Weekend roundup – 14th/15th August

The 1st XI got their double-header weekend underway by welcoming Arbroath to Grange Loan in a match kindly sponsored by Angus Mair.  With Ally Evans away, Tom Simpson took the reins and won the toss and chose to bat first.  The visitors took wickets at regular intervals to leave Carlton in some trouble at 88 for 6 after 24 overs with only Shujaa Khan and Hugo Southwell (27) finding any sort of form.  Khan found good support from Angus Beattie, putting on 57 for the 7th wicket before the young left-hander fell for 25.  That was the last significant partnership but Khan went on to bring up his second century of the season and was the last man out for 121 with 204 on the board.  In reply Arbroath also lost early wickets and struggled to form meaningful partnerships.  Always behind the rate the visitors were eventually restricted to 177 for 9 from their 50 overs.   Shiv Gupta & Ru McIntyre picked up 2 wickets apiece with Omar Ahmad and Arun Pillai also claiming wickets and there were 3 run outs as the Arrows recorded a 27 run win.

The 2nd XI travelled across town to Goldenacre to take on Heriot’s 2s.  Harry Simpson was at the helm and won the toss and asked the home side to bowl first.  Will Hardie and Gav Murray made a good start nearly reaching 100 before Hardie (31) picked out deep midwicket.  Hayden Laing joined Murray and the young opener fell for 65 at drinks with the score on 118 for 2.  There was a clatter of wickets leaving the 2s 148 for 6 when Simpson and Calum Everett combined to put on 108 for the 7th wicket.  Everett (59) fell in the penultimate over with Simpson finishing on 57 not out as the 2s posted 265 for 7 from their 50 overs.  Opening bowlers Charles Stronach and Saif Khan kept things tight early on, picking up a wicket apiece in the 7th & 12th over.  Everett replaced Khan as Stronach picked up 2 more wickets before he collected a brace himself.  Gav Rittoo came on for Stronach and cleaned up the tail, including a stunning caught & bowled, to bowl out Heriot’s for 69 in the 25th over.

The 3rd XI made the short journey south to play Kirkbrae at Double Hedges.  Skipper Brad McKay won the toss and the home side were invited to bat first.  A good performance with the ball saw Kirkbrae bowled out for 141 in the 40th over.  Max D’Ulisse claimed 3 wickets with his off-spin and there were 2 each for Andrew Lang, Amit Bij & Rory Ledingham and 1 for McKay.  In reply, Zaki Yusaf continued his good form with the bat scoring 70 but no one else was really able to make a telling contribution.  With just 3 runs needed and 3 wickets in hand it looked like a comfortable win was in sight but 2 wickets fell in the space of 3 balls and it was left to Sam Haggo to nick one through the slips for 4 to secure the points.

The 4th XI entertained RHC 3s on the second pitch at Inch Park.  Skipper Al Murray lost the toss and the 4s were inserted.  Wickets fell at regular intervals in the face of some accurate bowling from the visitor’s opening pair.  After 16 overs the 4s were in trouble at 34 for 5 but Isaac Foley (32) stuck in well to see the 4s into triple figures before he fell to an acrobatic one-handed return catch.  Joe Ward (22) then added useful runs with Kyle Burgess (6*) to get the 4s to 134 before being bowled in the penultimate over.  Mark McKay picked up an LBW decision in the 5th over but RHC were able to punish any wayward bowling.  Kyle Burgess produced an excellent delivery to castle the RHC #3 but the damage had been done by then.  In the end RHC coasted to victory in the 29th over to win by 8 wickets.

Also on Sunday the 1st XI hosted Stewarts Melville at Grange Loan.  With Ally Evans back in charge Carlton won another toss and again opted to bat first.  Despite the loss of 2 early wickets Shujaa Khan continued his form from the previous day and found good support from Fraser Burnett to put on 165 for the 3rd wicket.  Burnett (62) and Khan (91) fell in quick succession but Arun Pillai hit 70 to propel the home side to an imposing 314 for 7 from their 50 overs. The visitors reply never really got going with Evans picking up 2 early wickets.  Shiv Gupta then claimed a wicket to leave Stewarts Melville in more trouble at 37 for 3.  Some rebuilding for the visitors was undone by the returning Evans as he picked up a further 4 wickets including a hat-trick.  Spinners Harry Simpson and Angus Beattie then claimed the final 3 wickets to set up a commanding 203 run victory in the 27th over.

The U16s travelled north to Perth Doo’cot for the finals days of their Scottish Cup.  Up first was Clydesdale and skipper Ru McIntyre won the toss and elected to bat first.  Gav Murray & Shaun Smith got Carlton off to flying start bringing up the 50 in the 6th over.  Smith fell for 28, and despite losing Euan Keatinge cheaply, Murray retired on 53 just after drinks with the score 87 for 2.  McIntyre was the only other batter to find any real fluency and his 43 helped Carlton post 156 for 7 from their 20 overs.   Clydesdale also got off to a fast start but 3 quick wickets stalled their progress.  The Glasgow side were 85 for 3 at drinks and well set but the introduction of Max D’Ulisse’s offspin had immediate impact pinning the dangerous #4 in front.  Mark McKay then bowled the Clydesdale captain next over to tip things in Carlton’s favour.  The West coast side didn’t give up and with 3 wickets in hand needed 9 off the last over to be bowled by the skipper.  A run out first ball eased the nerves and McIntyre picked up the last 2 wickets to bowl Clydesdale out for 151 after 19.4 overs to win by 5 runs.

In the final the U16s faced Gordonians and again McIntyre won the toss and chose to bat first.  Murray & Smith again opened up and got off to a blistering start before Murray was run out for 44 in the 6th over with 72 on the board.  Keatinge fell just before drinks with the score on 100 and McIntyre joined Smith in the middle.  The opener retired on 50 in the 13th over bringing Rory Ledingham to the crease.  Ledingham added 28 before holing out in the 18th over and Isaac Foley (2*) and McIntyre (44*) took the Carlton total to 184 for 3 from their 20 overs.  The side from the North East got off to a steady start but the first wicket fell in the 5th over courtesy of a run out from Foley with the score on 25.  That proved to be the highest partnership of the innings as an excellent bowling and fielding display, including 2 stunning catches, saw the U16s bowl Gordonians out for 60 in the 18th over and claim the silverware.

The women found their way to Bailliefields in Falkirk for a T20 hardball development game against a combined Westquarter & Redding and Callander Valkyries girls/women’s team. They have just moved onto hardball games and were welcoming and keen for the match experience.   Carlton batted first and scored 132 for 3 (Janie Hemsley 36ret, Sarah Beith 24ret) and restricted the opposition to 52 for 4 (Maira Ratnarujah 2 for 7 and tight bowling all round).

The final match of the weekend was the Mixed Development XI hosting Drummond Trinity 5s at Inch Park.  Skipper Bob Irvine lost the toss and DTs chose to bat first.  The visitors were bowled out for 196 in the 28th over with young Tom Hathorn the star with the ball, claiming 4 wickets.  David Rowlands also picked up 2 wickets and there was 1 for Euan Murray and an Iain Hathorn run out.  In reply Hathorn Snr & Jnr put on 40 before young Tom was the first wicket.  Hathorn Snr retired on 50 and Robert Rowlands chipped in with 20.  Stu Dawson was left stranded, 2 short of a half century as the Mixed Dev side finished on 148 for 6 from their 30 overs to fall 48 runs short.