Weekend preview – 26th/27th August

It’s the eighteenth and final round of league cricket this weekend and the Arrows have another six senior fixtures coming up.

On Saturday the First XI will welcome Forfarshire to Grange Loan. The match is kindly sponsored by Archie Gray. The Broughty Ferry side currently sit one place below the Arrows, in 4th place. In the game played earlier this season the Arrows won the toss and chose to bat first.  The innings got off to a familiar start with the loss of early wickets reducing Carlton to 42 for 3 in the 9th over.  Pillai and Shujaa Khan restored some order before the skipper fell for 25 in the 19th over with 84 on the board.  Khan was next to go for a patient 38 and that prompted a flurry of wickets to leave the visitors in all sorts of trouble at 114 for 8.  Umair Mohammed (26) and Harry Simpson (32*) dug in, adding 60 runs for the ninth wicket but in the end the Arrows were bowled out for 185 in the 44th over.  The home side got off to a fast start and although Rory Allardice made the breakthrough in the 7th over to leave the home side 41 for 1.  There was more success in the 14th over as Khan claimed a wicket and with Pillai taking a return catch the next over the score was 76 for 3.  The home side continued to take the attack to the bowlers and although Khan picked up 2 more wickets Forfs got over the line in the 36th over for a 5 wicket win. Steven Gilmour is set to return to the Carlton side for the first time since 2016. Charles Stronach will also make his second appearance of the year. To add to that former Scotland international seamer and current head coach at Carlton, Dewald Nel will make his debut for the club.

The 2nd XI will travel west to Boghall for their vital match against Linlithgow. Should the Arrows win and Dunnikier lose to Gala the 2s will stay up. The game at Grange Loan in round nine was won by the hosts. Carlton won the toss and invited the West Lothian side to bowl first.  Murray Whitaker & Charlie Kentish put on 71 for the first wicket before Whitaker fell for 34 in the 17th over.  Kentish & Dan Potter then added 51 for the second wicket before the young opener was out for 60.  Chayank Gosain joined Potter and the pair put on another 30 runs before Potter holed out for 39 in the 37th over.  The final 13 overs saw another 50 runs added but also the 7 remaining wickets falling as the home side posted 202.  In reply Rudy Adair struck early but a good second wicket partnership took the score to 88 before Stronach pinned the Linlithgow No 3 in front.  Another solid partnership seemed to be taking the game away from the home side but Adair returned and induced a false shot to remove the other opener to make it 144 for 3.  That prompted a big collapse as Linlithgow only managed to add 19 more runs as they were bowled out in the 43rd over to set up a 39 run win for the 2s.  Adair returned the remarkable figures of 7 for 27 from 8.2 overs.

The 3rd XI will head across town on Saturday for their fixture with RHC 2s at Barnton. The home side currently sit in 3rd place in the league. The Arrows require a win to stay up, under the assumption that other games in the league are completed and not washed out. Earlier this season the sides met at the second square at Goldenacre where the Arrows lost the toss and the visitors opted to bat first.  A solid display in the field saw the 3s restrict RHC to 165 for 6 from their 40 overs.  Shaun Smith, Dougie Firth & McKay all claimed a wicket and there were 3 runouts, 2 from Ben Stronach.  In reply it looked like the 3s struggles with the bat would continue as they slumped to 46 for 5 but Stronach & Andrew Lang had other ideas. The pair put on 69 for the 6th wicket before Lang went for 35.  That brought Smith to the crease and the two young Arrows took the score to 140 before Stronach fell for 58, his maiden senior half century.  Firth joined Smith in the middle and saw the 3s across the line in the 39th over for another welcome  victory by 3 wickets.

To conclude action on Saturday the 5th XI are facing off against Holy Cross 2s at Arboretum. The north Edinburgh side currently reside one spot below the 5s in 7th place. In this season’s first meeting between the sides the Arrows were inserted.  Iain & Tom Hathorn opened up and put on 137 for the first wicket before Tom fell for 42.  Hathorn Snr kept going and completed his second century of the campaign and his 117 provided the mainstay of the 5s total of 201 for 6 from their 40 overs.  In reply several of the Holy Cross batters got in but none was able to go on and make the telling contribution that Hathorn Snr had done.  The Carlton fielders backed up the bowlers well and there were more good catches taken which helped stifle the chase.  This was much needed as Holy Cross were getting close with 13 needed off the last to win with 1 wicket in hand.  Rahul Khadse held his nerve and saw the 5s to a 7 run win.  Atreya Subr was the most successful bowler with 4 wickets and Eliot Ambrose chipped in with 2 while there was 1 apiece for Noah Moncur and Rhaul & Aadi Khadse.

Getting Sunday’s action underway the 4th XI will entertain Drummond Trinity 3s at Grange Loan. The away side have no chance of promotion or relegation as they sit comfortably in 7th place, whilst the 4s have already been relegated. In the reverse fixture at Inverleith Park, the Arrows won the toss and chose to bowl first.  There were 2 early wickets for Dan Mowat courtesy of excellent catches from Angus Turner and then Hector Murray diving full length at point.  Stu Dawson was next to strike, another good catch this time from Tom Dweck behind the stumps.  At drinks the home side were 73 for 3 and John Gill was introduced to the attack.  He picked up 2 more wickets, again to good catches out in the deep.  Hector Murray then picked up a wicket, caught & bowled as did the returning Mowat.  Hamish Turner then came on and claimed two more wickets, one bowled and then another sharp catch this time from Joe Griffin at short mid-wicket.  Despite the good catching DTs had amassed 185 for 9 from their 40 overs.  A decent start with the bat was undone as Shreyas Tekale was pinned in front in the 5th over with 20 on the board.  The 4s batting woes continued as none of the batters were able to settle and take the game to the fielding side.  Wickets fell regularly and despite some good lower order resistance the 4s were bundled out for 85 in the 26th over to lose by 100 runs.

Also on Sunday the Women’s second team will meet Perth and Kinross at Grange Loan for a 9:30am start.