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

Meigle Park played host to the ESCA Division 6 match between Gala 2nd XI and Boroughmuir 2nd XI. On what was a brilliant day for cricket, both competing teams provided good performances in an excellent game. Boroughmuir won the toss and elected to bowl first, Gala would open with Ajith Sujan and Max Hastings.

The pair of Gala openers were simply brilliant at digging in and playing an array of shots. The pair managed to rotate the strike and punish the bad ball as they brought the home side to the half century mark. With the score on 62, Sujan was caught on 32 ending the opening partnership. Max Hastings continued to take the game to Boroughmuir despite the loss of his opening partner. Robbie Paterson joined him, and the youngster provided a brilliant performance with bat in hand. Hastings managed to bring up his half century whereas Paterson fell agonisingly short on 45. McAneny did not trouble the scorers as he was dismissed for a golden duck and Ross Patterson only managed to add 2 to the total. Hastings was eventually removed for a solid knock of 61, bringing in Loumeau (38) and Thomson (19). The experienced pair showed some brilliant power hitting in the closing stages taking Gala to 215.

With a total that Gala would be confident to defend the first wicket fell after 25 runs, Gilchrist taking the catch of Gazzala off the bowling of Skeldon. Skeldon then collected a further 2 wickets leaving Boroughmuir 51 for 3 after 13 overs. Wickets fell at regular intervals however J Good provided resistance to the Gala bowling and with the Boroughmuir batter still at the crease the game was still in the balance. Thankfully for Gala, following up from his positive batting display, Paterson popped up to take the prized wicket of Good, pulling the game back into Gala’s favour. After Paterson took his second wicket and the trio of Sujan, Thomson and Loumeau all taking one each, Boroughmuir ran out of time ending their 40 overs 8 down with the score on 170 runs meaning Gala would be victorious by 45 runs.

A tremendous display with both bat and ball by both youth and experience will please the home side. Next week the 2nd XI travel to play Tranent and Preston Village 2nd XI.

GALA SCORECARD
M Hastings c J Good b G McLean 61
A Sujan c A Rajan b D Venkataraman 30
R Paterson c+b K Gazzala 45
S Mcaneny b G McLean 0
R Patterson c G Dickson b J Good 2
S Loumeau not out 38
C Thomson not out 19

Extras 20

Gala 215-5 off 40 overs

FOW = 1-62, 2-143, 3-143, 4-154, 5-166

BOROUGHMUIR BOWLING

G McLean 8-1-27-2
J Good 8-1-22-1
D Venkataraman 8-0-55-1
G Dickson 5-0-23-0
K Gazzala 7-1-40-1
S Chaudry 2-0-26-0
A Shazad 2-0-14-0

BOROUGHMUIR SCORECARD

G Dickson c R Patterson b L Skeldon 23
K Gazzala c R Gilchrist b L Skeldon 18
A Cornick c R Gilchrist b L Skeldon 0
T Reed c R Patterson b A Sujan 11
J Good c A Sujan b R Paterson 45
A Rajan c+b C Thomson 10
D Venkataraman st M Hastings b R Paterson 26
P Hutton b S Loumeau 12
A Shazad not out 2
S Choudry not out 1

Extras 22

Boroughmuir 170-8 off 40 overs

FOW = 1-25, 2-31, 3-51, 4-72, 5-94, 6-135, 7-162, 8-168

GALA BOWLING

L Skeldon 8-0-26-3
R Gilchrist 5-0-23-0
C Thomson 7-0-27-1
A Sujan 6-1-33-1
S Loumeau 7-0-19-1
R Paterson 6-0-28-2
M Purves 1-0-2-0

The past weekend saw the Sunday XI or 3rd XI travel to the capital to take on Edinburgh Accies at Newfield in what was their first game of the ESCA Development League. Unfortunately for the travelling Gala men the result favoured the Edinburgh side.

Winning the toss Accies batted first with Gala youngsters Skeldon and Bell opening the bowling, looking to take early wickets. Gulati and Poojari set the innings off well for the hosts before the latter was bowled by Bell for 14. Wickets fell for Gala at regular intervals however runs came quickly for Accies. Singhtoor claimed the prized wicket of Sukhadiya as he made 68 and was the standout performer in the Accies scorecard. Bell and Sujan both bowled well and managed to claim 3 wickets each as well as the rest of the bowling attack managing to contribute a wicket each. 24 extras from the Gala bowling and fielding left them needing to chase down 174 in their 30 overs.

Bell was in the thick of the action again with fellow youngster Robbie Paterson as they opened the batting. Unfortunately, the pair failed to build a partnership with both openers being bowled early by Pasila. Bishnoi batted well to make 43 runs until he was run out, with captain Finlay Rutherford and James Boyle both making contributions coming into bat at five and seven, they gave Gala a glimmer of hope however wickets were limiting Gala’s chances. With both players losing their wicket, Toor managed to make 15 before being caught leaving Skeldon and Bailey Paterson too much to do as they both finished not out with Gala 128 for 8 wickets from their 30 overs.

The result did not go Gala’s way however, the club and team can be proud that so many youngsters are getting a chance to perform at senior cricket which will only build the club for the future.

EDINBURGH ACCIES SCORECARD
G Gulati c F Rutherford b J Bell 21
A Poojari b J Bell 14
A Sehgal c K Toor b L Skeldon 15
H Sukhadiya c J Bell b K Singhtoor 68
S Mogre c A Sujan b J Bell 2
M Clayton c J Bell b A Sujan 0
T Rajyaguru c&b A Bishnoi 4
P Golakiya b A Sujan 7
V Ramesh lbw A Sujan 0
P Pasila not out 8
K Jethwa c A Sujan b R Paterson 11

Extras 24

Edinburgh Accies 174-10 off 25.1 overs

FOW = 1-21, 2-44, 3-57, 4-87, 5-97, 6-105, 7-145, 8-152, 9-156, 10-174

GALA BOWLING

L Skeldon 4-0-40-1
J Bell 6-1-24-3
A Bishnoi 5-0-41-1
A Sujan 6-0-34-3
K Toor 3-0-25-1
R Paterson 1.1-0-7-1

GALA SCORECARD

J Bell b P Pasila 2
R Paterson b P Pasila 4
S McAneny b P Pasila 0
A Bishnoi run out 43
F Rutherford c T Rajyaguru b G Gulati 18
A Sujan c T Rajyaguru b G Gulati 0
J Boyle c&b A Sehgal 23
K Toor c V Ramesh b P Golakiya 15
L Skeldon not out 3
B Paterson not out 7

Extras 13

Gala 128-8 off 30 overs

FOW = 1-4, 2-4, 3-12, 4-59, 5-69, 6-84, 7-116, 8-128

EDINBURGH ACCIES BOWLING

P Pasila 4-0-14-3
V Ramesh 4-2-9-0
A Poojari 3-0-20-0
G Gulati 3-0-16-2
H Sukhadiya 3-0-12-0
M Clayton 3-0-16-0
S Mogre 3-0-10-0
A Sehgal 3-0-8-1
P Golakiya 3-0-15-1
T Rajyaguru 1-0-7-0

On Saturday, Gala played host to Penicuik in the Championship on a blustery and overcast day at Meigle Park. The border side headed into this game still looking for their first win of the season whereas Penicuik had already tasted victory as they had beaten Edinburgh the week before.

Penicuik won the toss and decided to bat first opening up with Foulds and Morgan. Irvine again opened with spin and Crooks bowled the first ball of the match, a full toss which Foulds punished to the boundary showing intent from the first ball. When Tharanga struck with the wicket of Morgan, the floodgates partially opened as Gala took wickets regularly to the stage where the visitors found themselves at 7 down with the score on just 76. Bell picked up 2 and Tharanga 3 as the pair led from the front. However, a great innings from Adams and an important knock from captain Picken and a simply awful display from Gala in the field helped Penicuik to score runs and build a solidified partnership. Picken chipped away looking to get Adams on strike and with the pair working brilliantly together, the Gala heads began to drop. Scott Paterson finally managed to get the wicket of Picken for a controlled 28 bringing Crawford to the crease. He made 19 before dancing past one from Crooks and with that Wood and Adams finished the Penicuik innings off reaching 225 with Adams staying unbeaten for an excellent 83. Tharanga was the pick of the Gala bowlers conceding 25 runs for his 3 wickets in his ten over spell.

The Gala reply got off to a poor start with Crooks (0) and Khalia (5) being removed early by Crawford. Rutherford made 17 before chipping a ball to mid-off where skipper Picken waited and claimed his wicket. After this a partnership was formed between Indrasiri and Irvine helping Gala towards their target. The pair managed to punish the bad ball and take easy singles marching Gala nearer and nearer with every over as their partnership lasted 125 runs. Eventually, Irvine was bizarrely caught by Davidson off the helmet of wicketkeeper Murray for 52. Eyre joined Indrasiri but shortly after the latter was found to be lbw of Davidson for an excellent knock of 81. Eyre managed 16 before he was caught and with this there would be a nervy ending to the game despite Gala being in a commanding position 5 overs before. Rhode and Bell chipped in, but both were dismissed and with Paterson being run out Gala with one wicket in hand had Tharanga and Skeldon at the crease. Skeldon blocked out five balls for Tharanga to take the strike in the last over needing 3 to win. Luckily for Gala, no more runs were scored off the bat with 3 wides being bowled meaning Gala won their first game of the season by 1 wicket.

A nervy ending to the game from what was a commanding position to win will frustrate Gala however the team can be relieved they have finally come away with a win. Lots of things to work on for the 1st XI before they head up to Campbell Park next week to take on Edinburgh.

PENICUIK SCORECARD
M Foulds c J Irvine b J Bell 23
W Morgan c J Bell b D Tharanga 14
R Davidson lbw D Tharanga 6
H Murray c R Khalia b J Bell 5
T Wylie b U Indrasiri 12
Z Crawley c R Khalia b S Paterson 5
R Adams not out 83
O Picken c R Khalia b S Paterson 28
C Crawford b J Crooks 19
E Wood not out 2

Extras 27

Penicuik 225-9 off 50 overs

FOW = 1-24, 2-43, 3-55, 4-55, 5-60, 6-75, 7-76, 8-161, 9-209

GALA BOWLING

J Crooks 7-0-48-1
D Tharanga 10-4-25-3
J Bell 7-0-47-2
S Paterson 10-2-40-2
U Indrasiri 10-3-18-1
L Skeldon 1-0-10-0
J Irvine 2-0-16-0
A Rhode 3-0-14-0

GALA SCORECARD

F Rutherford c O Picken b R Adams 17
J Crooks c S Charleson b C Crawford 0
R Khalia b C Crawford 5
U Indrasiri lbw R Davidson 81
J Irvine c R Davidson b W Morgan 52
E Eyre c Z Crawley b R Davidson 16
A Rhode c O Picken b R Davidson 4
D Tharanga not out 6
S Paterson run out 0
J Bell c M Foulds b R Adams 5
L Skeldon not out 0

Extras 40

Gala 226-9 off 49.1 overs

FOW = 1-1, 2-8, 3-44, 4-169, 5-193, 6-205, 7-206, 8-215, 9-223

PENICUIK BOWLING

C Crawford 10-1-41-2
O Picken 10-1-38-0
R Adams 6-0-24-2
W Morgan 10-1-37-1
E Wood 3-1-30-0
R Davidson 10-1-42-3

On Saturday, the Gala 2nd XI made the long journey up to McKane Park where they would challenge Dunfermline and Carnegie 2nd XI in ESCA’s division 6. Seb Loumeau won the toss and Gala would bat first with an opening pair of Sujan and Robbie Paterson.

Gala got off to a solid start with the openers punishing the bad ball away to the boundary. Robbie Paterson made 19 before he was bowled by Rowley. Toor would join Sujan who was now firing with the bat however the partnership would end very early with Toor being trapped in front LBW again off the bowling of Rowley.

Bishnoi scored 1 in his short time of the crease and McAneny joined Sujan looking to play some attacking shots. When McAneny fell (13) Ponneri joined Sujan. Sujan played some smart sensible shots along with some punishing blows in his score of 66 before he was removed. Ponneri carried on where Sujan left off showing his talents with the bat. Ponneri would raise the bat as he reached a century towards the end of the innings finishing not out on 108 along with captain Loumeau who played his part and was unbeaten on 32. Gala would post 260 runs on the board in a positive performance with the bat.

The Dunfermline run chase got off to a flier. A big partnership between Rowley and Spreng was an excellent watch. The introduction of Ashleigh Robertson however would be the downfall of the opening pair. First Roberston claimed the wicket of Spreng in his innings of 84 with some excellent work behind the stumps from Ponneri. Robertson’s second wicket would be Wood who scored 3 and then Robertson would claim the prized wicket of Rowley as he was bowled for 115. Gala now in a more commanding decision managed to take 3 more wickets in their defence as Dunfermline ran out of overs to chase down the required total with Howis (20) and Miller (8) finishing the innings not out as they reached 247 leaving Gala with a brilliant win by 13 runs. As previously mentioned, Robertson was the pick of the Gala bowlers she took 3 wickets with two of them being crucial wickets.

A great performance from the 2nd XI now moves them to 3 wins from 4 games. With the team in a promising position and after a good result the 2’s will be very confident moving into next week as they host Boroughmuir 2nd XI to Meigle Park.

GALA SCORECARD
A Sujan lbw D Deenadayalan 66
R Paterson b S Rowley 19
K Toor lbw S Rowley 0
A Bishnoi c sub b S Rowley 1
S McAneny b M Howis 13
S Ponneri not out 108
S Loumeau not out 32

Extras 21

Gala 2nd XI 260-5 off 40 overs

DUNFERMLINE BOWLING

P Brown 8-0-67-0
P Millmore 3-0-18-0
M Howis 8-1-29-1
S Rowley 8-1-26-3
D Deenadayalan 2-0-23-1
R Cox 7-0-47-0
D Wood 2-0-26-0
J Spreng 2-0-16-0

DUNFERMLINE SCORECARD
S Rowley b A Robertson 115
J Spreng st S Ponneri b A Robertson 84
D Wood b A Robertson 3
D Deenadayalan run out 0
M Howis not out 20
R Cox b S Ponneri 2
A Leitch run out 0
D Miller not out 8

GALA BOWLING

S Ponneri 8-0-44-1
M Maceira 8-0-45-0
S Loumeau 8-0-40-0
A Bishnoi 4-0-29-0
K Toor 5-0-38-0
A Robertson 7-0-48-3

On the 15th of May, Gala travelled to Titwood on the West of Scotland to take on Clydesdale in the Scottish Cup first round. With Clydesdale winning the toss, the home side decided to put in the travelling border side into bat.

Ponneri helped Gala get off to a confident start as he put balls away to the boundary early on in the innings. His opening partner Rutherford struggled however and was soon removed for 3 with the score on 28. Eyre joined opener Ponneri at the crease and the pair got Gala to the half century before Ponneri was caught off the bowling of Koteeswaran for 22. Eyre was then removed soon after leaving Gala’s overseas amateur and pro Khalia and Indrasiri with a job to do. Khalia looked confident early on with runs flowing steadily for the amateur however, Indrasiri was run out looking to take a quick single meaning Gala were 90 for 4 with work to do and plenty of overs to do it.

Irvine got off the mark quickly with a lovely six back over the bowler’s head. The pair worked hard until it was undone after Irvine was bowled for 42 looking to sweep Bashir ending the partnership of 87. Khalia was then the star of the show for the rest of the Gala innings with the South African dealing out an assault on the Clydesdale bowling. Numerous balls were punished by Khalia in an impressive hitting display that was ended on 79 by Berrington. With plenty of extras conceded by the home side it gave Gala a competitive total of 237.

Clydesdale made a nervous start to their run chase with Mughal being dismissed early by Indrasiri with the score on 19. The second wicket fell when Khalia caught Young off Ponneri’s bowling. This meant Berrington joined the already set Barbour to the crease and the pair set about chasing the target. An electric innings from Berrington who scored 68 off only 43 balls including 4 maximums set up Clydesdale to take the win. Barbour was out shortly after Berrington with a knock of 58 playing a supportive role to the explosive hitting from the bat of Berrington. Jawad was excellently caught by Eyre to leg spinner Rhode however, by this time Sajjad and Galling knocked the ball about chasing their target in the 42nd over.

A more promising display by Gala against tough opposition still leaves the Borderers in defeat. Still searching for a win Gala will look to take on Penicuik next week at Meigle Park.

GALA SCORECARD

S Ponneri c R Berrington b N Koteeswaran 22
F Rutherford b A Shakoor 3
E Eyre c R Berrington b N Koteeswaran 20
R Khalia c&b R Berrington 79
U Indrasiri run out 9
J Irvine b Z Bashir 42
J Crooks c Z Bashir b A Shakoor 2
A Rhode run out 12
D Tharanga not out 6
J Bell not out 0

Extras 42

Gala 237-8 off 50 overs

FOW = 1-28, 2-50, 3-69, 4-90, 5-177, 6-218, 7-218, 8-236

CLYDESDALE BOWLING

A Shakoor 10-5-44-2
I Mughal 5-0-12-0
R Berrington 10-0-58-1
N Koteeswaran 7-1-28-2
S Raja 8-0-32-0
Z Bashir 10-0-52-1

CLYDESDALE SCORECARD

P Barbour lbw U Indrasiri 58
I Mughal b U Indrasiri 11
C Young c R Khalia b S Ponneri 21
R Berrington b D Tharanga 68
F Jawad c E Eyre b A Rhode 23
K Sajjad not out 30
J Galling not out 11

Extras 17

Clydesdale 239-5 off 41.3 overs

FOW = 1-19, 2-64, 3-172, 4-178, 5-213

GALA BOWLING

U Indrasiri 10-1-37-2
D Tharanga 10-2-42-1
J Bell 5-0-36-0
S Ponneri 5-0-28-1
J Crooks 8-0-51-0
A Rhode 3.3-0-41-1

Gala 1st XI travelled to Loretto School in Musselburgh to play Morton on what was a scorching day for cricket. Gala lost the toss and with that, the border side were set to field first and try and restrict Morton on a rather small pitch on the school grounds.

Gala started extremely well; skipper Irvine opted to open with spin leading to Crooks having an opening spell with the ball. He and Tharanga worked excellently together restricting the Morton scorecard with Crooks grabbing one and Tharanga picking up 2 early on.

Indrasiri then took over where Crooks left off, grabbing a wicket for himself and with this wicket it left Morton four wickets down for 37 runs. Khan then came to the crease, he and Mahalingam set about recovering the Morton total and did so with an excellent 137 run partnership. As Khan attacked the Gala bowlers, Mahalingam set about his work of a supporting role and ended up with a vital 34 runs before he was caught by captain Irvine off of Ponneri’s bowling. By this point anything in Khan’s arc was disappearing into the surrounding trees as he bullied the Gala bowling to reach his century until debutant Jamie Bell managed to pick up his wicket for 111 runs in an excellent and well managed knock. Gala then managed to pick up the rest of the Morton wickets finishing them off in the 43rd over for 223 runs. Crooks, Tharanga, Indrasiri and Bell all managed to pick up 2 wickets in their efforts to stop the Morton batting order.

In reply, Gala got off to a mixed start. Rutherford fell early but with Ponneri at the other end battling hard, he was trapped lbw just shy of his half century with the score on 70. Khalia looked solid before being caught by Nair off of Jalagandeeswaran for 30. Similar to Khalia, Indrasiri also looked in good form for his knock of 35 before Nathan claimed his wicket. Eyre and Irvine set about their work to chase down their total and when Irvine fell with the score on 173 it left the Gala lower order six overs to chase another 51 runs. Crooks and Eyre worked hard for a partnership of 21 before Eyre was eventually caught behind off Daniel’s bowling. With the fall of that wicket Gala struggled to keep up the run rate and with 22 runs needed from the final order, Bell managed to sneak in a run leaving Gala needing 21 from the final five deliveries. Unfortunately for the border side it was too much work to do and with Crooks losing his wicket swinging it led to Gala falling short by 16 runs.

The Gala side will be disappointed with their performance, too slow with the bat after getting off to a racing start and not enough good deliveries with the ball led to Gala’s loss. The team would have to pick their heads up quickly though, as they travelled to Titwood the next day to take on Clydesdale in the Scottish Cup.

MORTON SCORECARD
S Ramani b D Tharanga 6
A Madathil c R Khalia b J Crooks 1
K Mahalingam c J Irvine b S Ponneri 34
K Nair lbw D Tharanga 5
R Anandarao lbw U Indrasiri 21
A Khan c S Ponneri b J Bell 111
V Jalagandeeswaran b U Indrasiri 19
A Daniel lbw J Crooks 1
S Aron c R Khalia b J Bell 1
S Nathan not out 8
D Thangavel run out 1

Extras 15

Morton 223 all out off 42.4 overs

FOW = 1-7, 2-8, 3-13, 4-37, 5-167, 6-194, 7-196, 8-197, 9-222, 10-223

GALA BOWLING

J Crooks 8-2-35-2
D Tharanga 8-3-28-2
U Indrasiri 8.4-2-29-2
L Skeldon 3-0-27-0
A Rhode 4-0-44-0
S Ponneri 5-0-25-1
J Bell 6-0-34-2

GALA SCORECARD

S Ponneri lbw V Jalagandeeswaran 46
F Rutherford c A Madathil b D Thangavel 4
R Khalia c K Nair b V Jalagandeeswaran 30
U Indrasiri c S Ramani b S Nathan 35
E Eyre c A Madathil b A Daniel 31
J Irvine b A Daniel 31
J Crooks c A Madathil b A Daniel 15
A Rhode b A Daniel 4
D Tharanga b A Daniel 4
J Bell not out 1
L Skeldon not out 0

Extras 22

Gala 207-9 off 50 overs

FOW = 1-25, 2-70, 3-95, 4-143, 5-173, 6-194, 7-198, 8-202, 9-207

MORTON BOWLING

S Aron 5-1-20-0
D Thangavel 6-2-28-1
V Jalagandeeswaran 10-2-17-2
A Khan 8-0-42-0
S Nathan 10-2-34-1
R Anandarao 5-0-21-0
A Daniel 6-0-36-5

The Gala 2nd XI suffered their first defeat of their competitive campaign to the hands of a ruthless Edinburgh South 2nd XI. Gala won the toss at Meigle Park and made the visitors bat first.

The intent from Edinburgh South was there to see from the off, a strong opening partnership from Reddish and O’Neill took the visitors to 44 before Reddish was bowled by Maceira (18). O’Neill fell soon after again to Maceira as he was caught by Sujan. With O’Neill falling for 32 this brought Ahktar to the crease, with the number four batsmen taking the game to the Gala bowling scoring an impressive 71 runs himself before being caught behind by Max Hastings off the bowling of Nick Murton. With Ahktar losing his wicket the Edinburgh South lower order all managed to contribute runs with wickets falling at regular intervals. Gala bowled poorly conceding 27 extras in the Edinburgh South total of 201 for 8 off of their scheduled 40 overs.

In reply, the Gala batting order never managed to trouble the bowling attack of Edinburgh South. Madduri managed to take 6 wickets early in the Gala innings for only 6 runs. Barnard picked up 3 for his personal tally and Mohammed picked up the final wicket of Maceira with his first ball of his spell. With Maceira being dismissed it meant Gala were all out for an embarrassing 23 runs. Excellent bowling from the Edinburgh South attack never gave Gala a sniff of victory.

The team will be bitterly disappointed with this result however, the 2s will look to bounce back next week. Credit where credit is due, Edinburgh South are an excellent team hitting form and for Gala to come away with a win they would have had to play extremely well to overcome the capital side.

EDINBURGH SOUTH SCORECARD
P Reddish b M Maceira 18
G O’Neill c A Sujan b M Maceira 32
D Vithlani c K Toor b S Loumeau 16
I Ahktar c M Hastings b N Murton 71
S Martin run out 9
F Joseph c M Hastings b S Paterson 4
A Mohammed c R Patterson b N Murton 1
A Mundin b N Murton 11
D Saunders not out 8
K Madduri not out 2

Extras – 27

Edinburgh South 201 for 8 off of 40 overs

FOW = 1-44, 2-53, 3-98, 4-147, 5-178, 6-179, 7-187, 8-191

GALA BOWLING

C Thomson 8-0-27-0
S Paterson 8-1-29-1
M Maceira 5-1-19-2
S Loumeau 8-1-41-1
A Sujan 4-0-12-0
R Paterson 2-0-27-0
S McAneny 2-0-19-0
N Murton 3-0-24-3

GALA SCORECARD

M Hastings b K Madduri 1
A Sujan c P Reddish b R Barnard 3
R Patterson c P Reddish b K Madduri 0
K Toor c P Reddish b K Madduri 0
S Loumeau c ? b R Barnard 2
R Paterson c&b K Madduri 4
C Thomson b K Madduri 0
S Paterson c A Mohammed b K Madduri 0
S McAneny b R Barnard 4
N Murton not out 1
M Maceira b A Mohammed 1

Extras 6

Gala 2nd XI 23 all out off of 15.1 overs

FOW = 1-2, 2-2, 3-2, 4-4, 5-9, 6-9, 7-9, 8-20, 9-20, 10-23

EDINBURGH SOUTH BOWLING
D Saunders 4-3-2-0
K Madduri 7-4-6-6
R Barnard 4-1-8-3
A Mohammed 0.1-0-0-0

Gala 2nd XI went they moved to two wins from two games. The squad travelled to Inverleith Park on what was a good day for cricket and after winning the toss, Gala elected to bat. With a disappointing performance with the bat, Gala had it all to do in the field, looking to take early wickets to limit the Old Contemptibles.

Gala opened with Jamie Bell and Ajith Sujan after their strong performances last week however, for the opening pair things didn’t go to plan. The first wicket fell with the score on 19 as Bell was bowled by Lomax for 8, then only three runs later Sujan fell for 10 again to the bowling of Lomax. Hastings and Robbie Paterson spent a short time at the crease both being dismissed on 2 and with these wickets it brought experienced Scott Paterson and Loumeau into the game. The pair managed to fight and put some runs on the board but with Paterson going for 11 and Loumeau for 15 the flood gates opened. The Old Contempibles bowling attack ripped through the lower Gala order leaving Gala all out after 28 overs for 75 runs.

With a low total on the board to defend, Gala bowled excellently to restrict the Edinburgh Side. Scott Paterson opened the bowling brilliantly and took 2 wickets for only 2 runs in his 5 overs bowling 4 maidens at the same time. With Bell also providing 2 wickets in his opening spell, Gala soared through the batting line-up. Gilchrist took 4 wickets and Skeldon finished off the innings by taking 2 wickets leaving the Old Contemptibles 30 all out off of 22 overs.

A very good bowling display from Gala means they move to joint first in Division 6 along side Edinburgh South. This sets up a top of the table clash next week as the Gala host Edinburgh South at Meigle Park.

GALA SCORECARD
J Bell b A Lomax 8
A Sujan c A Jarjour b A Lomax 10
M Hastings b A Watson 2
R Paterson lbw A Watson 2
S Paterson st A Jarjour b A Watson 11
S Loumeau b A Lomax 15
S McAneny b R Reddish 9
R Gilchrist b R Reddish 8
R Anderson not out 1
L Skeldon b A Watson 0

Extras – 9

Gala 2nd XI 75 all out after 28 overs

OLD CONTEMPTIBLES BOWLING

A Lomax 8-2-16-3
T Maclachlan 6-1-16-0
A Watson 8-1-33-4
R Reddish 6-4-6-2

OLD CONTEMPTIBLES SCORECARD L Charlwood lbw S Paterson 0
J Caldwell c L Skeldon b J Bell 2
V Mohahan c S Loumeau b S Paterson 2
M Reynolds b J Bell 0
A Watson b L Skeldon 2
A Jarjour c R Paterson b R Gilchrist 4
R Reddish b R Gilchrist 11
T Maclachlan b R Gilchrist 0
D Mason c S Loumeau 0
B Mowat not out 1
A Lomax b L Skeldon 2

Extras – 6

Old Contemptibles 30 all out after 22 overs

GALA BOWLING

S Paterson 5-4-2-2
J Bell 5-2-5-2
R Gilchrist 6-1-16-4
L Skeldon 6-2-7-2