Weekend roundup – 24th/25th May
The 1s made the short journey to the north of the city to take on Stewart’s Melville at Inverleith. Bowling first it took until the 22nd over for Rory Allardice to make the breakthrough but the home side was handily placed at 113 for 1. Chris McBride, back from Scotland duties, then picked up a wicket to make it 118 for 2. When Allardice claimed the other opener in the 34th over it opened the floodgates on an almighty collapse with the remaining 8 wickets falling for just 21 runs as Stew Mel were bowled out for 175. In reply Ruari Macpherson hit 69 and Olly Davidson 71* as the Arrows knocked off the runs for a 9 wicket win.
The 2s welcomed their counterparts from Grange to GL for round 5 of the ESCA Championship. Batting first the visitors lost an early wicket to Hector Murray but it took until the 30th over for the next wicket to fall. In that over Max D’Ulisse picked up two to leave Grange 133 for 3 but there was no further success for the bowlers as the vistors posted 245 for3 from their 50 overs. In reply the Arrows were in trouble at 85 for 4 but a 99 run 5th wicket partnership from Harry Simpson (52) and Ben D’Ulisse (75) got the 2s back in the game. Unfortunately both fell before the game was safe leaving too much for the tail to do and the 2s were bowled out for 232 to lose by just 13 runs.
The 3s were in North Berwick to take on Bass Rock at Recreation Park. Batting first the Arrows posted 219 for 4 from their 40 overs, the first time they have passed 200 this season. Shaun Smith hit 57 at the top of the order with youngsters Hamish Foley (64) and Tom Hathorn (39) also making good contributions. Lewis Broster then took 3 wickets to give the 3s hope for their first league win of the season but despite further success for Andrew Lang and Abhi Mehta the East Lothian side got over the line with 7 balls to spare for a 4 wicket win.
The 4s were also in East Lothian to take on TPV 3s on the plastic at Meadowmill. Bowling first Harrison Fontenla picked up the first wicket and Raj Prabhu ran out the other opener. Stu Dawson then claimed a wicket but runs continued to flow. Skipper Al Murray and John Carpenter then picked up 3 wickets each to make it 166 for 9 but a stubborn last wicket stand continued to add to the scoreboard. Eventually Atreya Subr undid the final batter with a very slow slower ball to bowl the home side out for 197. The reply never really got going as wickets fell regularly and the 4s were bowled out for 89 in the 27th over to lose by 108 runs.
The final game on Saturday saw the 5s take on TPV 4s at Merchiston. Bowling first the Arrows restricted the East Lothian side to 213 for 8 from their 40 overs with 2 wickets each for youngsters Elliot Peltenburg & Sam Gilmour as well as the slightly more mature Johann van der Merwe. Aaradhy Khadse & Ruben van der Merwe were the other successful bowlers. Sadly the Arrows struggled with the bat and although they never really threatened the TPV total they did bat the full 40 overs to pick up a couple of batting points to finish on 101 for 9.
On Sunday the 1s were in action again in round 2 of the Scottish Cup hosting Drumpellier at Grange Loan. In a rain-affected first innings Drumps took advantage of some wayward bowling to get the scoreboard moving and although wickets fell in clumps they posted a total of 195 for 7 before the rain returned 5 balls short of the their already reduced allotment of overs. DLS calculated the target for Carlton to be 198 in 42 overs and openers Ruari Macpherson (23) and Olly Davidson (27) got the reply off to a positive start. When they got out, wickets fell regularly although Chris McBride was going well and the run rate was never an issue. At 160 for 7 the game looked in the balance but Charlie Buchanan-Smith entered the fray and provided the perfect foil for McBride (79*) as the pair saw the Arrows safely through to a home quarter-final against Arbroath in late June.
Also on Sunday the Women were away to Stewart’s Melville at Inverleith. Things were looking good for the Arrows as they reduced the home side to 7 for 3 but Stew Mel recovered and despite several rain interruptions posted 160 for 6 from their 30 overs. Maisie Maceira was the pick of the bowlers with 2 for 13 and Keira Ansell also claimed a brace. In reply wickets fell regularly and none of the batters were able to impose themselves on the game. The game concluded when the 6pm cut off was reached with Carlton well behind on the Rain Calculator.