Scorecard

Gala/ Hawick II v Tranent and Preston Village Cricket Club 3rd XI on Sat 23 Jul 2016 at 13:00
Tranent and Preston Village Cricket Club Lost by 94 runs

Match report Perched on the edge of a hill above the borders town of Galashiels, and with spectacular views of the Tweed Valley, Gala Cricket Club was the next stop for a TCC 3rd XI which had built up some momentum from previous results. Their opponents were a Gala/Hawick 2nd XI, albeit one on this occasion composed entirely of Gala players.

Opening bowlers James and DK initially kept things tight and when James removed the first opener with a diving caught-and-bowled effort things were looking good, having kept our opponents in check at 9-1 after 6 overs. However, that only brought one of our opponent’s power-hitters to the crease, who proceeded to smash 18 runs off the first over he faced. More boundaries followed with frustrating regularity and when he finally skied a top edge, well caught by Aiden running round from behind the stumps, the Gala total had rapidly progressed to 55-2. Haider then replaced DK and had a near-immediate impact, bowling with real venom and proving just too quick for the remaining opener who drove up-ishly back to the bowler, enticing another of the stunning catches that Haider is gaining a reputation for! He would return after a 4-over break to pick up where he left off, enticing an edge through to Aiden behind the stumps off another lightning-fast delivery. The runrate began to drop and when Gregor took two wickets in his very first over, clean-bowling one batsman that had been ticking over nicely and seeing off another via one more superb catch from Haider, it seemed like TCC were back in the game. A horrible piece of batting miscommunication, leaving both players at the non-strikers end then led to an easy run out for the visiting side, but that would prove to be the last wicket of the innings as Gala, sensing they were on the back foot, sent out their big guns. Saurabh in particular was on the receiving end of some brutal, belligerent, stand-and-deliver batting, though in truth it wouldn’t have mattered who was bowling. As the boundaries flowed the game began to fall away from TCC, who didn’t help themselves with some very poor fielding at times, and in a short number of overs Gala had seen their score explode through the 200 barrier. A special mention needs to go to Gregor Brunton; tasked with bowling the last over of the game in tough circumstances, he managed to concede only 3 runs, with a magnificent display of line-and-length death bowling to which the big hitters had no answer.

Facing a daunting 230 to win, Aiden made the TCC intentions clear by thumping a lovely straight drive back down the ground for a boundary off the first ball, and the positive start continued with opening partner Mike regularly rotating the strike and showing off the glorious cut shot which has been the source of so many boundaries this season. Unfortunately the rapid start wouldn’t last. After Aiden was caught in the 7th over for his quickfire twenty and Salim had been stumped a few balls later Tranent were in need of some stability from new batsman Haider. He proved to be the perfect accompaniment for Mike’s unflustered anchoring of the innings, clattering anything slightly short to the long on boundary, and together the batters began to make large inroads into the TCC target. Haider’s superb innings sadly ended shortly after the drinks break when he was bowled by a full-ish delivery which just swung in a fraction, but not before he had made his biggest score for the club, a very impressive 33. That was the trigger for a dismal collapse though, more akin to a house of cards than a batting lineup. Only Douglas Brunton provided any resistance, and should have had more for his gutsy display of hard hitting, as Mike watched his other partners come and go in quick succession. The game became about batting point milestones, and James came to the crease with the score at 119-8 determined to reach at least another one in the few overs which remained. After flicking his first ball to the square leg boundary, he and Mike played bunt-and-run cricket to take TCC past the 130 mark, but that would be the last positive of the day for the visitors as the final two wickets fell in quick succession.

The visitors ending then on 135 all out and Mike, for whom I have run out of superlatives, batting out another wonderful unbeaten innings from the opener position.

Gala/ Hawick II Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
5nb 12w 5b  
for 8 wickets
22
229 (40.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Tranent and Preston Village Cricket Club 3rd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Dakshina Murthy Siddalingaiah8.0150150.006.25
James Griffiths8.0122211.002.75
Haider Bilgrami8.0020210.002.50
Saurabh Sethi8.015800.007.25
Gregor Brunton6.0043221.507.17
Douglas Brunton2.003100.0015.50

Tranent and Preston Village Cricket Club 3rd XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
3nb 5w 1b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
10
135		        
Michael Brunton Not Out  59 7
Aiden Hoenigmann Caught  20 3 2
Salim Hossain Stumped  0
Haider Bilgrami Bowled  33 6 2
Dakshina Murthy Siddalingaiah Caught  3 1
Sam Booker Bowled  0
Douglas Brunton Caught  3
Gregor Brunton Caught  0
Saurabh Sethi Caught  0
James Griffiths Bowled  7 1 1
Graeme Donaldson Caught  0

Gala/ Hawick II Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.