Gala 1st XI travelled to Cavalry Park to face Marchmont 1st XI in blustery yet sunny conditions. With good memories of the ground where they won the Championship last year, Gala were hoping for a repeat result from last August. Marchmont captain Keogh would win the toss and he put Gala into bat on what was a challenging wicket at times.

Gala would begin once again with Ponneri and Rutherford however, once again an early wicket would fall as Rutherford was caught behind in the second over with the score on 15. Eddie Eyre would join Ponneri and the pair would build a partnership seeing Gala past the half century mark, whilst Ponneri looked in good form as Eyre struggled to play himself in on the sticky wicket. Ponneri would depart shortly after however after the ball reached Gully as first chance Dyer struck twice in his third over bowling Indrasiri out 2 balls later. Eyre would not last much longer as he was bowled by Ahmed and at 69 for 4 Gala were in danger of a collapse. Fortunately for the away side it was captain Irvine’s day as he looked comfortable at the crease knocking the ball about for easy singles whilst also punishing the bad ball in devasting fashion. Khalia fell just before Gala reached the century as he was caught excellently by Fourie for 19. Rhode joined his skipper and also batted well in difficult conditions as he managed to rotate the strike giving Irvine as much time as possible to score. Unfortunately for the captain and vice-captain combo it wasn’t to be as Rhode was run out as Irvine looked for a quick single departing for 19 with the score on 153. Irvine then brought up his half century with five 4’s and a maximum before departing shortly after on 55. Gala’s demons of a collapse however would haunt them once again as the remaining wickets would fall with the Border side scraping up to 182 all out.

Khalia was given the nod to open the bowling again, the wicketkeeper showing some excellent skill with ball in hand as he and Scott Paterson took to the Marchmont order. Khalia managed to make an early break through in the third over thanks to an excellent catch from Rutherford at gully and then shortly after, veteran Paterson grabbed Gala’s second wicket with some great work from Eyre with the gloves on taking another good catch. Paterson then picked up another two wickets trapping opener Ahmed LBW and then bowling Panchal leaving Marchmont at 32 for 4 with Gala well on top. Tharanga was then brought into the attack replacing Khalia and he struck early trapping Mohapatra in front. Fourie provided some fight back against the Gala bowlers until he was dismissed thanks to a brilliant reaction catch with the ball coming racing through off the bat to first slip. Tharanga then gathered another 2 wickets for himself taking his personal tally to 4. Dyer then joined Amir with the score on 76 for 8 and the pair batted brilliantly, solidifying the innings despite riding their luck one more than one occasion. As the scoring rate increased, Gala would need to be cautious of the position they were in. With the fielding once again not up to standard and the bowling attack giving plenty of free opportunities for the Marchmont batters to score, Irvine and Gala would be relieved when Khalia managed to take a catch behind the stumps off of Indrasiri after he swapped into wicketkeeping with Eyre. Rhode bowled well and managed to top off his good spell with the final wicket of the game, bowling Amir.

Gala will be happy to come away with a win however, the worrying signs of all aspects are still there with a batting collapse, some poor fielding and disappointing bowling however, Gala come home victorious as they look to improve moving into next week. Gala 1st XI host Manderston on Tuesday night in the Scottish T20 qualifiers and then return home on Saturday as they entertain Linlithgow at Meigle Park. As well as these games, the 2nd Kinalba Cup fixture will be played on Thursday night.

GALA SCORECARD
S Ponneri c S Panchal b S Dyer 28
F Rutherford c H Ramachandra b A Amir 2
E Eyre b M Ahmed 14
U Indrasiri b S Dyer 0
R Khalia c R Fourie b P Keogh 19
J Irvine c unsure b D Sardesai 55
A Rhode run out 17
J Halls c unsure b D Sardesai 6
D Tharanga not out 5
J Crooks b S Dyer 2
S Paterson c+b S Dyer 6

Extras 29

Gala 182 all out after 47.4 overs

MARCHMONT BOWLING

P Keogh 10-1-30-1
A Amir 8-2-16-1
S Dyer 9.4-1-41-4
K Choudhury 3-0-21-0
M Ahmed 3-0-15-1
D Sardesai 10-1-24-2
R Fourie 4-1-15-0

MARCHMONT SCORECARD

M Ahmed lbw S Paterson 19
W Toms c F Rutherford b R Khalia 0
H Ramachandra c E Eyre b S Paterson 1
S Panchal b S Paterson 6
R Fourie c S Paterson b D Tharanga 17
A Mohapatra lbw D Tharanga 0
P Keogh b D Tharanga 8
A Amir b A Rhode 26
K Choudhury lbw D Tharanga 6
S Dyer c R Khalia b U Indrasiri 22
D Sardesai not out 0

Extras 27

Marchmont 132 all out after 39.1 overs

GALA BOWLING

R Khalia 6-0-27-1
S Paterson 8-2-18-3
D Tharanga 10-0-27-4
U Indrasiri 10-3-25-1
J Halls 2-0-17-0
A Rhode 3.1-0-5-1

Inter-club matches bring a rivalry like no other and Thursday night was no disappointment. Great conditions for cricket, a pink ball, two young captains and players split into two teams resulted in a great game of cricket for the supporter. Finlay Rutherford captained Meigle and with Jamie Crooks his opposing captain taking control of Mossilee, the game gave all players from throughout the club a high degree of challenging competition as well as the chance to put their hand up for selection and with plenty of young players performing well the club can be immensely proud and happy with their improvement over the years.

Mossilee would bat first with Khalia and Sujan and got off to a flying start. Sujan would put the ball to the boundary twice until he was caught by McAneny off Bell for 8 however, Mossilee were still on top with the score on 48 for 1 after 3 overs. Club captain Irvine came in next and raced to 13 before McAneny and Bell struck again to give Bell his second wicket. After 5 overs Mossilee were 72 for 2 wickets and were at risk of a collapse however, Khalia was still in top form punishing anything in his arc. He and Crooks came together and put on an excellent partnership with Khalia bringing up his half-century in rapid time. Crooks played his part well, rotating the strike meaning danger man Khalia could punish the Meigle bowlers whilst Crooks himself managed to put the loose delivery away. Khalia raced to his century with some excellent striking of the ball and as he brought up his three figures which included 14, 4’s and 4, 6’s. As Khalia brought up his century, he retired bringing Tharanga who played his role well in ensuring the strike was rotated. Crooks made a half century before he was out LBW to Nick Murton as he looked to increase the pace. Youngster Robbie Paterson then came in and played some lovely shots as he on 12 and Tharanga on 16 finished unbeaten as Mossilee set Meigle a total of 225 to win.
Ponneri and Rutherford would open for Meigle and Ponneri showed intent from the off as Maceira and Khalia bowled well in trying to restrict the opening pair. Maceira gained a well-earned wicket as she had Rutherford caught at mid-on in another excellent spell, carrying on recent run of good form. Eyre and Ponneri then worked to knock off the total and the pair will have worried the Mossilee players as they continued to up the flow of runs. Ponneri worked the ball to the boundary numerous times before he was excellently caught behind by Irvine off the bowling of Robbie Paterson who also performed well in his spell of 4 overs. Rhode would come in and continue where Ponneri left off as he then took to the Mossilee attack putting the ball to the boundary numerous times. With the game getting tighter with every ball, Eyre would raise his bat as he reached his half century just before Rhode would be caught in the deep excellently by Khalia off of an excellent penultimate over by Toor.

Indrasiri and Eyre then had work to do as they needed 28 off the final over however, with the smaller boundary on the leg side the pressure was all on Gilchrist. For Mossilee and Crooks it would be relief as Gilchrist held his nerve in the last over only allowing 24 runs from his over despite the best intentions from Indrasiri (14) and Eyre (71) leaving Mossilee with bragging rights after game one winning by 3 runs.
A great night up at Gala Cricket Club with some great performances from both young and experience helped create such a tense and competitive atmosphere. The club can be incredibly proud of how their players are developing, providing games like this. The 2nd Kinalba Cup game takes place on Thursday where the two sides will go to battle once again.

MOSSILEE SCORECARD
R Khalia retired 100
A Sujan c S McAneny b J Bell 8
J Irvine c S McAneny b J Bell 13
J Crooks lbw Murton 51
D Tharanga not out 16
R Paterson not out 12

Extras 24

Mossilee 224 for 3 wickets after 20 overs

MEIGLE BOWLING

J Bell 3-0-42-2
N Murton 2-0-25-1
S Ponneri 4-0-43-0
A Rhode 4-0-43-0
S Loumeau 2-0-19-0
U Indrasiri 1-0-2-0
C Thomson 2-0-22-0
S McAneny 2-0-20-0

MEIGLE SCORECARD

S Ponneri c J Irvine b R Paterson 46
F Rutherford c D Tharanga b M Maceira 14
E Eyre not out 77
A Rhode c R Khalia b K Toor 44
U Indrasiri not out 14

Extras 32

Meigle 221 for 3 wickets after 20 overs

MOSSILEE BOWLING

M Maceira 4-0-35-1
R Khalia 3-0-24-0
R Paterson 4-0-29-1
A Sujan 2-0-37-0
D Tharanga 2-0-24-0
R Gilchrist 3-0-44-0
K Toor 2-0-23-1

Gala 1st XI hosted Hawick and Wilton 1st XI on Tuesday night in what was the home sides third fixture in the Border T20. Again, skipper Josh Irvine opted to give 2nd team players a chance including captain Craig Thomson, alongside a handful of youth players. Hawick would win the toss and batted first at Meigle Park.

2 early wickets would fall for the visitors after Indrasiri brilliantly ran out Justin Tait and then shortly after Skeldon struck as Gareth Welsh cut one aerial to Sam McAneny leaving Hawick 2 wickets down with 1 run on the board. Evan Alexander and former Gala player Robbie Pringle then came to the crease with Alexander playing himself in well nurdling the good ball about and punishing the bad ball. Pringle then looked to increase the run rate however was found to be short of his ground looking for a quick single thanks to a brilliantly executed direct hit from Finlay Rutherford. Stuart Hair then joined his captain Alexander at the crease and the pair did excellently to push Gala hard in the field. Gala’s fielding was questionable at points dropping Alexander a number of times as he pushed on and raised his bat for his half century. He and Hair would then complete the Hawick innings unbeaten as the visitors reached 122 for 3 wickets after their 20 overs. Hair finished on 18 and Alexander led the charge as he came in at the halfway stage 80 not out.

Khalia and Eyre opened the batting for Gala however, the former was dismissed early on by Johnston for 6. Shortly after Irvine was bowled from a peach of a delivery from Pringle and Crooks would join Irvine in the clubhouse shortly after when he chipped the ball to midwicket 2 balls later, both batsmen failing to trouble the scorers. Indrasiri would join Eyre and the pair did an excellent job in chasing down their target with confident shots both rotating the strike and powering the ball to the boundary. Indrasiri would bring up his half century as Gala closed on the total however a mix up with Eyre on a single shortly after meant Eyre would be run out on 38. Rutherford then came in and he and Indrasiri took Gala across the line, Rutherford finishing on 6 and Indrasiri 67 as Gala reached their total in the 16th over.

A disappointing fielding display will frustrate captain Irvine however, credit where it is due Alexander batted well and kept powering on despite finding the Gala fielders on a number of times. A small batting collapse at the beginning of the innings will also trouble Irvine however he will be relieved that the team managed to grind out a win. On Thursday, the first of a three game intra-club series begins as Crooks captaining Mossilee and Rutherford captaining Meigle look to compete for the Kinalba Cup. The 1st team then travel to Cavalry Park to take on Marchmont in the eighth round of ESCA Championship fixtures.

HAWICK SCORECARD
J Tait run out (Indrasiri) 1
G Welsh c S McAneny b L Skeldon 0
E Alexander not out 80
R Pringle run out (Rutherford) 7
S Hair not out 18

Extras 16

Hawick 122 for 3 wickets after 20 overs

GALA BOWLING
R Khalia 4-0-13-0
L Skeldon 4-1-22-1
R Paterson 3-0-18-0
C Thomson 3-0-19-0
J Crooks 3-0-21-0
S McAneny 2-0-18-0
F Rutherford 1-0-9-0

GALA SCORECARD

R Khalia c M Tait b R Johnston 6
E Eyre run out 38
J Irvine b R Pringle 0
J Crooks c S Hair b R Pringle 0
U Indrasiri not out 67
F Rutherford not out 6

Extras 6

Gala 123 for 4 wickets after 15.2 overs

HAWICK BOWLING

R Pringle 4-0-16-2
R Johnston 3-0-18-1
S Hair 2-0-19-0
M Tait 4-0-41-0
G Welsh 2.2-0-28-0

Blustery and wet conditions would be the main feature in Gala’s 1st XI game at Meigle Park as they took on Grange 2nd XI. The ground staff had done a brilliant job in ensuring the game started however, after 39 overs into the Grange innings the game was brought to a halt due to heavy showers leaving both teams to head home early as the match was abandoned.
Harris Rutherford was on top form for the home side as he had the ball on a string for his opening spell. Supported by a howling gale from behind him, he managed to find the edge of Lothian who was caught by Eyre at first slip with the score on 26. Chatt and Donaldson managed to then build a partnership of 66 before Indrasiri flighted one where Chatt picked out Finlay Rutherford on the boundary taking the catch and dismissing the Grange opener for 52. Soon after, Rhode took a wicket in his first over of an excellent spell by the leg spinner as he trapped Donaldson in front for 29. Indrasiri picked up his second wicket as Harris Rutherford took the catch this time, dismissing Davenport for 16. After Indrasiri had completed his 10 overs, Tharanga was brought back on to halt the flow of runs and was successful in doing so as he took the wicket of Swanson after excellent work from Khalia behind the stumps diving low to his right to take the catch. Rhode then took a wicket in the last over of the game as Grange reached 145 for 6 wickets with no more cricket being played.

GRANGE SCORECARD
C Lothian c E Eyre b H Rutherford 11
J Chatt c F Rutherford b U Indrasiri 52
J Donaldson lbw A Rhode 29
F Huddleston not out 27
A Davenport c H Rutherford b U Indrasiri 16
C Swanson c R Khalia b D Tharanga 4
D Sloan b A Rhode 1
A Docherty not out 0

Extras 5

Grange 2nd XI 145 for 6 wickets after 39 overs

FOW = 1-26, 2-92, 3-97, 4-134, 5-142, 6-145

GALA BOWLING

H Rutherford 6-0-19-1
D Tharanga 7-1-17-1
J Crooks 6-0-32-0
S Ponneri 2-0-13-0
U Indrasiri 10-0-38-2
A Rhode 8-1-25-2

Gala 2nd XI travelled to Arboretum in the capital to take on Holy Cross 2nd XI in a game which would be affected by the weather conditions. Before play, both captains agreed to shorten the game to 30 overs a side and with Gala Captain Seb Loumeau winning the toss, he elected to bat first.

The Gala innings did not get off to a good start with Hastings being run out for 5 and Sujan being bowled on 1 leaving Gala 6 for 2. The returning Stuart Anderson and skipper Loumeau then managed to form a partnership with the former playing an anchor role to the expansive shots that the latter showed. The pair brought up Gala’s half century only to lose Loumeau shortly after when he was caught for 30.

Youngster Sam McAneny then came to the crease to join Anderson and the pair set about increasing the run rate. Stuart Anderson was then trapped in front of his stumps after scoring 16 leaving Gala at 77-4. Despite losing partners, McAneny continued to show his class putting the ball to the boundary countless times in an aggressive fighting performance. This attacking style of batting saw the youngster raise his bat for his maiden half century for the town, a performance he can be proud of. Unfortunately, shortly after McAneny found himself short of his crease being run out for 53 and with his wicket falling, the 2nd XI lower order had a collapse. Ashley Robertson and Bailey Paterson however managed to keep their wicket intact with Gala scoring 133 from their 30 overs losing 9 wickets.

Skeldon would open the bowling however, it would be McAneny back into action in the second over taking the wicket of opener Robertson for a duck. Maceira would come on and take the wicket of other opener Worsnop however, for Holy Cross, Parker would score easily reaching 44 before he was caught behind by Max Hastings with Gala’s star man McAneny claiming his wicket. Maceira would then take another 2 wickets in her last 2 overs in a good spell. Robertson would then take 2 wickets in her 4 over spell, really making the game a tense one that would end in a nervy finish. Unfortunately for Gala, it wasn’t to be as Holy Cross reached their target on the second last ball of the game leaving Gala agonisingly short of claiming a victory.

Gala will be devastated with the result however, some great performances from McAneny with bat and ball as well as Maceira again chipping in with wickets will really boost the youngster’s performances in weeks to come as they grow in confidence. Next week the 2nd XI return home to Meigle Park to take on Morton 3rd XI.

GALA SCORECARD
M Hastings run out 5
A Sujan b P Chinnathambi 1
S Anderson lbw R Worsnop 16
S Loumeau c P Chinnathambi b A Robertson 30
S McAneny run out 53
J Boyle c+b P Chinnathambi 8
R Anderson c H Anosh b P Chinnathambi 3
A Robertson not out 1
L Skeldon b J Aide 0
M Maceira b P Chinnathambi 0
B Paterson not out 1

Extras 15

Gala 133 for 9 wickets after 30 overs

HOLY CROSS BOWLING

K Geddes 5-0-25-0
P Chinnathambi 6-0-23-4
A Robertson 4-0-25-1
R Worsnop 6-1-20-1
H Anosh 3-0-19-0
J Aide 6-1-15-1

HOLY CROSS SCORECARD

R Worsnop b M Maceira 16
A Robertson b S McAneny 0
R Parker c M Hastings b S McAneny 44
J Baits b M Maceira 17
H Anosh c R Anderson b M Maceira 10
P Chinnathambi c M Hastings b A Robertson 7
J Aide lbw A Robertson 1
K Lawrie not out 11
K Geddes not out 3

Extras 25

Holy Cross 134 for 7 wickets after 29.5 overs

GALA BOWLING

L Skeldon 6-0-19-0
S McAneny 5.5-0-28-2
S Loumeau 6-0-22-0
M Maceira 6-0-28-3
A Robertson 4-0-22-2
A Sujan 2-0-8-0

Gala hosted St Boswells in the home sides second game in the Border T20 league on Thursday night. The ground staff at the club can be proud that any cricket was played at the club as heavy rainfall overcame the town the day before. St Boswells won the toss and decided to bat first.

Khalia got the opportunity to get out from behind the stumps as he took the first ball of the match bowling a tidy 3 overs from the farm end. Youngster and debutant Sam McAneny took the ball from the Pavilion end to partner Khalia. Gala used the opportunity of T20s to use a mix of youth players and give 1st team regulars with Finlay Rutherford getting a chance with ball in hand as well as Liam Skeldon and Robbie Paterson who were also given a chance with the latter really showing the promise of the clubs young players with a quite remarkable spell. It would be Khalia who would get the opening wicket when he removed Petu for 4 and not long after Skeldon picked up the wicket of Taylor for 29 and Broom was run out with a brilliant piece of individual skill from Khalia in the outfield. Laidlaw batted the remainder of the innings scoring 42 whilst he saw partner Edmonds be run and Robbie Paterson picking up the wicket of Graham in his excellent spell. Hirtenstein would finish the innings off with Laidlaw as St Boswells posted 105 for 5 from their 20 overs.

Finlay Rutherford and Tharanga were given their chance to open the batting with the pair seeing the ball to the boundary numerous times in a solid partnership that lasted 73 runs. It would be Rutherford who would fall as he was caught by wicketkeeper Graham from the bowling of Edmonds for 37 runs. Khalia would come in just as Tharanga raised his bat for his half century and the pair would take Gala up to 96 only needing 10 runs to win however, Khalia could not see the game through as he was caught again by Graham off Edmonds bowling for 6. Crooks would join Tharanga seeing Gala through to their target with Tharanga finishing unbeaten on 55 and Crooks unbeaten on 5.

Gala now move to 2 wins from 2 in the Border T20 league with some solid performances from both youth and experience which will be pleasing to see by all from around the club as the youngsters get a chance to show their talents. Gala will host Grange 2nd XI on Saturday in the seventh round of ESCA Championship games.

ST BOSWELLS SCORECARD
F Taylor b L Skeldon 29
G Petu b R Khalia 4
J Broom run out 7
S Laidlaw not out 42
B Edmonds run out 14
R Graham b R Paterson 4
D Hirtenstein not out 0

Extras 5

St Boswells 105 for 5 after 20 overs

FOW = 1-25, 2-42, 3-45, 4-82, 5-98

GALA BOWLING

R Khalia 3-0-7-1
S McAneny 2-0-18-0
F Rutherford 3-0-24-0
L Skeldon 3-0-15-1
A Rhode 3-0-11-0
R Paterson 4-0-16-1
J Crooks 2-0-14-0

GALA SCORECARD

F Rutherford c R Graham b B Edmonds 37
D Tharanga not out 55
R Khalia c R Graham b B Edmonds 6
J Crooks not out 5

Extras 3

Gala 106 for 2 after 11.2 overs

FOW = 1-73, 2-96

ST BOSWELLS BOWLING

A Hirtenstein 3-0-17-0
J Broom 3-0-19-0
B Edmonds 3-0-31-2
I Robertson 2-0-34-0
P Valentine 0.2-0-4-0

Gala 2nd XI travelled to Polwarth Oval to take on Tranent & Preston Village in the sixth round of games in ESCA division 6. On a scorcher of a day in East Lothian Tranent would win the toss and put Gala into bat.

Welcoming back John Imray, he and Max Hastings would open the batting. The pair got off to a steady start battling hard to play themselves in until Imray was bowled for 20 and Hastings was caught on 19. Robbie Paterson managed to score 16 before he was caught with the Gala middle order struggling to score against a tricky bowling attack. Co-Captain Thomson would come to the crease and revive the Gala innings in a standout knock of 34 before he was run out. The lower order managed to piece runs together here and there and with the help of 15 extras Gala reached a total of 133 all out after Skeldon was caught by Russell off the bowling of Hussain with 3 overs left in their innings.

Bell struck twice early on with the ball getting Gala off to an excellent start as he claimed the wickets of both openers Lee and Bhadrachala. Thomson and Gilchrist also claimed one each applying plenty of pressure to the Tranent chase. With these 4 wickets having fallen, Gala turned to Maceira who showed class in a tremendous bowling display proving why she is in the national set-up. The youngster took 6 wickets in 6 overs, stunning the hosts to 102 all out.

The travelling Gala side will be immensely happy with their win in East Lothian and with performances like Maceira’s, it will only boost the confidence of the team. The 2nd XI are back on the road again next week as they travel to Arboretum to take on Holy Cross 2nd XI.

GALA SCORECARD
M Hastings c P Barker b A Anto 19
J Imray b A Anto 20
R Paterson c S Russell b A Anto 16
A Sujan lbw A Nair 4
J Bell b A Nair 0
S Loumeau lbw A Nair 9
C Thomson run out 34
J Boyle b P Barker 6
R Gilchrist lbw S Hussain 9
L Skeldon c S Russell b S Hussain 0
M Maceira not out 1

Extras 15

Gala 2nd XI 133 all out after 37 overs

TRANENT BOWLING

A Smith 6-1-16-0
G Sebastian 5-1-15-0
A Nair 6-0-21-3
A Anto 8-0-27-3
S Hussain 8-0-12-2
P Barker 4-0-31-1

TRANENT SCORECARD
S Lee b J Bell 7
R Bhadrachala c S Loumeau b J Bell 9
M Obulareddy lbw C Thomson 6
K Muhkerjee c J Bell b M Maceira 12
P Barker lbw R Gilchrist 3
S Hussain not out 30
A Anto c M Hastings b M Maceira 3
A Nair b M Maceira 3
S Russell b M Maceira 4
G Sebastian lbw M Maceira 0
A Smith b M Maceira 0

Extras 18

Tranent & Preston Village 102 all out after 31 overs

GALA BOWLING

J Bell 8-1-20-2
C Thomson 6-0-17-1
S Loumeau 6-0-23-0
R Gilchrist 2-0-15-1
M Maceira 6-0-16-6
L Skeldon 3-0-9-0

On Saturday, Gala Cricket Club hosted our ladies day event ‘Tiki in the Tent’ on what was a stunning day up at Meigle Park with the event being a huge success. On the field however, the 1st team failed to create a performance that lived up to the off-field activities as they lost out to Edinburgh Accies.

Gala would bat first after Accies won the toss and decided to take it to the home side with their bowling attack. Ponneri and Finlay Rutherford opened for Gala once again and once again the pair failed to get Gala off to a strong start. With Ponneri flashing his bat at the ball and not connecting, Rutherford looked to kick on but was found to be LBW for 3. Khalia and Ponneri joined up to take Gala to the half century marked before Ponneri was then also found to be LBW for 28. A top to middle order collapse once again will frustrate Gala as they went from 52 for 2 to 78 for 7. As Halls was welcomed back to the team, he would join Tharanga where the pair looked to salvage Gala’s innings with a partnership. Halls made 14 before he was removed and with Crooks removed swiftly after, Tharanga looked to increase the pace of the scoring with Harris Rutherford until Tharanga himself was bowled for 18 with Gala limping to 116.

Harris Rutherford had an excellent opening spell on his return to the 1st team. He and Tharanga bowled excellently finding their areas early on however, the defiance of Cosh and Dadwal would win this battle as Gala failed to make a breakthrough. Indrasiri would then come into the attack managing to dismiss 3 of the Accies top 4 in an excellent 10 over spell. Crooks would take the prized wicket of Cosh thanks to the work of skipper Irvine. However, by this time it was too late for Gala to make any kind of comeback with Edinburgh Accies chasing down their total after 30 overs for the loss of 4 wickets. Another batting collapse for Gala will really frustrate the teams as they will look to work on how to counter the issue. The team are back in action as they host St Boswells in the Border T20 on Thursday night before returning back to Meigle Park again on Saturday to play Grange 2nd XI

GALA SCORECARD

S Ponneri lbw T Singh 28

F Rutherford lbw M Safi 3

R Khalia c D Ahmed b R Wahi 22

U Indrasiri lbw R Wahi 9

J Irvine b T Singh 1

E Eyre c K Muthuramalingam b R Wahi 0

A Rhode c A Cosh b R Wahi 4

D Tharanga b J Mackinnon 18

J Halls lbw T Singh 14

J Crooks c A Cosh b J Mackinnon 2

H Rutherford not out 0

Extras 15

Gala 1st 116 all out after 38.1 overs

FOW = 1-12, 2-52, 3-63, 4-72, 5-72, 6-76, 7-78, 8-104, 9-113, 10-116

EDINBURGH ACCIES BOWLING

D Ahmed 10-2-28-0

M Safi 6-1-16-1

R Wahi 10-1-41-4

T Singh 10-1-24-3

J Mackinnon 2.1-1-2-2

EDINBURGH ACCIES SCORECARD

A Cosh c J Irvine b J Crooks 36

V Dadwal lbw U Indrasiri 9

J Lee lbw U Indrasiri 10

G Singh lbw U Indrasiri 6

K Muthuramalingam not out 28

R Wahi not out 20

Extras 8

Edinburgh Accies 1st 120 for 4 after 30.2 overs

FOW = 1-17, 2-36, 3-45, 4-82

GALA BOWLING

H Rutherford 5-1-26-0

D Tharanga 9-3-34-0

U Indrasiri 10-4-22-3

J Crooks 6-0-28-1

A Rhode 0.2-0-4-0

Gala welcomed Selkirk to Meigle Park on a sunny Thursday night, with the teams competing in a double header in the Border T20 league and Scottish T20 qualifier. Selkirk captain Greg Fenton would win the toss and selected to bat, looking to put a big total on the board.

It would be Greg Fenton and Murphy to open for the Souters with Bell bowling for the home side. Murphy failed to add to the score with Skeldon taking a catch from the bowling of Bell however, the two Fenton brothers joined at the crease looking to form a partnership. With the brothers managing to find easy runs Gala skipper Irvine went with spin from both ends, pairing Indrasiri and Crooks up. The pair managed both to bowl their overs for the cost of few runs, with Crooks managing to slide one past Michael Fenton who charged down the wicket being stumped on 46. Selkirk would then limp to a very defendable total of 122 with Greg Fenton managing to reach his half century just before the innings close finishing not out on 56 with Kieran Toor 4 not out after the loss of 4 wickets.

Gala’s run chase would start steadily as Khalia and Crooks opening for the home side with the latter really struggling to put the ball away to the fence and struggling to score. Khalia would continue to score until he reached 21 before being trapped in front by Heard. Ponneri would join Crooks and score 18 before another LBW would strike as Greg Fenton managed to trap the former. With 58 on the board after 9 overs pro Indrasiri would join Crooks as the pair looked to chase down the total. With the score on 71 Crooks was then out charging down the wicket and missing a straight one making 11 runs in the 25 balls he faced. Irvine would make a quick 15 before being out LBW with the score on 90. Eyre then came in and managed to reach 10 with Indrasiri not out on 33 as Gala chased down their total with 10 balls to spare and 4 wickets down.

With the win, Gala now moves to the next qualifier of the Scottish T20 cup and go one from one in the Border T20 league. The win wasn’t pretty but it’s knockout cricket and Gala managed to do enough to overcome their division 3 opponents. The 1st XI are back in action at Meigle Park on Saturday as they host Accies in the championship.

SELKIRK SCORECARD
G Fenton not out 56
H Murphy c L Skeldon b J Bell 0
M Fenton st R Khalia b J Crooks 46
I Gardiner lbw D Tharanga 1
B Gillie run out 2
K Toor not out 6

Extras 13

Selkirk 122 for 4 wickets off 20 overs

FOW = 1-11, 2-89, 3-92, 4-98

GALA BOWLING

J Bell 3-0-15-1
D Tharanga 4-1-22-1
U Indrasiri 4-0-19-0
A Rhode 2-0-26-0
J Crooks 4-0-13-1
S Ponneri 2-0-13-0
L Skeldon 1-0-11-0

GALA SCORECARD

R Khalia lbw D Heard 21
J Crooks b B Gillie 11
S Ponneri lbw G Fenton 18
U Indrasiri not out 33
J Irvine lbw B Gillie 15
E Eyre not out 10

Extras 15

Gala 124 for 4 wickets off 18.2 overs

SELKIRK BOWLING

M Fenton 2-0-16-0
D Heard 4-0-27-1
G Fenton 4-0-18-1
B Gillie 4-1-18-2
K Toor 3.2-0-33-0
J Hughes 1-0-9-0

On Saturday, Gala 1st XI were on the road as they travelled to Campbell Park on what was a hot day filled with plenty of sunshine as they took on Edinburgh 1st XI.

Edinburgh won the toss and decided to bat first with Gala beginning the game with a partnership of Indrasiri and Tharanga at either end bowling.

Off the back of last weeks performance in the field it was important for Gala that they saw an improvement and improve they did. An excellent fielding display with players putting bodies on the line helped Gala limit Edinburgh in their run scoring. Tharanga grabbed the first wicket with the score on 6 after he dismissed Hassan with the help Khalia behind the stumps taking the catch. The next wicket fell with the score on 16, some brilliant work from Eddie Eyre in the field and some very poor running from Edinburgh’s batters meant Butt ended his innings being run out. Scott Paterson was then brought into the attack and claimed his first wicket early with Indrasiri involved, taking a catch a mid-off. Edinburgh managed to steady the ship with Ashraf and Farooq taking the capital side to 48-3 before Farooq (16) was bowled by Indrasiri. This was the first of four wickets that fell with the score on 48. Paterson claimed the second wicket of this period after Crooks took the catch of Ashraf. Indrasiri continued to hassle the Edinburgh batters with the last two wickets in an excellent few overs for Gala in the field. Majeed provided resistance against the Gala bowlers however, Indrasiri proved too much for the lower order taking a further 3 wickets in a quite remarkable bowling spell by himself being the main man in Gala’s performance in bowling Edinburgh out for 86. Indrasiri managed to take 6 wickets from 7.5 overs in a simply brilliant display of spin bowling whilst only conceding 8 runs.

Gala would be confident as they welcomed back Ponneri to the team, fresh off his ton the week before for the 2nd XI. However, the two Gala openers started poorly with Rutherford (1) and Ponneri (6) losing their wicket. Thankfully for Gala Khalia and Indrasiri managed to steady the innings with a 40-run partnership where they punished the bad ball, turning the game right back in favour of the travelling Gala side. Indrasiri was bowled by Haider with a brilliant cutter ball putting the nerves back into Gala. Irvine came in however and bossed the game along with Khalia with both batters managing to dig in on a tricky wicket. Just before Gala reached their target Khalia was removed as he nicked the ball to Ashraf for 30 in what will disappoint the South African after he battled hard. Eyre scored a single getting Irvine back on strike and with 1 run to win Gala managed to wrap the game up reaching 87 with Irvine (14) and Eyre (1) finishing unbeaten.

Gala will be really happy with their fielding performance after a good start, they managed to set a tone for the game. Momentum is now with the team after two wins on the bounce. The next game will be on Monday night as Gala host Selkirk in both the Border T20 and Scottish T20 Cup.

EDINBURGH SCORECARD
M Butt run out (E Eyre) 7
S Hassan c R Khalia b D Tharanga 3
Q Ashraf c J Crooks b S Paterson 16
M Munir c U Indrasiri b S Paterson 1
U Farooq b U Indrasiri 16
Z Ul-Haq lbw U Indrasiri 0
A Majeed not out 12
A Khan b U Indrasiri 0
U Haider lbw U Indrasiri 17
A Shabir c E Eyre b U Indrasiri 2
A Wadood lbw U Indrasiri 1

Extras 11

Edinburgh 86-10 off 28.5 overs

FOW = 1-6, 2-16, 3-19, 4-48, 5-48, 6-48, 7-48, 8-74, 9-85, 10-86

GALA BOWLING

U Indrasiri 7.5-4-8-6
D Tharanga 8-3-9-1
S Paterson 10-2-42-2
J Bell 3-0-23-0

GALA SCORECARD

S Ponneri c A Majeed b A Shabir 6
F Rutherford b Z Ul-Haq 1
R Khalia c Q Ashraf b A Wadood 30
U Indrasiri b U Haider 15
J Irvine not out 14
E Eyre not out 1

Extras 20

Gala 87-4 off 19.2 overs

FOW = 1-6, 2-9, 3-49, 4-73

EDINBURGH BOWLING

Z Ul-Haq 7-0-26-1
A Shabir 3-0-11-1
U Farooq 2-0-12-0
U Haider 4-0-11-1
A Majeed 1-0-11-0
A Wadood 1.2-0-4-1
A Khan 1-0-10-0