Cup Final Loss - 24/07/19

Ben reports:

HX's glorious cup run ended in defeat in the final against Drummond Trinity.  Batting first on a pretty flat deck, Drummond Trinity racked up 161, which looked like a good but by no means insurmountable score.  It could have been quite a bit more were it not for some tight fielding and bowling at the death, and 3 wickets for Sai in the middle overs.  In reply, HX chose to once again follow England's lead and were bundled out for 57, with only Tom and Euan House making double figures.  Ultimately a disappointing end to what has been an enjoyable and positive run to the final.  Well done to everyone who played in one of the matches.

Friendly vs Smellies - 18/07/19

Euan reports:

Last-minute cloudbursts notwithstanding, HX travelled along the Ferry Road to face old rivals Stewart Melville Trojans last night. Inserted on a greasy deck, HX did well to score 127-7, with 20-odds from Euan Hunter, Shifty, Quinny and our latest signing, Pradeep's brother-in-law Hari, who flew all the way to Scotland from Qatar just for this game.

In reply, SMT reached 87-9, their initially fairly smooth progress halted by a spectacular burst from Quinny, whose first ball was a caught-and-bowled, second ball was a caught-and-bowled, third ball was a wide and fourth ball was a dropped caught-and-bowled. He ended up with 4 wickets for 3 runs (all wides) off two devastating overs.

Holy Cross edge low-scoring semi-final! - 17/07/19

Ben reports:

With England's remarkable run-chase fresh in everyone's minds, HX travelled to the usual Campbell Park pudding to take on Scottish Widows and try to channel the spirit of Sunday.  Captain Euan won the toss and inserted the opposition on a pitch that looked, to be generous, tricky to bat on (I'd certainly like to have seen Jos Buttler try and hit a run-a-ball 60 on it).  His bowlers repaid his faith, with Ben R, Pradeep, Keith and Pete all picking up 2-fors, and Sandeep bowling exceptionally well for his 1-10.  Matt Oddy and Andy Quinn caught everything that came their way, and Euan Hunter and Ken kept scoring opportunities to a minimum with their watchful fielding.

However, some ferocious running dragged Widows up to 94, which always looked like a slightly above-par total.  Once HX had been reduced to 22-4 at the start of the ninth over, it suddenly looked quite a lot over par, and as if Widows had set a fiendish target with all the care of New Zealand.  A patient stand of 52 between Ben (contributing 24), Quinny (10) and Extras (18) dragged HX to 74 at the start of the 16th over, whereupon two quick wickets fell, Matt Oddy particularly unlucky to be run out first ball by his batting partner.  Fortunately, a bit of late hitting by Ben (finishing on 44*), coupled with whirlwind running by Sandeep ensured HX got home in the penultimate over, and made it through to the Parks Trophy Final!

Speaking of which, the final should be on Wednesday 27th of July.  Clear your schedules now and let me know if you're going to be available.  It would be great to see as many Crossers there as possible, so even if you can't play but can come and watch, please do pop along, and hopefully we can make it a proper whole-club victory.

1s lose, 2s rained off - 13/07/19

Euan reports:

The 1s fell to a 6 wkt defeat at a squelchy Inch Park yesterday.

Put in to bat on a wicket that had shades of Sabina Park circa 1998 about it - albeit it wasn't quite Walsh and Ambrose bowling - we cautiously made it to 109-8 off our 40 overs, Ben Reiss top scoring with a hard-earned 29, on what is hopefully the meanest wicket we will bat on this season.

With Edinburgh South 30-2 off 14 we looked set for a low-scoring classic, but couldn't stop their number 4 scoring as the sun dried up the strip. Wickets were shared between Ben R, Pradeep, Matt Tantum and Calum, and we gave a good account of ourselves in the field.

Crosstastic Double over Largo - Results from 06/07/19

Ben reports:

My holiday couldn't have to come to a much better conclusion than hearing we'd achieved a Crosstastic double over Largo on Saturday.  The 1s racked up a very decent 214-5 at home against Largo 1s, anchored by a superb 98* by Euan House (he claims he 'lucked out', which I refuse to believe) and 70+ for Jack Collister on debut.  They then fired Largo out for just 76 in under 20 overs, Olly picking up 3 wickets.

The 2s conceded a daunting looking 189 to Largo 2s, but unbeaten fifties for JB (57*) and Vik (68*) ensured that the total was chased down with ease in 30 overs.  A quick thank you to everyone who has made their HX debuts over the last couple of weeks - we look forward to seeing you lots more over the rest of the season.

The first monsoon rains of the season came too late for either side - 29/06/19 report

Euan reports -

Asked to field, the 1s made a decent start against Edinburgh Accies 2s, Pradeep and Robin reducing them to 43 - 3 before their number four freed his arms. A couple of held catches might have made for a different story, but we rallied well with Sai Dasari and Sada Gopan both taking wickets on debut, ably supported in the field by Abdul Shah's two run outs. Calum Lothian, Andy Graham and Ross Parker brought hockey-like energy to the field, and Simon Boendermaker chased tirelessly around the leg-side boundary to keep them to 230 all out.

The chase started well enough, Nipun striking a fine fifty in an opening stand of 82. Unfortunately, one wicket brought a few and we collapsed to 111 - 8, before the weather cruelly denied the tail a shot at glory.

.............................................

Batting first, the 2s heard the thunder and decided to get the game moving on, finishing up their innings after 27 overs, 76 all out . A couple of early wickets raised hopes, and Matt Tantum claimed a further couple on his return to action, but the damage had largely been done and MDAFS 3s got home with 6 wkts in hand.