peebles at Whitestone Park.  Peebles are currently rock bottom in ESCA Division 7 with 2 wins a tie and 10 losses. In the game in early June captain Keith Murray won the toss and chose to bowl first.  A strong opening stand from Peebles was eventually broken by John Gill in the 24th over with 84 on the board.  Rahul Khadse struck in the 27th over to make it 94 for 2 but the Borders side were beginning to accelerate.  There were 2 late wickets for Benji Risi but Peebles finished on 157 for 4 from their 40 overs.  The 5s reply got off to a disastrous start as they fell to 9 for 3 in the 7th over.  Risi (10), Martin Robertston (14) & Ian Thompson (30) did a rebuilding job but there was still plenty of work to do when Thompson was out in the 27th over to make it 73 for 6.  Gill & Angus Turner added 76 in good time to bring the 5s right back into the game.  Gill was runout for an excellent 60 at the start of the 39th over with 9 needed to win.  New man Stu Dawson was runout the same over but 4 runs were added to leave 5 needed off the last.  Turner hit a 4 off the first ball to tie the game but was out next ball and then Khadse was pinned in front as the game finished with honours even.

On Sunday the annual Junior 6s takes place at Grange Loan.  The tournament features 6 teams drawn from all of the junior hardball teams. The action starts at 10am with two rounds of pool games, and then progresses to the knockout stages in the afternoon.  The bar will be open from 2pm and the BBQ will be fired up from 5pm.