TRADITIONALLY Selkirk have struggled when playing matches on the weekend of the town’s Common Riding, and so it proved again on Sunday.
Conditions were perfect for the Souters’ East League Division 3 fixture against Heriot’s III at Goldenacre, with both sides keen to win the toss and bat first at the home club’s scenic ground.
In the event it was Heriot’s who took first use of the excellent wicket, and openers Thomson and McLaren put on 85 for the first wicket – each being dismissed just one run short of his half-century.
It was left to Shanmugavadivel (66no) to score the bulk of the Heriot’s runs, with the city team eventually finishing their innings on 206 for six.
Best of the Selkirk bowlers were Daniel Heard (2-30) and David Gardiner (2-33).
In reply Selkirk got off to a bright start thanks to solid knocks from Greg and Michael Fenton – the former scoring 20 runs in double-quick time, with Michael contributing a well-constructed knock of 35.
When both brothers fell to smart catches, the visitors’ best hope of overtaking the Heriot’s total rested on the young shoulders of former skipper Rory Banks.
Selkirk’s number five batsman didn’t disappoint, and went on to score a chanceless 51 before being bowled by the hosts’ tricky leg spinner, Phil Mitchell.
To their credit, David Gardiner (18), Kieran Toor (12no) and Adam Murphy (9) all battled gamely to keep the game alive.
However, the visitors were unable to master the wiles of experienced Heriot’s bowlers Kevin McLaren (3-21) and Mitchell (3-34), and were eventually dismissed for 166 in the 37th over.
This Thursday Selkirk play a Border 20/20 Cup game against St Boswells at Philiphaugh (6pm start), while on Saturday Melrose are the visitors to Philiphaugh.