Dunfermline and Carnegie turned up with 10 players for their visit to Philiphaugh and not convinced that the game would survive the forecast thunder storms. However, the visitors prospered either side of a downpour to head back to Fife with full points. They can thank their hosts for the determination shown by home players to get the game complete, with a delay of over an hour between innings working in the Fifers favour.
Dunfermline won the toss and elected to bat and would benefit from the driest part of the day as opener Raja Khurram (26) punished the early bowling. Jordan Reid took a brilliant diving catch at extra cover to remove Khurram in the 11th over and two wickets following soon after gave Selkirk some momentum. However Vasu Reddy (63) had quickly found his range and was scoring easily, moving the total beyond 100 runs with 15 overs to come. Reddy signed off with a straight drive over the boundary for 6 (falling to Gregor Robbie on the next ball he faced). There were a few dropped catches to reflect upon and 146 was looking like a tough challenge with a downpour at the break slowing the outfield further.
The visitors were reluctant to take the field for the Selkirk innings, with bowlers cautious about the underfoot conditions. Their uncertainty was quickly forgotten as a strong LBW appeal was confirmed by the umpire to remove in form opener Greg Fenton (30). Selkirk top order then struggled to score runs, taking just 10 runs from 9 overs following the captain’s dismissal. With five ducks on the day the souters never looked likely to reach their target and the game was done within 30 overs as George Olney (5-7) picked off the lower order taking an incredible 4 wickets in 7 balls. With the delays caused by the weather, the last wicket didn’t fall until 8pm as Selkirk were all out for 86.
Selkirk travel to Carlton next Sunday and will hope to put on a performance fit for the surroundings at Grange Loan.