NEWS

2nd XI v Preston Village

The 2^nd XI got their season of to an exciting start as they welcomed new boys Preston Village to Division 3.

With the weather looking a bit ropey early in the morning the decision to play on the astro was taken. Returning Captain Westy duly won the toss and opted to bowl first.

Arham Anwar struck with the last ball of his first over getting the Lions of to a good start. Three balls later Mark Allen struck as the opening bat edged one to stand in keeper Gus Hoffman.

With the scoreboard reading 4 for 2 things looked ominous for Preston Village. The Lions however where made to wait by visiting skipper Dougie Russell as he stuck his head down and ground out a fairly solid 55.

Russell was dropped on 6 and then again on 41 which could have proved costly.  However Arham eventually got him caught behind in the 42nd over.

Although Arham took a further 2 wickets and finished with figures of 4 for 29 from his 10 overs it was vice skipper Giggsy and his man of the match performance that made the headlines as he took 2 for 17 from his 10 overs.

A great bowling display by all involved and some good fielding restricted PV to 128 all out.

Confidence was high as we knew this would not be a match winning total on a fairly batsmen friendly astro turf wicket.

But things got off to a good start for PV as Hoffy Snr was caught in two minds as he half heartedly tried to pull Grainger’s 3^rd delivery of the innings resulting in an easy catch at mid off.

Tyson joined Azhar in the middle and the pair made some good headway taking the Lions to 38 before Tyson (16) succumbed to Grainger. Gus was out 3 balls later to an LBW and Azhar, having made a solid 22, was next to go. This left the Lions in a precarious position.

However club stalwart Nick Adams made a fine start to the season as he helped solidify the innings and helped us on to 96 with the support of Arun Jay and then briefly James Bonner.

The solid pairing of Giggsy and Nick was then shattered as Nick got frustrated at not scoring from his last 22 deliveries and was out for 19.

With the pressure on and PV’s tails up the game was now finely in the balance.

Westy made a shaky start before helping Giggsy guide us home. Some great running between the pair showed how easily 1’s become 2’s and how waiting on the bad ball is key in these situations. Westy knocked a cameo 13 while Giggsy made a match winning 38.

Well done to all involved. Some hard work is still required if the 2’s are to win this league so attendance at nets every week is vital.

This will especially have a bearing on selection as more players come into the fold in the next few weeks with the likes of Lamby, BP, David Lawrie, Hilly and Steven Burnett becoming available.

Early season jitters avoided, the points are in the bag and we can now look forward to the visit of Penicuik next week in what is surely the big match of the weekend in Div 3.

Man of the Match: Giggsy