In a very competitive game which managed to beat the weather, Daniel Heard’s Captain’s XI celebrated a six-wicket victory over the President’s XI on Saturday.
Front – K. Paterson, M. Gillie, D. Heard (capt.), B. Gillie, R. Banks; Inset – I. Purves
Greg Fenton, skipper of the president’s team, won the toss and chose to bat, scoring 21 in a solid opening partnership with Lewis McCulloch (31*). The latter hit one of biggest shots of the day when he thumped a maximum over the boundary, which rolled down to the spectators outside the pavilion.
With rules to keep the contest close, McCulloch was retired as he passed 30, with the President’s XI then losing a couple of big wickets. Junior Michael Gillie (3/4) bowled Bob Wilkinson, before Rory Banks (1/8) had Gregor Borthwick caught behind.
However, Ian Gardiner (34*) relishes this kind of contest and couldn’t stop scoring, retiring for the second year running with the President’s XI total standing at 98. There was little added by the tail, but Ali Miller managed to roll back the years with a few stylish shots, before the innings came to an end when Captain’s XI skipper Heard clean-bowled Ryan Pritchard with the final ball.
A. Robertson
Front – A. Pritchard, L. McCulloch, G. Fenton (capt.), J. Wilkinson, S. Wilkinson,
G. Borthwick; Inset – B. Wilkinson
Set a modest 121 for the win, the task was made a wee bit harder for the Captain’s XI following the dismissals of openers Harry Murphy (7) and Tim Cove (4) . Rory Banks also fell quickly to the combination of Selkirk’s top colts Shaun Wilkinson (1/8) and Gregor Borthwick, the latter taking a solid catch at mid-wicket as Banks mistimed and skied a delivery from Wilkinson.
With tested openers John Graham (30*) and Kenny Paterson (33*) batting down the order, cool heads entered the fray and both would be retired with victory within reach. Captain Heard probably had ambitions to win the game for his team, but was outfoxed by junior Archie Pritchard (1/14).
Having had a somewhat mixed year with the bat, Blaine Gillie played cautiously for a while, so the game went to the last over with four runs still required. Ian Gardiner was given the death bowling duties, and a single off his second put Gillie on strike with three runs required. He took the approach of McCulloch earlier in the match, and smashed another six down towards the club to bring the contest to a close.
Match report by Neil Gentleman, with photos by John Smail.