Gala 2nd XI ventured up to Newfield on Kinnear Road to do battle with Drummond Trinity 4th XI in their 9th 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 2nd 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 2nd 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 2nd XI on the road again as they travel to play Kirk Brae 2nd 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 2nd 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 4th 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