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

Gala 1st XI hosted Carlton 2nd XI to Meigle Park in what was their first home game of the ESCA Championship where the home side would look to get off to a strong start in their efforts to retain the title.

Carlton won the toss and elected to bat first with an aggressive start looking to take the game to the hosts. Runs were scored quickly in the opening stages of the game before Tharanga managed to dismiss Aslam for 16 with Ponneri taking the catch. Moir came into the Gala bowling attack for a short spell with the results being mixed, Moir took 3 wickets in his short 3 over spell however the Carlton batters attacked well managing to take 30 runs from his overs. Crooks was then brought into the attack and with Indrasiri at the other end, Gala attacked the Carlton order with spin. Crooks picked up a wicket in his first over with Indrasiri limiting the score, frustrating the Edinburgh side. At the break Gala had pulled the game back with Carlton sitting at 99-6. Simpson and Gupta managed to slow the fall of wickets with a crucial partnership, frustrating the Gala attack. Tharanga finally dismissed Gupta LBW for 24 and with that wicket Gala picked up the remaining 3 wickets leaving Carlton all out for 169 off 42 overs. Moir picked up 3 wickets, Tharanga and Crooks had 2 each with Mein and Indrasiri getting 1 each with a run out to finish the innings off.

The run chase for Gala never got going. The first 3 wickets for Carlton fell with Gala only managing to put 26 runs on the board. New overseas amateur Ridwan Khalia looked the most comfortable of the top three before he was dismissed for 8 after being well caught by Aslam off Stronach’s bowling. Eyre and Indrasiri managed to bring the score up to 55 before the former lost his wicket and with that the floodgates opened. Simpson bowled excellently taking 5 wickets for only 3 runs, tearing through the middle and lower order. Simpson finished the innings off by taking a catch off his own bowling with Gala only reaching 72.

A very disappointing first home game for Gala who were simply not good enough with the bat after a good bowling display. Next week the team will look to bounce back as they travel to Loretto School to take on Morton.

CARLTON SCORECARD
G Murray c J Crooks b D Moir 22
H Aslam c S Ponneri b D Tharanga 16
K Macpherson c J Irvine b D Moir 10
H Laing lbw J Crooks 15
R Main c E Eyre b D Moir 16
B D’ulisse c U Indrasiri b J Crooks 7
S Gupta lbw D Tharanga 24
H Simpson C+B U Indrasiri 23
S Smith c J Crooks b K Mein 24
C Stronach not out 4
S Khan run out 1

Extras – 7

Carlton 169 all out off 42 overs

Fall of Wickets = 1-23, 2-50, 3-61, 4-80, 5-87, 6-93, 7-135, 8-163, 9-164, 10-169

GALA BOWLING

K Mein 8-1-26-1
D Tharanga 8-1-37-2
U Indrasiri 8-2-14-1
D Moir 3-0-30-3
J Crooks 10-1-34-2
A Rhode 5-0-23-0

GALA SCORECARD
S Ponneri c B D’ulisse b S Gupta 2
F Rutherford lbw C Stronach 7
R Khalia c H Aslam b C Stronach 8
E Eyre c B D’ulisse b H Simpson 13
U Indrasiri lbw C Stronach 15
J Irvine c H Aslam b H Simpson 12
A Rhode c B D’ulisse b H Simpson 0
D Tharanga run out 1
J Crooks b H Simpson 0
K Mein not out 2
D Moir C+B H Simpson 1

Extras – 11

Gala 72 all out after 29 overs

Fall of Wickets = 1-2, 2-13, 3-26, 4-55, 5-61, 6-61, 7-63, 8-64, 9-71, 10-72

CARLTON BOWLING

S Gupta 6-1-10-1
C Stronach 10-1-36-3
S Smith 4-0-15-0
H Simpson 5-2-3-5
S Khan 4-1-8-0

The Foxes Under 12 side got their season underway welcoming Livingston B to Meigle Park on Friday night.

The visitors batted first and posted a score of 240 from their allocated 16 overs with each of the Gala players bowling 2 overs each.

In reply, Gala managed to post 259, with everyone chipping in with the bag meaning Gala edged it by 19 runs.

Overall a very positive start for the Foxes who travel to Watsonian Wolves next week!

The Gala 1st XI season got off to a mixed start as they travelled to Goldenacre to take on Heriots 2nd XI. Solid performances with the bat from the top order would fill the travelling side however, with rain drizzling in the capital it would mean Gala would not get the chance to defend their score of 223, despite lowering the over amount to 40 for each side.

With skipper Josh Irvine winning the toss, he would choose to bat on what was an excellent wicket for batting. The opening pair of Finlay Rutherford and Sid Ponneri would set Gala off to an excellent start. The two batters would make an excellent opening stand of 116 to set the braw lads off well for the season. Both players struggled early on but dug in well to get past the tricky Heriots bowling attack. When comfortable the pair would look to open up and score some runs and it was Ponneri who was first in looking to score. He made an excellent half century until he was caught out trying to cut the ball off the bowling of Bacon. Joining Rutherford would be club pro Upul Indrasiri meaning things for the Heriots bowling attack would not get any easier. Rutherford would make a solid 41 before being stumped by wicketkeeper Wilson off the bowling of Bacon who picked up his second and final wicket. Irvine joined Indrasiri but would not last long as he scored 9 before being caught out after top edging the ball to the bowling of Macleod. Eddie Eyre would finish the innings not out on 9 however Indrasiri would be the real driving force in the Gala batting line up by making a brilliant and quick 78 not out which included 11 fours and 2 sixes after only facing 41 balls. This would mean Gala set Heriots a target of 224 to chase in 40 overs but as the rain continued to fall, umpires would call the game without Gala bowling a ball.

Gala will be disappointed not to get a chance to defend their total however it sets up the team well for next week as we welcome Carlton 2nd XI to Meigle Park.

GALA SCORECARD
S Ponneri c D Shoukat b T Bacon 59
F Rutherford st D Wilson b T Bacon 41
U Indrasiri not out 78
J Irvine c R Martin b H Macleod 9
E Eyre not out 7
Extras 29
Gala 1st XI 223-3 off of 40 overs

HERIOTS BOWLING
B Ali 4-0-16-0
D Shoukat 6-0-18-0
R Martin 7-1-49-0
A Farooq 4-0-9-0
E Hutchison 7-0-60-0
T Bacon 8-0-26-2
H Macleod 4-0-34-1

Gala 2nd XI got off their division 6 league campaign with a commanding win over a solid Kirk Brae 2nd XI side. Gala winning the toss, elected to bowl first in the hope of getting through the overs quickly before the rain fell at Meigle Park. The match was changed to 30 overs per side in an effort to complete the game before the weather interrupted.

Craig Thomson and Scott Paterson opened the bowling for the Meigle Park side, limiting the scoring for the visitors early on. The first two wickets came for Gala with some excellent fielding by Maceira and Gilchrist, resulting in two run outs dismissing Raja and Shahid. Regular wickets at regular intervals helped the home side limit Kirk Brae throughout the innings before K Hussain ended the innings not out on 29 joined by Batchelor not out on 2. Liam Skeldon picked up 1 wicket for the home side with Nick Murton also picking up one. Rhys Gilchrist picked up 2 wickets in his 3 overs with 4 run outs resulting in the Kirk Brae innings finishing on 104 for 8 off their 30 overs.

In an attempt to chase down the runs quickly, Gala went hard and attacked the Kirk Brae bowling early on. Ajith Sujan had a well made 25 before he was bowled by Shahid with Jamie Bell going well at the other end. Bell was then joined by Loumeau who made 20 before being caught out off the bowling of K Hussain. This did not affect Bell however who kept battling on who finished an excellent innings not out on 38 as Gala reached their total of 105 in 17.4 overs with 7 wickets in hand.

A great performance for Gala with both bat and ball resulted in a very positive start to the season. Good individual performances as well helped the team to victory as the team will look to build on this result next week as they travel to play Old Contemptibles next week.

KIRK BRAE SCORECARD
M Raja run out 5
W Shahid run out 15
K Vosanioloma c A Sujan b L Skeldon 10
Z Rasool run out 6
Z Hussain c+b R Gilchrist 13
K Hussain not out 29
N Sawant b R Gilchrist 1
U Sonpimple b N Murton 0
S Magar run out 0
G Batchelor not out 2
Extras 22
Kirk Brae 2nd XI 104-8 off of 30 overs

GALA BOWLING
C Thomson 5-0-7-0
S Paterson 4-1-6-0
J Bell 5-0-18-0
L Skeldon 6-1-13-1
M Maceira 2-0-14-0
N Murton 5-1-18-1
R Gilchrist 3-0-18-2

GALA SCORECARD
J Bell not out 38
A Sujan b W Shahid 25
S Loumeau c N Sawant b K Hussain 20
S McAneny lbw Z Rasool 0
S Paterson not out 0
Extras 22
Gala 2nd XI 105-3 off of 17.4 overs

KIRK BRAE BOWLING
S Magar 3-0-16-0
K Vosanioloma 3-0-20-0
W Shahid 4-0-30-1
Z Hussain 1-0-14-0
K Hussain 4.4-1-12-1
Z Rasool 2-1-1-1