ESCA Week 17 match reports

The penultimate week of the league season saw the First XI take on Hawick & Wilton at Meggetland. Electing to bowl, the 1s restricted Hawick to 106, with Ben Risi the pick of the bowlers, taking 5 for 15 from 5.2 overs. That always looked unlikely to be enough on Meggetland’s batting strip. And so it proved where, despite the loss of opener Kaling Singh, and number 3 Marcus Cunnington (back in the Blue and Green after the end of the Commonwealth Games) Gajander Singh battered an unbeaten 76 from 48 balls. In the end a comfortable win for the Firsts, which left them still in the promotion hunt.

The Seconds made the trip across the Forth for a top v bottom clash against Dunnikier 2. Electing to bat, the boys set a total 151, Irfan Mohammad’s superb measured 60 providing the bulk of the runs in an innings that also saw good contributions from Ed Hutchinson and Hassan Durrani. In response the Seconds saw the league leaders educed to 22 for 3 early on with two great catches by Pete Connolly and a snorter of a ball from Hassan, before Usama Yaseen’s 52 put the hosts back on the front foot. Once he was gone, it looked like a door opened to a fairy unlikely result, but an unbeaten 22 by Muhammad Rafique, and a healthy serving of extras saw Dunnikier take the 20 points for the win. While they were beaten, it was a superb team performance by the Seconds, in what was occasionally a towsy match.

Over at Gyle Park, the Third XI were taking on Royal High Corstorphine 4, with an outside chance of promotion still there. With the visitors opting to bat first on what is traditionally a road, the 3s did well to keep them to 164. Pick of the bowlers was Matthew Batchelor, who finished with 4 for 43, narrowly missing out on both a hat-trick and a 5-fer. Batting proved tougher for the boys, with Tom Millar and Adam Cornick out early, before Muhammad Sadiq hit a sublime 43. Once he was out though, it was a bit of a struggle, although Shahid Chaudry rolled back the years with a 25, batting at 10. It wasn’t enough though, as RHC won by 50 runs, and the boys will end the season mid-table.