On a day that rain was predicted to fall for most if not all of the afternoon the 2nd XI took on Fauldhouse at Craiglockhart not sure when the rain was going to fall.

 

 

It turned out that a heavy pre match shower about 45 minutes before the start of play was to be the only significant rain of the day and as captain for the day Keith Flannigan lost the toss it saw ‘Sonians asked to bat on a sticky’ish wicket.

 

With Cairns promoted to the 1st XI following his heroics the previous week joining Learmonth on the 1s travels to Glenpark and skipper Breach also absent at a wedding it was keeper Ben Fox who was Flannigans fourth opening partner of the summer as play got underway.

 

Flannigan hit a couple of early boundaries but also found some that there was some early juice in the wicket too and after dealing with a couple of rising deliveries found the leading edge from Wallace and was caught comfortably in at mid off. Fox was joined by Robertson who hit some lusty blows before departing (bowled by A MacDonald) for 17 as ‘Sonians found themselves at 53-2 off the first 13 overs. In partnership with no.4 Mark Yellowlees, Fox began to find some form albeit fortunately surviving a dropped catch behind the wicket and together the pair put on a mature partnership of 80 over the following 20 overs before Yellowlees (39) got an unfortunate spitting delivery from McIlduff presenting the easiest of chances for the keeper Allan.

 

The fall of the wicket brought Crosby one of last weeks record breaking centurions to the crease with the score poised at 133-3 and 17 overs remaining, Fox soon passed the 50 mark as Crosby, let’s say, began to warm to the atmosphere of the game.

 

Trying to up the tempo Fox was caught for a well structured 54 that seen off a number of bowlers and allowed ‘Sonians the luxury of heading into the last 15 overs with a decent amount of wickets in hand, Vijay Saisubramanian got himself off the mark with a 6 helping a rare loose delivery from the McIlduff over the rope but his brief cameo was ended trying to force the pace and the pick of the visiting bowlers Cochrane (2-29) also picked up the wickets of Sevak & Harding who fell in a similar way. Throughout though Crosby was dominant dispatching the bad balls and powering to an eventual unbeaten 72 and with Fraser Sands providing a mixture of hitting over the top and clever running ‘Sonians had hit 60 runs in the last 8 overs to finish on 247-7.

 

In response ‘Sonians were treated to a powerful display of hitting from Derek Allan who dispatched anything short and wide to the boundary and manouvered the strike well enough that the ‘Sonians bowlers struggled to build pressure at the other end. Whilst Sevak started well in partnership with Sands it was Allan who was able to keep Fauldhouse in the driving seat for much of the opening exchanges.

 

It was the introduction of Saisubramanian who provided the first breakthrough in the 12th over as Taylor, who had left the ball extremely well following a good opening spell of bowling from Sands & Sevak, was bowled having produced just one scoring shot in his innings.

 

With Crosby welcomed to the attack by a couple of Allan boundaries it was Vijay who kept chipping away from the pavillion end inducing Cochrane into a big shot well held on the boundary by Yellowlees and bowling Mahon a short while later. Vijay finishing his 10 overs straight through with 3-43.

 

With Allan continuing to dominate proceedings Sands returned and picked up the wicket his opening spell had deserved, Allan on the charge hit low down for LBW and departing for an impressive 83. A bowling fit Yellowlees had replaced Vijay and picked up the wicket catching of South African Wallace off his own bowling just as he was looking set. Brooks provided what some may decribe as an ‘interesting’ spell (1-15) of 3 overs and had David Allan caught behind superbly by a tumbling Fox as the home side closed in on victory.

 

Yellowlees (3-29) bowled Connell and Ricky MacDonald and Crosby returned to see off McIlduff and it was left to an accurate Yellowlees throw into the quick thinking Fox to run out Alan MacDonald and secure a 70 run win for ‘Sonians.

 

Some scorecards certainly don’t tell the story of a game, 70 runs may have been the winning margin however throughout the second half of the game it felt a lot closer. Keeping wickets in hand and batting the 50 overs was the key to this victory however the 2s need to ensure they keep up the tempo in the field and work hard to ensure more victories. This win appears to have put us top of the league with Edinburgh Accies just 1% behind and Holy Cross, Fauldhouse & Carlton 2s also close (despite Carlton’s defeat to the East Academy for whom ‘Sonian Andrew Chalmers hit 84).

 

The 2s travel to Raeburn Place on Saturday to take on Grange 2s as they face a month of tough intense fixtures in both the league and cup.

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