Weekend roundup – 10th/11th May
The 1s were away at RHC and batted first on a very flat Barnton track. Olly Davidson hit a superb 143 from only 121 balls but the innings lost momentum towards the end and the Arrows were bowled out for 282 with 3 overs still to go. Rudy Adair struck with the second ball of the reply but wickets were hard to come by after that. Although there were wickets for Davidson, Rory Allardice and 2 for Shiv Jhala on debut, RHC ran out comfortable winners in the 45th over.
Back at Grange Loan the 2s hosted Edinburgh Accies in round 3 of the ESCA Championship. The visitors chose to bat first and were soon in trouble at 7 for 3 and, although they recovered, wickets continued to fall in clumps. In the end they were bowled out for 183 with Charles Stronach, Shreyas Tekale & Max D’Ulisse picking up a brace of wickets each. In reply the 2s also lost early wickets and were in a spot of bother at 44 for 4 but a century stand between Stevie Gilmour & Ben Stronach broke the back of the chase. Gilmour eventually fell for 43 but Ben Stronach went on to see the side home to a 3 wicket win in the 38th over with a fine 75 red.
The 3s travelled over the bridge to McKane Park to take on Dunfermline Carnegie. Batting first Tom Hathorn fell early but Abbi Aitken-Drummond and Charlie Kentish took the score to 50 before the Kentish offered a return catch to the bowler to depart for a quickfire 31. The wheels rather fell off the 3s innings after that as the visitors were bundled out for 84 in the 26th over. That total was never going to trouble the home side and although skipper Brad McKay & Hathorn picked up wickets, the 3s went down to an 8 wicket defeat in the 20th over.
The final game on Saturday saw the 4s venture south to take on Gala 2s with a makeshift side as the SQA exam schedule played havoc with availability. The home side got off to a good start with the bat and things only tilted the Arrows way when John Carpenter chipped in with 4 wickets. At that stage it looked like Gala would struggle to post 150 but a solid 8th wicket partnership set the 4s a total of 176 to win. Wickets fell regularly in the chase and despite 37 from Josh Cully and some lusty blows from the middle order the 4s were bowled out for 99 in the 29th over.
On Sunday the 1s started their Scottish Cup campaign with a trip to the Tryst to take on Stenhousemuir. The top 3 of Angus Guy, Ruari Macpherson and Olly Davidson all hit 50s but again the Arrows failed to make the most of the bright start. Finishing on 254 for 9 from their 50 overs felt like they left a fair number of runs out there. Things looked promising when the home side were reduced to 43 for 3 thanks to opening bowlers Charles Stronach & Rudy Adair. A stubborn 4th wicket partnership threatened to take to game away from Carlton but Arun Pillai made the all important breakthrough. Wickets fell regularly after that and Adair came back to complete his 5-for as he bowled the last man in the 46th over to see Carlton through to the next round by a margin of 39 runs.
The final match of the weekend saw the 5s entertain Holy Cross 2s at Grange Loan. A strong opening stand for the visitors was broken by young Aaradhy Khadse and then 3 wickets for Scott Fraser tipped the game Carlton’s way. Rueben van der Merwe on debut picked up a couple and then Fraser completed his second ever 5-for for the club as the Crossers were reduced to 111 for 8. They recovered, however, and were eventually bowled out for 181 off the last ball of the 40 overs. The reply was built around a patient 52 from skipper Keith Murray and Noah Moncur also chipped in with 33 but both fell in quick succession with 36 still needed off 32 balls. Unfortunately this proved to be just too much for the lower order to manage and the 5s fell 7 runs short.