Long traffic jams on the Edinburgh city by-pass meant the start of Selkirk’s away fixture against Livingston 2 on Saturday had to be delayed.
When play did eventually start at Bankton Mains, it proved to be mostly one-way traffic, with the Livingston 2 batters taking a liking to Selkirk’s bowling to rack up 240-5 in their innings. Both A. Rana (59) and M. Khalid (54*) recorded half-centuries, with opener A. Bilal (33) also in impressive form.
Selkirk’s wicket-takers were Shaun Wilkinson (2-52), David Gardiner (1-32), Daniel Heard (1-48) and Ewan Torrance (1-58).
Having to score at a rate of six an over was always going to be a big ask for an understrength Selkirk team, but thanks to a superb batting display by opener Greg Fenton (71), at the halfway stage they were very much in the game at 110-2.
Disaster then struck, as it so often does, when play resumed following the 20-over drinks break. Fenton was caught off the very first ball of the second session, leading to a lower order batting collapse which saw the visitors bowled out for 148.
The only Selkirk batters to reach double figures were Shaun Wilkinson, who struck a defiant 17 in the final overs, Mikael Badenhorst (13) and Ewan Torrance (11).
Rana (4-22) was Livingston’s top bowler, followed by Singhla (3-11) and Dubey (1-16).
Selkirk must now win both their final Division 3 games against Westquarter and Marchmont 2 (both at home), to have any chance of the avoiding the drop.
Match report and photo by John Smail.