Six in a Row!
Watsonians continued their high flying form at the weekend with a resounding win over Dunfermline.
The Pars won the toss and elected to bat on a worn pitch at Myreside. Openers Paddy Sadler and Mike Legget set the tone with disciplined bowling, and Sadler was rewarded when he trapped Dunfermline skipper Gowtham Rai infront. Legget continued to trouble the Dunfermline batters extracting steepling bounce from back of a length. It was he who took the key wicket of professional Alistair Gray who was caught “leaping” at mid off by Ross Paxton.
Wayne Sullivan staged a mini recovery with the help of Abi Shakoor but when captain Steve Paige entered the fray Watsonians snatched the momentum back with the skipper clean bowling Shakoor. Paige would finish with 10 overs 3 for 29 including the key wicket of resilient opener Sullivan. He was supported well by the miserly Paxton who after removing overseas amateur Marshall Bunting with his first ball went on to take a further wicket, finishing with 2-19 from his 10 overs including 3 maidens. Aamir Shazhad tried his best to salvage something for the Fife side but when the returning Paddy Sadler claimed him as his second victim, Dunfermline had been bundled out for a paltry 136.
With James Easton absent Euan Stubbs faced up to the first ball with new Scotland cap Ryan Flannigan at the other end. Stubbs was unfortunate to nick off to delivery from an inconsistent Shazhad. When Aparjit Singh, who had flown up from London for the match, removed the in form Tim Weston, Dunfermline may have thought they had a chance but defiant defence and elegant aggression by Flannigan and Ewan Chalmers took the game away from the visitors. The Scotland duo together had done enough to win the game and had hushed the visiting crowd before Flannigan was unlucky to be run out for 58 with just 2 runs required. Without further ado Chalmers brought proceedings to end, concluding an emphatic Watsonians victory with almost 17 overs to spare.
