3s come second again
The 3s assembled at Kirkhill and most took the opportunity of the warm up to actually warm up in the somewhat wintry conditions. Brad called incorrectly and Carlton were invited to bat first on what looked a decent pitch. Ben & Gav opened up and made a steady start against the accurate opening attack. Gav (21) was first to go, attempting a second run after misjudging the slowness of the outfield and the quality of fielding in Div 2. Ben (13) nicked off soon after and George (9) hit a couple of nice shots before he too was out caught. Raikesy and Zaki did an excellent job of rebuilding and put on 100 for the 4th wicket against an attack that wasn’t giving much away. Zaki eventually holed out to long on for 43 trying to up the rate and GMac (7) came in and added some urgency but he also nicked off trying to force the pace. Ewan (8) and Paul (0*) gave Raikesy (65*) some support as Carlton finished on 182 for 6 from their 40 overs. The home side should be commended for completing their overs in 2hrs 15 (despite an illegal drinks break) – it just goes to show that it is not the structure of the game that takes the time it is the attitude of the players. Opening with a spinner who comes off 2 paces (albeit with an exaggerated pause in his delivery stride) is possibly another factor…
After decent tea featuring warm chicken nuggets and the controversial option of coffee the visitors set about defending what looked a handy total. Brad opened with GMac and the skipper got an early breakthrough when Murray toe-ended one to Zaki at mid on. New man Wyllie seemed intent on taking the aerial route while Charlson was playing more of an anchor innings. Zaki replaced GMac and George came on for Brad but neither was able to force a breakthrough. It eventually came with the introduction of Ben’s legspin trapping Wyllie plumb in front. Ben also got Davidson who looped an easy catch to Raikesy with the gloves. The left-handed Faulds joined Charlson and produced a partnership that took the game away from Carlton. The opening bowlers came back and GMac picked up a deserved wicket, rapping the pads of Faulds but Crawford and Charlson saw Penicuik home by 6 wickets in the 35th over. Overall a performance with lots of positives against a good side who, at the end of the day, bowled and batted a bit better than us.
Al Murray