Selkirk Cricket Club

As the light faded at Philiphaugh last evening, Selkirk notched up their first win of the season with 38 run win over Manderston CC.

Manderston won the toss and asked Selkirk to bat. The top order batsman all got a start but to the fore was the Captain, Michael Fenton, with a rumbustious 39 off 24 balls. The visiting bowlers proved tricky at times and their standout on the evening was Martyn Lawrenson who took his fourth wicket of the evening when Fenton lobbed the ball to Aristotle Davenport at deep mid-wicket. Bob Wilkinson added another 29 runs to the total, including two flicked sixes over the legside boundary, and was unbeaten at the end alongside Daniel Heard (10).

Set 137 to win, the visitors made slow but steady progress and would have fancied their chances at 10 overs with only 2 wickets down and 56 runs on the board. Terry Burgess (25) had looked dangerous but fell to Gregor Borthwick claiming his first wicket of the season. The bowling tightened and scoring slowed despite the direct approach of Hector Martin (28) who pushed the score along with a big six over square leg.

When Greg Fenton (2-3) removed Martin for the first of his 2 wickets this proved decisive and the Manderston score slowed further and their innings petered out under 100. Fourteen year old Shaun Wilkinson bowled the last over for Selkirk and can feel a wee bit aggrieved that he was denied his first senior wicket as S.Connington was dropped twice.

The season finally got going for the souters on Saturday with a trip to Edinburgh to take on Marchmont II. It ended up being a very long day for the visitors with ultimately little in the way of reward as they fell 6 runs short of victory.

Selkirk lost the toss and were asked to bowl and had a number of opportunities in the early overs but a series of edges to slip were put down and the opening batters took advantage.

The first wicket did not fall until the 13th over when B.Eagar (26) holed out to Bob Wilkinson at deep mid off and the other opener followed in the next over as B.Gillie had M.Ahmed (17) adjudged L.B.W.

The pace of scoring was modest but the home top scorer, H.Ramachandra (35), gave it some impetus with the shot of the day, a straight 6 back over the bowlers head. The 25 runs scored in the last 4 overs proved decisive in the end and this was down, in no small measure, to G.Ilsley (26) who managed a couple of boundaries in the closing overs. Selkirk were set 146 to win.

In response the visitors kept pace with their hosts but lost openers G.Fenton (19) and K.Toor(6) in succesive overs and I.Gardiner fell shortly thereafter without scoring.

It took a captains innings and solid support from lower order batters to put Selkirk in a position to score an unlikely victory. The souters captain M.Fenton (65) played patiently and was partnered ably by B.Gillie (22) to share a partnership lasting almost 23 overs and accumulating 68 runs.

With three overs remaining Selkirk needed a run a ball but the home bowlers finished strongly. Although somewhat erratic, J.Small (3-28) proved the match winner with 3 wickets in 8 balls (all bowled). Finally finding his line and length, Small removed first the captain and then father/son double of Bob and Shaun Wilkinson with the last two balls.

The first home league game of the season next Saturday sees Haddington come to Philiphaugh. We look forward to welcoming members and visitors. The game is due to start at 1pm but please keep an eye on the website for any changes.