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