At a hot and sunny Arboretum.
Murrayfield/DAFS 227-4 (50 overs)
M Agerkar 57, R Black 52*, J Crus Rocha 49*, P Hubbard 43
Holy Cross 228-6 (49 overs)
C Ellis 87, D Russell 54*, C Smith 47
R Devangere 3-19 (a top class spell on a pitch generally favouring the batsmen despite Friday's heavy rain)
Super game of cricket that fluctuated throughout. The final stages played out in a cracking atmosphere with Mufs 2/3/4's players and our 2nds/3rds (plus our regular supporters; AR, HK and JLRB etc as well as Dougie's family) creating a sizeable, good-natured crowd.
An adequate performance in the field (crucially, as against Helensburgh we kept things quiet in the final few overs - despite Mufs having set batsmen in and wickets in hand).
After we seemed well set at 105-1 at the halfway point, things looking dicey for us with just 4 overs left and 34 required but some fine shots (from Dougie in particular; 54 off 61 balls) got us home, 17 runs coming off the key 47th over. Shot of the day may have been Bainbro's 1st ball; a class cover driven 4 off Mel, though the turning point may have been Simon's 4 just over the head of long off.
2nds and 3rds lost despite runs for Jon (2nds) and Nipun and Scott (3rds).
Better stop there as I've just returned from Bainbro's excellent Barbeque (we can surely now use the word now that it has taken place) and am somewhat less than sober.
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A brave performance by the 3s, Nipun putting on a solid 82 run showing. Scott Russell also proved useful with the bat however with a 9 man team, fielding 170 was always going to be a tough ask.
ReplyDeleteGeddes played through the pain barrier and took a great catch, Russell took it for the team by misjudging one of my deliveries and letting it hit him on the chops!
Sadly, the Dunfermline batsmen made full use of the numerical disadvantage in the outfield and found too many gaps to push the ball through to record a victory with 3 overs or so left.
Defeat dents the 3s title challenge, but it's not over til the fat lady sings.
Congratulations to the 1st XI who are now only 1% away from Fauldhouse who lost off the last ball.
ReplyDeleteThe 2nd XI result was disappointing but there are some positives to take from the game. Jon's innings of 74* was truly magnificent, and I would rate it as better than the centuries I have seen him score as the pitch was awful.
In South's previous 3 games at the Inch their opponents have scored 72, 60 and 73. South had two pitches marked but chose the pitch we used "because of the bounce". A comical moment occurred when Jon was about 70* and was hit in the chest by a ball which pitched on a good length - "Stupid..pitch" he muttered as he threw his bat down. Jon played the ball on its merits and hit some excellent fours and a mighty six. The next highest score was Amjid's 11! Even without Gus, all South's 6 bowlers were very good indeed and would not look out of place in Div 1; they bowled accurately and seldom bowled wide or short. They have their sights on beating Mufs in the Cow Corner on Thursday.
South's batsmen took advantage of some short balls with skilful pulls or hooks. Their opener Patel batted very well (just like the first game); the rest chanced their arm, scoring boundaries and losing wickets. Our star bowler was James Burgess who pitched the ball up, got a few wickets and was unlucky not to get more, like when one of their batsmen did not walk, though our close fielders were convinced the ball hit his glove and was brilliantly caught by a diving Smudger at slip; the umpire Paul Reddish who umpired the whole game excellently, was not sure, and it was very unfortunate that one of his own players put him in such a difficult position by indicating he didn't know.
We have also found another very competent wicketkeeper in Brian Fraser who looked very good and as far as I can remember did not let a single bye through.
Brian was excellent behind the stumps despite it being a job he hadn't really done since U'15's he claimed!!!!
ReplyDeleteTom Wheeler's view of proceedings:
ReplyDelete'The 1s first posting of a 200+ total came on an excellent track and outfield at Arboretum, with Paul and Mangesh getting us to drinks on a solid footing, then JP and Regan rescuing us from a mini-crisis after three quick wickets and putting on an unbroken century partnership with sensible shot selection and running between the wickets. 227 was a competitive but far from daunting total in the conditions, and Charlie batted with notable fluency and typically sound technique in putting on another century partnership with Calum Smith after Melv had removed Keith Fraser in the first over with a smart caught and bowled.
Raj D did everything he could to get us back into the game with three excellent and hostile spells, at the end of which the home side needed 36 from 4 overs and we were marginal favourites. But aggressive hitting from Dougie Russell and birthday boy Simon Pickering turned things back in Cross's favour, and even after Melv had him Simon caught behind with a run a ball still required, Bainbridge hit his first ball for four through cover and HX were as good as home.
Lots of positives to take from a spirited performance against a strong side. With that level of performance, and perhaps a bit more of an instinct to hammer home the advantage when things are in our favour, we will win plenty of our remaining eight games. With Carlton pulling off an unlikely last ball victory at Fauldhouse yesterday, that is exactly what we will need to do if we want to be playing Division 1 cricket next year. We should be back to full strength next Saturday against Accies, who destroyed bottom club Heriots yesterday, and we need everyone to be up for the challenge we face. Based on much of what I saw against Cross, I'm confident that that's the case.
Thanks to the HX boys for an excellent game and tremendous hospitality, culminating in a fab barbecue and being ushered out of the door at 1am by a long-suffering barman who wanted to go to his bed. I decided to call it a night at that point - God knows what happened to the rest of the contingent...'
Don't forget Clan Russell there to cheer on Dad.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed watching the 1st XI for the second time this season and I am glad that the ethos of the club remains in good hands.
ReplyDeleteJLRB