Gala 1st XI travelled to play Dumfries at Nunholm in the first of their pre-season friendlies for 2022. Unfortunately for Gala it would be Dumfries who won the 1853 challenge with a confident and comfortable 163 run win.

On winning the toss, the home side elected to bat first, and with 250 runs on the board after their 40 overs, a decision that worked well. Brockwell and Malik opened the batting with both players coming out and picking the gaps in the Gala fielding which led the latter to retiring after his half century. Brockwell was dismissed by Ponneri for a well-made 45 however, with the opening pair removed it didn’t get any easier for Gala. Corbett-Byers retired after his half century whilst Thornely played an important role in seeing out the overs finishing not out on 38. Reddipalli, McGrath and Bainbridge were dismissed quickly not really troubling the scorers but with this it brought Abnett to the crease who ended the innings on 20 with the support of Thornely. Tharanga managed to pick up 2 wickets for the travelling team as well as Eyre and Ponneri who both took one each meaning.

In reply, the Gala innings never got going with openers Rutherford and Halls falling early. Eddie Eyre and Ponneri battled for 23 and 17 before the former was removed by Reddipalli and the latter by Thornely. Dumfries kept the pressure on Gala with the middle order falling for few runs. Hastings also battled for 14 before he was caught by Hobman off the bowling of Reynolds-Lewis and once the wicketkeeper was out it left the youngsters Paterson, Toor and Maceira with too much to do and with Paterson and Maceira losing their wicket it left Toor not out on 3.

Overall, a disappointing start to the season for Gala with plenty to improve on with both bat and ball, the team will travel to play Eastern Premiership side Stewarts Melville in Edinburgh. A big thanks to Dumfries for hosting the team and we wish them all the best in the Western Premiership this season.

DUMFRIES SCORECARD
C Brockwell c M.Hastings b S Ponneri 45
A Malik retired not out 55
M Corbett-Byers retired not out 52
S Thornely not out 38
U Reddipalli c J Halls b E Eyre 3
T McGrath b D Tharanga 2
F Bainbridge c A.Rhode b D Tharanga
M Abnett not out 20
Extras 31

Dumfries 250-4 off 40 overs
Fall of Wickets: 1-60, 2-189, 3-195, 4-201

GALA BOWLING
J Halls 6-0-33-0
D Tharanga 8-0-61-2
S Ponneri 5-0-27-1
M Maceira 5-0-32-0
R Paterson 5-1-21-0
S Loumeau 4-0-25-0
K Toor 2-0-14-0
E Eyre 5-0-34-1

GALA SCORECARD
F Rutherford lbw C Reynolds-Lewis 1
J Halls lbw J Hobman 8
E Eyre b U Reddipalli 23
S Ponneri b S Thornely 17
A Rhode b S Thornely 0
D Tharanga b U Reddipalli 6
S Loumeau b U Reddipalli 7
M Hastings c J Hobman b C Reynolds-Lewis 14
R Paterson b T McGrath 0
K Toor not out 3
M Maceira lbw J Hobman 0
Extras 8

Gala 87 all out off 34 overs
Fall of Wickets: 1-1, 2-12, 3-53, 4-53, 5-53, 6-63, 7-67, 8-72, 9-84, 10-87

DUMFRIES BOWLING
J Hobman 7-1-17-2
C Reynolds-Lewis 5-2-10-2
S Thornely 4-1-12-2
J Woodhouse 4-1-20-0
C Brockwell 4-1-8-0
U Reddipalli 6-2-6-3
T McGrath 4-0-10-1