A fantastic knock of 45 from just 18 balls from Gala captain Josh Irvine and some tight bowling led by Gala’s youngsters laid the foundations for a Gala victory away at Philiphaugh against Selkirk last night.

The win ensured Gala continued their 100 percent record in this years Border T20 Cup competition and ensured Gala retained the Rae Nichol Memorial Trophy, which is competed for annually between the two clubs.

With Selkirk skipper Greg Fenton winning the toss, Gala were asked to bat and the visiting side got off to a cautious but steady start with Jamie Crooks and Upul Indrasiri opening. Crooks was positive in the early stages of Gala’s innings and played a flurry of impressive shots which reached the boundary. However, looking for another, he was bowled by Rory Banks for 15. Siddhanth Ponneri then joined Indrasiri and the pair built a steady partnership despite finding life difficult on the Philiphaugh surface. Both players worked well to put on a 50 partnership but were seeking to increase Gala’s run rate. In doing so, Ponneri (21) was caught off the bowling of Gardiner. Indrasiri followed soon after also looking to up the scoring, this time being bowled by Gardiner and Gala found themselves 75 for 3 after 16 overs.

However, the partnership of Josh Irvine (45*) Dinesh Tharanga (14*) changed the game. The pair put on an excellent partnership of 64 from just the last 4 overs. A brilliant display of boundary hitting from Josh Irvine, in an innings that included four 4’s and four 6’s was the Gala catalyst as Tharanga looked to rotate the strike to Irvine.

Gala finished their innings on 139 for 3 from 20 overs following the fantastic finish.

In reply, Selkirk lost their key batsmen Fenton and Banks to Indrasiri and Jack Halls early on. The home sides run chase never really got going thanks to some tight bowling and fielding from the Gala side. Dinesh Tharanga and Liam Skeldon did well to pick up the wickets of Selkirk’s number 3 and 4, Murphy and Henderson which left Selkirk 20 for 4 at the halfway stage of the innings.

It was then the turn of the youngsters, Robbie Paterson and Jamie Bell who both bowled excellent 4 over spells. Paterson junior bowled brilliantly picking up 2 wickets for just 19 runs  as he dismissed the home sides Gardiner and Beverage. Meanwhile, Bell only conceded 10 runs in his 4 overs. A very economical spell that thoroughly deserved a wicket.

The home side finished on 62 for 7 from their 20 overs , 78 runs short of the target.

Gala can take plenty of positives from the game moving forward. Thanks to Selkirk for the game. Our players enjoyed sticking around after the match. Good luck for the rest of the season.

Gala Innings

J.Crooks b R.Banks 15

U.Indrasiri b I.Gardiner 33

S.Ponneri ct H.Murphy b I.Gardiner 21

J.Irvine not out 45

D.Tharanga not out 14

Extras – 11

Total: Gala 139 for 3 from 20 overs.

Selkirk Bowling

G.Fenton 4-0-14-0

R.Banks 4-0-30-1

K.Paterson 4-0-22-0

D.Heard 4-0-33-0

I.Gardiner 4-1-37-2

Selkirk Innings

G.Fenton LBW U.Indrasiri 5

R.Banks ct S.Ponneri b J.Halls 6

H.Murphy b D.Tharanga 0

J.Henderson b L.Skeldon 2

I.Gardiner ct U.Indrasiri b R.Paterson 13

J.Hughes run out (G.Ormiston) 7

K.Paterson not out 8

A.Beverage b R.Paterson 0

D.Heard not out 7

Extras – 14

Total: Selkirk 62 for 7 from 20 overs.

Gala Bowling

U.Indrasiri 3-2-2-1

D.Tharanga 2-0-8-1

L.Skeldon 3-0-10-1

S.Paterson 2-1-1-0

J.Halls 2-0-9-1

R.Paterson 4-0-19-2

J.Bell 4-0-10-0