The shining sun and little breeze made for scorching conditions at Meigle Park on Sunday where Dumfries travelled to play Gala in the Scottish T20 South Qualifier, with the winner heading to Stirling for finals day on the 24^th of July. Gala would be put into bat first in what was perfect conditions for cricket with a good wicket prepared and fast outfield.

Gala would open with Khalia and Crooks and the pair would go out hard at the pink ball as they looked to take advantage of there only being two men allowed out of the 30-yard circle. In the early stages the Gala batters managed to find the boundary easily as Crooks found his form attacking the offside whereas Khalia dealt some deadly blows straight back to the bowler. After the powerplay Gala would be 72 for no wickets after 6 overs. Khalia and Crooks would then be made to work hard for their runs as boundaries became hard to come by however Khalia still managed to clear the infield on 2 occasions. Crooks managed to get his release shot through a reverse sweep that ran down the hill for 4 however after this, Khalia would then depart not long after for 66 as he was caught in the deep, setting up Gala nicely at 102 for 1. Indrasiri would join Crooks however it would not last long as Crooks danced down the wicket to Staples who managed to slide one past, bowling Crooks for a supportive 32. Irvine, Eyre and Rhode would all join Indrasiri but all fail to make it to double digits whilst their Sri Lankan partner did the damage at the other end. Dumfries did well to get back into the game as they really slowed up the scoring rate of the home side however, towards the close of the innings Indrasiri found his timing and put the ball to the boundary on multiple occasions as he reached 52 before being bowled by Hobman. Tharanga would be joined by Finlay Rutherford but neither would score with Finlay Rutherford being run out on the last ball with Gala posting 179 for 7 wickets.

Harris Rutherford was on top form again with ball in hand as he found his line and length early on, managing to bowl Adid with the score on 2 and then strike again with the score on 24 as he bowled Thornely for 6. Dinesh Tharanga showed his class with ball in hand as he had Van Zyl caught behind by Khalia for 14 with the visitors struggling at 33 for 3. Crooks and Indrasiri would then pair up once again to attack the batters with spin from either end. Crooks managed to take two wickets in his first over, bowling McGrath and then Smit mistiming a cut shot to Indrasiri at backward point. Indrasiri then grabbed a wicket for himself as well as a run out before Crooks took the 8^th wicket and his third. Robbie Paterson had a chance of a wicket as McCutcheon looked to go big in the final overs however, he was put down in the deep by Crooks running into a difficult chance. No other wickets fell despite Paterson and Rhode’s best efforts meaning Dumfries fell short of the Gala total, scoring 125 for 8 after their 20 overs.

The win means Gala will travel to Stirling on the 24^th of July, returning to finals day again along with Forfarshire, with the Edinburgh and West qualifiers still to be played. The club will run a coach up to support the team so if you can, the boys would love your support! The 1^st team are next in action when they welcome Morton to Meigle Park on Sponsors day next Saturday.

On Saturday Gala 1^st XI travelled to Grange Loan to take on Carlton 2^nd XI in what was an important game for both teams in their Championship campaigns with both teams in the top half of the table looking to close down the gap on the top 2 spots. Skipper Irvine correctly called the toss this week and decided to have a bat on what was a wicket in tip top shape as well as an outfield that the ball would race across.

Gala’s new opening pair Ponneri and Eyre would look to get the visitors off to a solid start however it was anything but a good start, Ponneri would be caught at first slip with the first ball of the match by Ahmad meaning Khalia would have to walk out and join Eyre much earlier than expected. Khalia would then edge the ball into the slips two balls later however the South African was let off after it was dropped. With Gala well and truly on the back foot, Eyre played a crucial role in getting the border side back into the contest as he displayed some lovely strokes putting the ball to the boundary line. He and Khalia would push the score on and from what looked like a vulnerable position from the first over Gala recovered to reach 59 runs after the first 10 overs. Shortly after however, Ahmad would claim his second victim as he had Eyre caught after the opener made a very important 38. Indrasiri would join Khalia however the Sri Lankan would not last long as he made 2 runs before being bowled by Khan meaning Irvine would join Khalia. The pair did well to last until drinks at the halfway stage with the score being on 132. Khalia would then go on to hit his maiden league half-century for the club, an innings that was not the prettiest but certainly gritty as the overseas amateur really had to work for his runs. During the 33^rd over Khalia would fall as he chipped up to mid-on off the bowling of Macpherson. Two overs later Irvine would then be caught behind for a well-made 39 however, the skipper would be disappointed in not being able to push on after being set. After the two key wickets of Khalia and Irvine, the Gala order began to fall apart. Gala managed to keep Carlton out in the baking sun until the 50^th over where Harris Rutherford hauled out looking to have a swing in the last over meaning Gala finished all out for 202, a score that was certainly under-par but definitely defendable.

The Gala defence of their total started positively when Tharanga struck with Josh Irvine managing to take a blinder of a one-handed catch low to his left as he stood at second slip. Tharanga’s opening partner Rutherford would then claim a wicket with the score on 5 as he trapped Gill and with Gala applying pressure, the home side would be worried. A small partnership formed to take Carlton up to 29 before Tharanga claimed his 2^nd wicket as he bowled Macpherson in the eighth over. Tharanga then claimed his 3^rd wicket when he bowled Main for 28 reducing Carlton to 45 for 4. Upul Indrasiri was then brought into the tack as he bowled tight lines really restricting the Carlton batting order. Inndrasiri would then take the wicket of Nauman as he looked for a release shot, trying to slog the ball to cow corner only to find the edge of the bat with Scott Paterson taking the catch in the slips. Indrasiri would then bowl Carlton skipper D’ullise with the home side really struggling at 66 for 6. Irvine then opted to attack Carlton with spin from both ends as Crooks joined the attack with the off spinner managing to take a wicket in his 3^rd over as he bowled Ahmad. Indrasiri then picked up his 3^rd wicket as Josh Irvine took another catch meaning Carlton were well out of the game at 87 for 8. Crooks then took the final 2 wickets in an interesting spell with some poor bowling mixed with good wicket taking balls as he collaborated with Ponneri taking a catch at short cover and Khalia stumping the final wicket leaving Carlton all out on 89.

The same story as every week continues as there are still plenty areas that Gala can work on such as mending their collapse in the batting line-up however to walk away from Grange Loan with our first ever win there the team can be proud of their efforts. The bowling on show from Gala was excellent and this really took the game away from the home side after a two very good opening spells from Harris Rutherford and Tharanga backed by the spin of Indrasiri and Crooks who alongside Tharanga all took 3 wickets. Next Saturday, the 1^st team welcome Morton to Meigle Park in a game that will really boost both teams league position as Morton sit in 2^nd and Gala in 3^rd in what will hopefully be and excellent clash between both clubs.

GALA SCORECARD

S Ponneri c H Simpson b O Ahmad 0

E Eyre c R Main b O Ahmad 38

R Khalia c M Nauman b K Macpherson 62

U Indrasiri b S Khan 2

J Irvine c B D’ulisse b K Macpherson 39

F Rutherford c B D’ulisse b K Macpherson 2

D Tharanga c B D’ulisse b K Macpherson 10

J Crooks b H Simpson 5

S Paterson c K Macpherson b M D’ulisse 10

R Paterson not out 1

H Rutherford c M Nauman b M D’ulisse 4

Extras 29

Gala 1^st XI 202 all out after 49.3 overs.

FOW = 1-0, 2-72, 3-83, 4-158, 5-161, 6-166, 7-168, 8-192, 9-194, 10-202

CARLTON BOWLING

O Ahmad 9-2-48-2

C Stronach 7-0-44-0

S Khan 7-0-33-1

H Simpson 10-0-27-1

K Macpherson 10-1-30-4

M D’ulisse 5.3-1-12-2

P Gill 1-0-1-0

CARLTON SCORECARD

M Whittaker c J Irvine b D Tharanga 2

P Gill lbw H Rutherford 3

K Macpherson b D Tharanga 4

R Main b D Tharanga 28

M Nauman c S Paterson b U Indrasiri 17

B D’ulisse b U Indrasiri 4

H Simpson c S Ponneri b J Crooks 15

O Ahmad b J Crooks 4

M D’ulisse c J Irvine b U Indrasiri 1

S Khan st R Khalia b J Crooks 0

C Stronach not out 1

Extras 10

Carlton 2^nd XI 89 all out after 27.1 overs

GALA BOWLING

H Rutherford 5-0-25-1

D Tharanga 7-1-31-3

U Indrasiri 9-2-12-3

J Crooks 6.1-1-17-3

Another midweek T20 at Meigle Park on Wednesday saw Gala defeat Melrose to progress to the South qualifier at the end of the week. Melrose won the toss and put Gala into bat, looking to take early wickets and apply pressure on the Gala batsmen.

Gala opened with Upul Indrasiri and Jamie Crooks as the pair set about their work. The pair struggled to get used to the tennis ball bounce that the wicket provided however Indrasiri soon used this to his advantage dismissing the loose ball for 4 on more than one occasion. In the 6^th over Indrasiri chipped out to Crawford at mid on who covered the ground well as he 30 with the score on 44. Ridwan Khalia joined Crooks as the pair looked to increase the scoring rate and take the game away from the visitors. Khalia got away with chipping the ball mistiming it early in his innings before finding his flow going on to score multiple 4’s. Crooks was then stumped as he danced passed a ball from off spinner Crawford for 16 as captain Josh Irvine joined Khalia. Irvine played himself in well before unleashing some deadly blows as he raced on with the scoring, well supported to Khalia. The pair took Gala past the 150 mark both raising their bats for a half century. Irvine continued in his fashion of punishing the ball as he held nothing back in dispatching a monstrous 6 into the field up the hill however, not long after his partner Khalia would be removed in the 18^th over on 72. Eyre came in and gave the strike to Irvine straight away as he scored 22 in the final over taking Gala up to 215 with the captain unbeaten on 85.

 The Gala defence of their total started steadily. Melrose openers Davenport and Owen got the ball rolling for the visitors, seeing out a tricky spell from Harris Rutherford who bowled well as he found his line and length early on. Khalia bowled the occasional loose delivery which Owen punished down the hill to the long boundary. In the 7^th over Crooks managed to break the partnership as he took the wicket of Davenport for 14 as he found his spot with the ball in hand. Paterson then picked up the wicket of Owen who scored 17 displaying some good shots and with this wicket, Gala looked comfortable for the rest of the game as Melrose slipped away from the required rate with every ball bowled. Paterson managed to pick up his second wicket in his 2 over spell with Bell claiming one from the other end. John Imray made his return to the club and was rewarded with his performances from school gaining him a spot in the 1^st XI as he took 2 wickets in his three over spell. Melrose finished on 59 for 6 wickets after their 20 overs.

Gala can be happy they got the job done as they move into an important weekend. On Saturday the team travel to Grange Loan to try and tackle Carlton 2^nd XI in a crucial league game. Sunday the 1^st XI are rewarded for their efforts in the borders knockout cup as they host Dumfries in the South Qualifier for the Scottish T20 Cup where a win will see the team return to finals day as they did last year.

GALA SCORECARD

J Crooks st W Owen b D Crawford 16

U Indrasiri ct D Crawford b A Davenport 30

R Khalia c D Crawford b C Wilson 72

J Irvine not out 85

E Eyre not out 2

Extras 10

Gala 215 for 3 wickets after 20 overs

MELROSE BOWLING

E Compton 4-0-44-0

A Davenport 4-0-35-1

D Crawford 4-0-27-1

C Wilson 4-0-49-1

J Mcpherson 1-0-20-0

J Wojcik 2-0-28-0

D Howard 1-0-11-0

MELROSE SCORECARD

A Davenport lbw J Crooks 14

W Owen c R Khalia b R Paterson 17

D Crawford c E Eyre b J Bell 7

J Wojcik not out 9

S Nerkar b R Paterson 1

J Mcpherson b J Imray 0

D Playfair c A Sujan b J Imray 4

E Compton not out 0

Extras 7

Melrose 59 for 6 wickets after 20 overs

GALA BOWLING

H Rutherford 3-0-10-0

R Khalia 3-0-15-0

J Crooks 2-0-6-1

D Tharanga 2-1-6-0

R Paterson 2-1-3-2

J Bell 2-1-1-1

J Imray 3-0-4-2

A Sujan 3-0-8-0

Gala 2^nd XI ventured up to Newfield on Kinnear Road to do battle with Drummond Trinity 4^th XI in their 9^th game of Division 6 this season. Gala captain Craig Thomson won the toss and decided that the best chance of a win was to bat first on an artificial pitch.

Gala would open with their go to opening partnership of Hastings and Sujan. Unfortunately for the visitors the partnership would not last long as Sujan was caught for a duck with the score on 2. The ever-reliable Stuart Anderson joined his wicketkeeper at the crease and the pair set about their work. The Gala batsmen did well in rotating the strike as they built up the Gala total taking Gala past the half century mark. Both players looked in good form with their strokes however, with the score on 85, Hastings was caught for 32 as young McAneny would walk out to the crease to join his experienced partner. The pair only managed to add 9 runs as Anderson was trapped in front LBW of Gowda as he departed scoring 39 leaving Gala 3 down with the score on 94. After a solid revival of the score thanks to Hastings and Anderson, Gala failed to capitalise as they continually lost wickets as the middle to lower order struggled. Ross Patterson held up the fort on his end as he saw his partners fall left, right and centre around him before he was then dismissed for 13 as it was left to Murton and Maceira on the last wicket to salvage a defendable total. The pair managed to score 3 and 5 unbeaten before Drummond Trinity bowled their 40 overs as Gala posted 147.

The defence of their total saw Gala off to an excellent start as they had Drummond Trinity 3 down for just 24 runs after wickets from Thomson and Bell as well as a run out from Sujan. Reddy however had other ideas for the home side as he looked in goof nick as he punished the Gala bowling. He managed to help Drummond Trinity get up to 69 for 5 as McAneny and Murton both took 1 wicket each but unfortunately these 2 wickets would be the last the 2^nd XI would take. Reddy raised his bat for his half century as he was well supported by Balachandran as the pair came closer and closer to the Gala total. Drummond Trinity would knock off the runs within 32 overs as Balachandran finished unbeaten on 22 and Reddy the pick of the Drummond Trinity batters as he finished unbeaten on 76.

A tough loss to take for the 2^nd XI who will be disappointed with the collapse they suffered with the bat and struggled to keep pushing up after a solid start from Hastings and Anderson. Good initial pressure from the bowlers as well will boost confidence however the Gala bowling attack failed to keep the pressure applied as the game slipped away from them. Next week see’s the 2^nd XI on the road again as they travel to play Kirk Brae 2^nd XI as they begin the second half of the season.

GALA SCORECARD

M Hastings c S Venkataraman b D Gowda 32

A Sujan c S Venkataraman b S Raparla 0

S Anderson lbw D Gowda 39

S McAneny b D Gowda 10

R Patterson b S Raparla 13

J Bell run out 2

C Thomson c S Balachandran b M Gangadharan 10

J Boyle lbw S Raparla 3

N Murton not out 3

L Skeldon b S Raparla 0

M Maceira not out 5

Extras 30

Gala 2^nd XI 147 for 9 wickets after 40 overs

DRUMMOND TRINITY BOWLING

M Gangadharan 8-0-25-1

S Raparla 7-2-23-4

S Balachandran 5-0-25-0

N Kayala 5-0-19-0

D Gowda 8-3-8-3

R Kakumanu 7-0-38-0

DRUMMOND TRINITY SCORECARD

M Nayak run out (Sujan) 13

S Raparla b C Thomson 3

R Kakumanu c A Sujan b J Bell 0

P Reddy not out 76

S Venkataraman b S McAneny 9

S Kuruvella b N Murton 5

S Balachandran not out 22

Extras 21

Drummond Trinity 4^th XI 149 for 5 wickets after 31.3 overs

GALA BOWLING

J Bell 5-1-18-1

C Thomson 7.3-0-31-1

S McAneny 8-3-30-1

L Skeldon 5-1-16-0

M Maceira 3-0-20-0

N Murton 3-0-29-1

Meigle Park played host to the Championship fixture between Gala 1^st XI and Linlithgow 1^st XI in what was the 9^th round of fixtures in the league. Linlithgow would call the toss incorrectly resulted in Irvine electing to bat first on a hard wicket.

A change at the top of the order saw Eyre and Ponneri open for the home side however, after a positive start Ponneri (9) was dismissed after he was set up brilliantly to be bowled by Thomson with the score on 10. Eyre looked to continue his good form with the bat and did just that as he increased the score and got the Border side up to 29 before his partner Rutherford was dragged out of his crease by Hamilton resulting in his wicket as he left the crease without adding to the total. Indrasiri then joined Eyre and the Sri Lankan supported Eyre as they increased the score helping Gala pass the half century mark after 9 overs. Things were looking bright for Gala until Indrasiri was trapped in front after he scored 29 meaning after the 15^th over Gala would be 3 down with the score on 72. Khalia fresh off his unbeaten century from the Thursday night joined Eyre as they really took the game to Linlithgow. As the pair accelerated the score the rain came and, on the covers, went. After the delay the pair headed back out and continued where they left off taking the score to 148 before Khalia was caught just shy of his half century. Eyre shortly after brought up his maiden half-century for the club in the league. With Eyre in form, captain Irvine looked to capitalise however with the score on 178 Irvine was then dismissed after being bowled by Wallace. Another rain delay meant an early tea and after the interval Gala headed back out to finish their innings. Unfortunately, for Eyre he was dismissed shortly after heading back out as he made an excellent 71, really showing off his ability with bat in hand. Tharanga joined Rhode and the pair rotated the strike well helping Gala up to 230 after their 50 overs.

Linlithgow started their chase positively as the openers looked to attack the bowling of Khalia and Paterson. Some good spot bowling from the opening Gala bowlers saw them find the edge a numerous amount of times however, balls falling short and a dropped catch in the slips meant Linlithgow were off the hook. The first wicket was taken just after the half century as Khalia bowled a no ball and the free hit resulted in a quite ridiculous run out as an attempted switch hit connected with the ball as the non-striker Clark took off for the single with Black not running and ending up run out, well out of the crease. After this, the Linlithgow floodgates were well and truly open as wickets fell at an alarming rate. Indrasiri proved his worth in an excellent spell as he picked up yet another 5-wicket haul for the club as well as Tharanga bowling for very few runs with Rhode and Khalia picking up 1 wicket each and Crooks gaining the final 2 wickets. With this collapse it saw Linlithgow fall well short of their target being dismissed for 85 runs.

Another good win for Gala at home will boost morale with strong batting performances from Eyre and Khalia as well as the bowling performance as a whole. Plenty of runs were left out for the Gala batters however, as there are always areas to improve on. Next week sees the 1^st XI return home on the Gala Day as they host Heriots 2^nd XI as we move into the second half of the season.

GALA SCORECARD

S Ponneri  b G Thomson 9

E Eyre c C Clark b J Hamilton 71

F Rutherford st C Clark b J Hamilton 0

U Indrasiri lbw A Wallace 29

R Khalia c R Thomson b C Black 47

J Irvine b A Wallace 19

A Rhode not out 22

D Tharanga not out 16

Extras 17

Gala 230 for 6 wickets after 50 overs

LINLITHGOW BOWLING

J Hamilton 8-0-42-2

G Thomson 10-0-59-1

A Wallace 9-1-37-2

C Dixon 4-1-11-0

R Thomson 5-2-16-0

W Nettleton 1-0-7-0

G Raven 7-0-27-0

C Black 6-0-25-1

LINLITHGOW SCORECARD

C Clark lbw R Khalia 20

C Black run out (A Rhode) 28

W Nettleton c J Crooks b A Rhode 2

G Thomson lbw U Indrasiri 4

R Thomson c&b U Indrasiri 0

A Napoli c A Rhode b U Indrasiri 2

A Wallace b U Indrasiri 8

G Raven lbw U Indrasiri 5

C Whitton lbw J Crooks 12

J Hamilton st R Khalia b J Crooks 2

C Dixon not out 4

Extras 8

Linlithgow 85 all out after 29 overs

GALA BOWLING

R Khalia 6-1-20-1

S Paterson 5-0-26-0

D Tharanga 6-3-7-0

U Indrasiri 7-2-12-5

A Rhode 2.1-0-10-1

J Crooks 2.5-0-10-2

Thursday night saw Meigle Park host the second of three games as team Meigle and team Mossilee fought for the Kinalba Cup. Mossilee captained by Crooks were 1-0 up in the series heading into this game meaning a win would result in Mossilee lifting the cup regardless of the result in the third game. Finlay Rutherford won the toss and he and Eddie Eyre would open the batting for Meigle.

Maceira continued her brilliant form with the ball as she opened for Mossilee bowling 2 top overs, really attacking the Meigle opening pair. Despite the good work of Maceira, she was wicketless as Eyre and Rutherford managed to kick on with the scoring. Khalia was expensive in his 2 overs as Rutherford and Eyre took their opportunity to put the pink ball to the boundary. Tharanga bowled well in his 4 overs however, the Meigle openers managed to see away the Sri Lankan as they brought the score to 81. Crooks’ first over was a poor one with Rutherford (25) managing to dispatch the ball away however he would soon be stumped in Crooks’ second over thanks to the handy work of Josh Irvine behind the stumps. Crooks then managed to dismiss Eyre (57) with some good work in the field from Robbie Paterson in the field, taking the catch. The return of Duncan Miller saw him score 26 before he was well caught in the deep by Crooks as he tried to push the score on against Liam Skeldon. Sid Ponneri batted very well reaching his half century before the end of the innings as Mossilee did expertly well to come back into the game, limiting the scoring of Meigle. Rhode spent a short time at the crease before he was bowled by Skeldon which brought in Indrasiri who put on a quickfire 15 before being stumped on the final ball of the innings after Bailey Paterson managed to slide one past him. This left Mossilee a target of 185 to win as they would open with Robbie Paterson and Ajith Sujan.

Paterson was bowled in the first over of the innings by Murton, getting Meigle off to an excellent start however this brought Khalia to the crease, Mossilee’s danger man after his century in the first fixture. Khalia continued where he left off in the last fixture, really taking the game to Meigle’s bowlers scoring runs freely at an electric pace. Khalia would be well supported his whole innings by Sujan who continued to rotate the strike as he left the hitting to Khalia. Mossilee reached 74 after the powerplay and with Khalia and Sujan firing, things looked bright for Mossilee. Khalia continued to score putting Rhode and Indrasiri to the boundary countless times as Meigle could not find a way to dismiss the South African. After eight 4’s and eight 6’s Khalia would make another excellent century in this fixture as he retired. Crooks would then come out and he and Sujan would see the job through as Sujan reached is half century with the first ball of Hastings’ over finishing the game with his captain at the other end finishing unbeaten on 21.

With this result, it means that Mossilee will hoist the first Kinalba Cup on the 11^th of August regardless of the result as they go 2-0 up in the 3-game series. Another good competitive outing for the club with more solid performances from all involved.

MEIGLE SCORECARD

E Eyre c R Paterson b J Crooks 57

F Rutherford st J Irvine b J Crooks 25

D Miller c J Crooks b L Skeldon 26

S Ponneri not out 51

A Rhode b L Skeldon 5

U Indrasiri st J Irvine b B Paterson 15

Extras 5

Meigle 184 for 5 wickets after 20 overs

MOSSILEE BOWLING

M Maceira 2-0-15-0

R Khalia 2-0-35-0

D Tharanga 4-0-35-0

J Crooks 3-0-17-2

R Paterson 2-0-14-0

R Gilchrist 2-0-20-0

L Skeldon 2-0-13-2

R Anderson 2-0-32-0

B Paterson 1-0-5-1

MOSSILEE SCORECARD

A Sujan not out 50

R Paterson b N Murton 0

R Khalia retired not out 100

J Crooks not out 21

Extras 19

Mossilee 190 for 1 wicket after 15.1 overs

MEIGLE BOWLING

N Murton 2-0-30-1

J Bell 3-0-31-0

U Indrasiri 4-0-40-0

A Rhode 2-0-41-0

S McAneny 2-0-26-0

S Ponneri 1-0-5-0

J Boyle 1-0-11-0

M Hastings 0.1-0-4-0

A destructive innings from Khalia and Irvine as well as a timely knock from Indrasiri helped Gala go four wins from four in the Border T20 League, and progress to the next round of the Scottish T20 East Qualifier as Gala hosted Manderston to Mossilee on Tuesday Evening. As the sun shined across Meigle Park, captain Irvine would win the toss and put the visitors out into the field.

 The beginning of the Gala innings would start poorly as the home side would lose all-rounder Tharanga in the first over after he spooned a ball up to Conington who gladly took the catch at slip. Despite losing Tharanga with only 1 run on the board, this would not change the Gala approach to the Manderston attack as overseas amateur Khalia showed an extreme assault onto the bowlers as he raced along in scoring runs for himself. At the other end, professional Indrasiri played a more calming innings rotating the strike well and punishing the poorly delivered ball when it came as he notched up runs for his personal tally as Gala reached the half century mark after 5 overs. Khalia continued to knock the ball about as he reached his half century in rapid time and as he brought up his half century Gala were cruising with the score on 100 after 9 overs. Khalia unfortunately fell for the home side as he scored 64 however this brought in the dangerous Irvine and with Indrasiri still going strong at the other end, the pair looked to increase the score. Irvine carried on where Khalia left off as he hit some lethal balls, dispatching them all over Meigle Park as he made 82 including eight 4’s and 5 maximums as well as Indrasiri finishing the innings with a well-made 68 as Gala posted 237 off their 20 overs.

The Manderston innings started off brightly with Richards and Martin before Eyre struck thanks to a catch from Robbie Paterson dismissing Richards for 30 as the openers put on 53 for the first wicket. After this wicket fell the floodgates opened with a fine run out from Irvine as well as Crooks managing to take 3 wickets from his 3 overs. Manderston managed a bit of a fight back showing a resurgence before Rutherford took the wicket of Scott for 10 and McAneny once again bowling well taking 2 wickets in his 4 over spell. With Manderston 8 wickets down time ran out as the visitors finished on a respectable 125 off their 20 overs.

With this win Gala progress to the final of the East Qualifier for the Scottish T20 Cup as well as continuing their unbeaten start to the season in the Border T20 League. A big thanks to Manderston for venturing up to Meigle Park for a good game played in great spirit as we wish them well for the rest of the season. Gala are back in action on Saturday as they welcome Linlithgow to Meigle Park in the East Championship.

GALA SCORECARD

U Indrasiri not out 68

D Tharanga c M Conington b B Ebner 0

R Khalia c H Martin b M Richards 64

J Irvine not out 82

Extras 23

Gala 237 for 2 wickets after 20 overs

MANDERSTON BOWLING

B Ebner 4-0-36-1

C Scott 2-0-32-0

M Richards 4-0-44-1

T Burgess 4-0-30-0

E Richards 2-0-24-0

J Anderson 2-0-46-0

H Tomlyn 2-0-21-0

MANDERSTON SCORECARD

M Richards c R Paterson b E Eyre 30

H Martin b J Crooks 23

T Burgess run out (J Irvine) 4

S Walsh c R Khalia b J Crooks 4

H Tomlyn st R Khalia b J Crooks 0

C Scott c R Khalia b F Rutherford 10

M Conington c U Indrasiri b S McAneny 20

E Richards not out 11

B Ebner not out 1

Extras 12

Manderston 125 for 8 wickets after 20 overs

GALA BOWLING

L Skeldon 3-0-23-0

S McAneny 4-0-35-2

E Eyre 4-0-24-1

J Crooks 3-0-7-3

R Paterson 4-0-27-0

F Rutherford 2-0-6-1

Gala CC 2nd XI welcomed Morton 3rd to a sunny Meigle Park on Saturday in their 8th game in Division 6, where Gala would look to chase down top spot in the table.

Morton won the toss and elected to bat first as Jamie Bell would take the new ball.
Bell started well with some tight bowling lines hitting a good length. McAneny, paired up with Bell from the pavilion end and has been on top form with ball in hand and Saturday was no different as the youngster started with two maidens. Gilchrist came into the attack as first change and took the wicket of Ahmed thanks to the handy work of Robbie Paterson in the field taking the catch. Loumeau took a wicket in his first wicket as the left-arm off spinner removed Bharti for a duck. Gilchrist struck again taking another wicket as Gala looked to apply the pressure. Bell also picked up his second wicket removing opener Belton for a slow scored 2 before Ruaridh Anderson took a catch of his own bowling removing danger man Nautiyal for 32. Sujan was expensive in his 3 overs; however, Gala would not be worried about this as he took 3 wickets of the Morton lower order before McAneny came back on to take 2 wickets in 2 overs wrapping up the Morton innings with the visitors finishing on a below par but still competitive 153.

Hastings and Sujan opened the batting for the 2nd XI with the pair getting the home side of to a solid start. The pair reached the half century mark after 12 overs for the loss of no wicket and continued to score freely. Hastings looked confident at the crease reaching 40 before his partner Sujan fell for 18 with the score on 62. Robbie Paterson then joined his wicketkeeper as the pair set about their work of chasing down the set target. Hastings raised his bat for his half century, an excellent innings setting the standard for the team. He and Paterson put together another solid partnership taking the score to 124 really taking the game away from the visitors. Unfortunately for Gala, the partnership would end after Hastings was caught out of the bowling of Gangadkar for 56. Robbie Paterson was joined by Stuart Anderson with both batters playing their shots until Paterson fell short of his half century being bowled for 41. Skipper Loumeau joined Anderson and the pair knocked off the remaining 4 runs with the former hitting the final runs and Anderson finishing unbeaten on 15.

Another good win for the 2nd XI means they solidify their position of second in the league as they try and track down Edinburgh South who sit at the top. Good performances with the ball from youngsters Bell, McAneny and Anderson as well as Gilchrist and Loumeau holding their own with the ball. Hastings and Paterson, the standout batters with their innings and partnership will look onto next week as they travel to play Drummond Trinity 4th XI.

MORTON 3RD XI SCORECARD
D Belton c S Loumeau b J Bell 2
A Ahmed c R Paterson b R Gilchrist 24
M Bharti b S Loumeau 0
P Nautiyal c+b R Anderson 32
R Malan lbw Gilchrist 3
P Mohan c M Hastings b A Sujan 28
K Swamy c+b A Sujan 4
H Shankar c+b A Sujan 0
G Gangadkar c A Sujan b S McAneny 17
F Zikry c J Bell b S McAneny 5
A Bailey-Smith not out 0

Extras 38

Morton 153 all out after 39.4 overs

GALA BOWLING

J Bell 8-0-28-1
S McAneny 6.4-2-17-2
R Gilchrist 8-0-31-2
S Loumeau 8-2-19-1
A Sujan 3-0-22-3
R Paterson 4-0-24-0
R Anderson 2-0-9-1

GALA 2ND XI SCORECARD

M Hastings c F Zirky b G Gangadkar 56
A Sujan lbw P Nautiyal 18
R Paterson b G Gangadkar 41
S Anderson not out 15
S Loumeau not out 4

Extras 20

Gala 154 for 3 wickets after 31.3 overs

MORTON BOWLING

A Ahmed 6-0-31-0
K Swamy 6-0-19-0
P Nautiyal 4-0-18-1
P Mohan 8-1-33-0
F Zirky 1-0-8-0
G Gangadkar 4.3-1-24-2

Gala 1st XI travelled to Cavalry Park to face Marchmont 1st XI in blustery yet sunny conditions. With good memories of the ground where they won the Championship last year, Gala were hoping for a repeat result from last August. Marchmont captain Keogh would win the toss and he put Gala into bat on what was a challenging wicket at times.

Gala would begin once again with Ponneri and Rutherford however, once again an early wicket would fall as Rutherford was caught behind in the second over with the score on 15. Eddie Eyre would join Ponneri and the pair would build a partnership seeing Gala past the half century mark, whilst Ponneri looked in good form as Eyre struggled to play himself in on the sticky wicket. Ponneri would depart shortly after however after the ball reached Gully as first chance Dyer struck twice in his third over bowling Indrasiri out 2 balls later. Eyre would not last much longer as he was bowled by Ahmed and at 69 for 4 Gala were in danger of a collapse. Fortunately for the away side it was captain Irvine’s day as he looked comfortable at the crease knocking the ball about for easy singles whilst also punishing the bad ball in devasting fashion. Khalia fell just before Gala reached the century as he was caught excellently by Fourie for 19. Rhode joined his skipper and also batted well in difficult conditions as he managed to rotate the strike giving Irvine as much time as possible to score. Unfortunately for the captain and vice-captain combo it wasn’t to be as Rhode was run out as Irvine looked for a quick single departing for 19 with the score on 153. Irvine then brought up his half century with five 4’s and a maximum before departing shortly after on 55. Gala’s demons of a collapse however would haunt them once again as the remaining wickets would fall with the Border side scraping up to 182 all out.

Khalia was given the nod to open the bowling again, the wicketkeeper showing some excellent skill with ball in hand as he and Scott Paterson took to the Marchmont order. Khalia managed to make an early break through in the third over thanks to an excellent catch from Rutherford at gully and then shortly after, veteran Paterson grabbed Gala’s second wicket with some great work from Eyre with the gloves on taking another good catch. Paterson then picked up another two wickets trapping opener Ahmed LBW and then bowling Panchal leaving Marchmont at 32 for 4 with Gala well on top. Tharanga was then brought into the attack replacing Khalia and he struck early trapping Mohapatra in front. Fourie provided some fight back against the Gala bowlers until he was dismissed thanks to a brilliant reaction catch with the ball coming racing through off the bat to first slip. Tharanga then gathered another 2 wickets for himself taking his personal tally to 4. Dyer then joined Amir with the score on 76 for 8 and the pair batted brilliantly, solidifying the innings despite riding their luck one more than one occasion. As the scoring rate increased, Gala would need to be cautious of the position they were in. With the fielding once again not up to standard and the bowling attack giving plenty of free opportunities for the Marchmont batters to score, Irvine and Gala would be relieved when Khalia managed to take a catch behind the stumps off of Indrasiri after he swapped into wicketkeeping with Eyre. Rhode bowled well and managed to top off his good spell with the final wicket of the game, bowling Amir.

Gala will be happy to come away with a win however, the worrying signs of all aspects are still there with a batting collapse, some poor fielding and disappointing bowling however, Gala come home victorious as they look to improve moving into next week. Gala 1st XI host Manderston on Tuesday night in the Scottish T20 qualifiers and then return home on Saturday as they entertain Linlithgow at Meigle Park. As well as these games, the 2nd Kinalba Cup fixture will be played on Thursday night.

GALA SCORECARD
S Ponneri c S Panchal b S Dyer 28
F Rutherford c H Ramachandra b A Amir 2
E Eyre b M Ahmed 14
U Indrasiri b S Dyer 0
R Khalia c R Fourie b P Keogh 19
J Irvine c unsure b D Sardesai 55
A Rhode run out 17
J Halls c unsure b D Sardesai 6
D Tharanga not out 5
J Crooks b S Dyer 2
S Paterson c+b S Dyer 6

Extras 29

Gala 182 all out after 47.4 overs

MARCHMONT BOWLING

P Keogh 10-1-30-1
A Amir 8-2-16-1
S Dyer 9.4-1-41-4
K Choudhury 3-0-21-0
M Ahmed 3-0-15-1
D Sardesai 10-1-24-2
R Fourie 4-1-15-0

MARCHMONT SCORECARD

M Ahmed lbw S Paterson 19
W Toms c F Rutherford b R Khalia 0
H Ramachandra c E Eyre b S Paterson 1
S Panchal b S Paterson 6
R Fourie c S Paterson b D Tharanga 17
A Mohapatra lbw D Tharanga 0
P Keogh b D Tharanga 8
A Amir b A Rhode 26
K Choudhury lbw D Tharanga 6
S Dyer c R Khalia b U Indrasiri 22
D Sardesai not out 0

Extras 27

Marchmont 132 all out after 39.1 overs

GALA BOWLING

R Khalia 6-0-27-1
S Paterson 8-2-18-3
D Tharanga 10-0-27-4
U Indrasiri 10-3-25-1
J Halls 2-0-17-0
A Rhode 3.1-0-5-1