Selkirk CC, on tour for the first time in decades, succumbed to a 10 run defeat at the hands of Chatsworth CC. The game was lucky to go ahead following significant rain through the week but the hosts put in the hard work to prepare the ground for their first fixture of a busy year.
Selkirk won the toss and elected to bowl. There was little early reward for the effort of the bowlers. The pitch was proving difficult for scoring. In the 7th over the host’s opener Buchan (2) fell LBW to G.Fenton bringing ex-Selkirk player John Everitt to the crease. Everitt almost fell first ball to Fenton when he edged behind but Purves let the ball go by and to the boundary. This was the first of four boundaries for the batsman as he raced to 20 runs. On a day where only three players reached double figures this was a key contribution to the outcome.
Wickets were now falling at regular intervals but coming in at number 7 Powell stuck it out almost to the end of the 30 overs and added 13 runs to the score, only being outscored by Everitt (23) and Extras (16). With the total at 77, Powell was out to the catch of the day taken one-handed by a diving K.Toor at midwicket. Chatsworth were all out for 78.
It was a day for sharing bowling duties throughout the team and B.Gillie (2 for 3) was the pick of the bunch. M.Jaffray playing his first game for Selkirk took 2 wickets for 9 runs and finished off the Chatsworth innings by bowling the host’s captain B.Khan.
Set a modest target of 79 for victory Selkirk were quickly disabused of the notion that this would be easy. The top six batsmen all failed to get to double figures as they struggled to predict the pace and bounce of the pitch. G.Fenton (9) and M.Fenton (6) both lobbed catches to grateful fielders and H.Murphy and K.Toor fell LBW in consecutive balls to the man of the match K.Rowney (4 for 9). Rowney was only deprived of the hat-trick by a dropped catch in the slips.
Selkirk’s man of the match was Bob Wilkinson who top-scored on the day with 27 runs, no mean feat in the conditions, and was the only visitor to hit a boundary. Everitt followed his important contribution with the bat with a direct hit from the outfield to remove Purves when Selkirk were looking likely to reach their target. Heard showed some resistance with the bat but he was clean bowled by J.Pack, who took 2 wickets in four balls to finish off the Selkirk innings.
Selkirk kick off their league season next Saturday with a home fixture against Edinburgh CC at Philiphaugh.
