Dunfermline and Carnegie 2nds were visitors to Philiphaugh on Saturday and left Selkirk having defeated their hosts by 8 wickets.
The game was reduced to a 35 over match with concerns about the weather which were never realised on a muggy day which helped the craftier bowlers on either side. Selkirk batted first and made steady progress even with the loss of a couple of early wickets. Fenton and Gardiner took the total to 77 at drinks and a total beyond 150 looked likely. However, Callan was proving difficult to read for the batsmen and he removed both in his third over; Gardiner adjudged LBW for 26 runs and, to the sound of collective groans around the ground, Fenton bowled on 49. There was little resistance thereafter with Selkirk lower order batsmen succumbing easily. As with all good collapses there were a couple of unnecessary run outs, on both occasions the batsmen underestimated the arm of Howis, who arrowed in the ball over the stumps from the boundary to remove both Graham and McNeill.
The final Selkirk total of 120 was short of what was expected and the league topping visitors always looked likely to reach it and did so with 6 overs to spare, Xavier hitting the winning runs with a slog to cow corner for 4. Yousuf rode his luck at times but used not a little art to top score with 57 before being caught, third time lucky, by Singhtoor having skied the ball to mid on looking for personal glory with the scores tied.
The visitors were let down by some unseemly behaviour by individuals where decisions didn’t go their way, including an embarrassing altercation with their own umpire and cringeworthy petulance from bowlers not getting the luck they felt entitled to. Thankfully there was some good cricket on display and Callan with the ball (4-18) and Yousuf with the bat, including a chunky straight six onto the football field, ensured that the Fifers kept their 100% league record. For Selkirk Fenton and Gardiner did well with the bat but chances were left out in the field and the souters will be hoping for a stronger all round performance for the visit of St Boswells next Saturday.
