ESCA Week 2 match reports

A couple of excellent results for ’Muir this weekend to go along with a washout.

The Firsts continued their excellent start to the season with a 29 run win over Westquarter & Redding. Put in by Westquarter, the 1s started solidly, with Lawrence and Sharez putting on 64 before Sharez was caught. Lawrence went on to score a well-deserved 51. The middle order decided to make things a bit interesting before Benji and Ajey steadied things.With Westquarter being reduced to 40-4 it looks like a straightforward win for the 1s was on the cards. It’s possible the fielding could have been a little better as Westquarter rebuilt, but they were always behind the rate and the Firsts ended up with a deserved victory.

Over at The Meadows, the Seconds were 4 overs into their game when the heavens opened. Following a brief chat between the captains it was decided that the prospect of waiting under a tree for about an hour and a half while we hoped the wicket would dry wasn’t that enticing. Of note, Hutton had, for once, won the toss, and is now half way to equalling his total number of tosses won in 2024 (2 out of 17).

All of this was just an appetizer for the Third XI’s game on Sunday. Travelling to Broomhall to take on Dunfermline and Carnegie 4, the Thirds were put in to bat. Jamie Good provided the absolute bedrock of the innings, making 62 from 83 balls and getting the score to a defendable total while others found the going harder. Late on he had company from Infant, whose 4 from 54 kept the innings alive. Jamie was eventually out as the 8th wicket.Former ’Muir captain Syed Ahmed opened for D&C, but became Andrew Bentley’s first wicket of the season. Though D&C scored steadily, the loss of 4 wickets for 5 runs kept things tight. At the start of the last over D&C needed 23 for the win. Three sixes and a four got the scores level, before Ashok Rajappan and Subham Biswas combined to take the last wicket with the final ball—Ashok holding his nerve with the ball and Subham pouching the catch—and tie the match.

Spectacular stuff from the 3s.