A fantastic maiden Gala century from overseas professional Upul Indrasiri and an excellent bowling spell under pressure from Aashiq Rhode proved major factors as Gala pulled off a brilliant win at the home of Scottish cricket against Grange 2nds on Saturday.
The start of the match was delayed to 12:30pm and the match reduced to 35 overs a side due to the Edinburgh weather and the forecast for the rest of the day.
After winning the toss, Gala captain Josh Irvine elected to bat however the visitors got off to the worst possible start with Sid Siddhu being bowled for a duck from an excellent delivery from Grange opener Peet. Gala’s misery in the opening stages continued with Grange bowling tight lines and making life difficult for our batsmen. Josh Irvine became Peet’s second wicket of the day as he was trapped LBW for 6. This left Gala only 8 for 2. Finlay Rutherford, who looked comfortable early on, was then unlucky to edge a wider Davidson delivery behind, with Grange keeper Hancock taking a fantastic one handed catch to his right.
Gala were now 16 for 3 and in a bleak position. However, the pair of Upul Indrasiri and Duncan Millar came together and looked unphased from the get go. Both batsmen steadied the ship and took Gala up to 61 for 3 from the first 21 overs before the teams had to leave the field for a short rain break.
Upon returning to the field, the pair picked up where they left off and some. They took Gala from 61 for 3 in the 22nd over to 165 in the 33rd, scoring 104 in just 12 overs. Indrasiri brought up an excellent century in the process. An innings that included many hard hitting boundaries and patience in the early stages. Duncan Millar was also in great form and found the boundary regularly, including a series of reverse sweeps. He was eventually bowled for a well made 48 when attempting another reverse, bringing to an end his and Indrasiri’s 159 run partnership.
Aashiq Rhode then joined Indrasiri and the pair took Gala u to 180 for 4 from their 35 overs.
Gala then got off to the perfect start in defence of their total. Scott Paterson picked up the wicket of Grange opener Blain thanks to a fine one handed catch in the slips by Graeme Ormiston. Dinesh Tharanga, looking in his usual good form, then bowled other opener Brock who was unfortunate to drag onto his stumps. At this point the home side were 8 for 2. Tharanga then went onto claim his second when he had Cairns caught by Ormiston again in the slips. When Indrasiri then had Chohan out LBW for a duck and Grange sitting on 48 for 4, Gala looked to be in control.
However, the partnership of Donaldson and Scott had other ideas. The pair took Grange up to 87 with both looking confident and putting pressure on Gala’s bowlers. Finlay Rutherford then made a crucial direct hit run out to dismiss Donaldson for 33. Hancock then joined Scott however and put more pressure onto Gala. A fine catch in the covers though from Indrasiri gave Rhode his first wicket. The danger man of Scott however was still at the crease on 73 and with Grange needing 24 from the final 4 overs and Gala needing 4 wickets the home side now looked in control.
Scott then skied the ball up with Duncan Millar taking a good catch off Rhode. An excellent innings that nearly won the game for the home side. Gala then applied the pressure in the next couple of overs and regained control, taking the final 4 wickets in the space of 11 runs. Aashiq Rhode in particular bowled well under pressure taking an excellent 4 for. Sid Siddhu took a fine catch in the deep to claim Gala’s final wicket, giving the visitors a fantastic 12 run win after nail biting finish.
GALA INNINGS
S.Siddhu b F.Peet 0
F.Rutherford ct M.Hancock b D.Davidson 3
J.Irvine LBW F.Peet 6
U.Indrasiri not out 108
D.Millar b J.Cairns 48
A.Rhode not out 4
Extras – 11
Gala 180 for 4 from 35 overs.
Grange 2nd XI Bowling
F.Peet 7-2-38-2
D.Davidson 7-2-13-1
A.Docherty 7-0-43-0
J.Cairns 7-0-33-1
A.Aniruddhan 5-0-29-0
S.Blain 2-0-20-0
GRANGE 2ND XI INNINGS
J.Brock b D.Tharanga 6
S.Blain ct G.Ormiston b S.Paterson 1
J.Cairns ct G.Ormiston b D.Tharanga 18
J.Donaldson run out (F.Rutherford) 33
M.Chohan LBW U.Indrasiri 0
C.Scott ct D.Millar b A.Rhode 73
M.Hancock ct U.Indrasiri b A.Rhode 19
A.Docherty st D.Millar b A.Rhode 1
D.Davidson ct S.Siddhu b A.Rhode 7
F.Peet ct D.Millar b S.Paterson 0
A.Aniruddhan not out 4
Extras – 6
Grange 2nd XI 168 all out from 33.4 overs.
Gala Bowling
S.Paterson 7-0-39-2
D.Tharanga 7-1-31-2
J.Halls 4-0-20-0
U.Indrasiri 7-0-28-1
S.Siddhu 4-0-22-0
A.Rhode 4.4-0-25-4