The 1st XI travelled to Kirkcaldy to play Dunnikier, a Championship side since being promoted from Division 1 after the 2022 season. Given the choice, we batted first, though with less relish than usual on a tricky public park surface. Our top order didn’t find conditions to their liking and struggled to get going. A few boundaries from Oli got us to 34/3 after five overs. The next ten overs crawled by with only 18 runs added. Donnie was perhaps getting bored or frustrated at this point and hit three boundaries off seven balls. We lost Dan and Bruce for very little (70/5) but then Kenny Rae came to the crease and formed another excellent partnership with Donnie, this time of 99 runs, before Donnie was caught for an invaluable 71. Alex Turner proved a very capable foil, contributing 11 to a 57-run partnership with Kenny who finished with 83*, his best ever score for the club, helping us to a surprisingly good 238/8 from our 50 overs.

Dunnikier started more strongly, guided by opener Wajid Zaman (45) to 100/3 after twenty overs. From that point on, wickets began to tumble and runs to dry up. Oli took three wickets in two overs (among his 4/15 off 8 overs) with a wicket for Evan in his first over sandwiched in between, reducing Dunniker to 103/7 just three overs later. The tail clung on for thirteen more overs but couldn’t score. Evan took two more, making his best figures for Watsonian of 3/4 off 6 overs. Alex Turner took his debut 1st XI wicket to finish the match off, Dunnikier 116 all out, Watsonian winning by 122 runs. Huge credit must go to Mike Carson who took five catches in the field, only the third time in the club’s history and the first time in nearly a hundred years that a Watsonian has managed the feat.

The 2s failed to capitalise on much better conditions at Myreside, hosting Tranent & Preston Village 1s. We also won the toss and batted first but only Rory (28) could score. Wickets fell at regular intervals to good bowling – Lokesh Natarajan took 4/4 off his 8 overs, propelling himself into the leading wicket-taker’s position in Division 1 with 14 already in the first five weeks. We were bowled out for a measly 61 after 28.1 overs. Abid Shinwari made the second innings a more hopeful experience than we could reasonably have expected, taking an excellent 5/18 off 6.2 overs and having more chances besides. Sadly, we could only take one other wicket before T&PV reached the target, losing by 4 wickets.

The 3s also had park cricket to contend with at a busy Meadows 2, hosted by Morton 3s. The hosts took the popular decision to bat first. Aryaman Apte was the pick of our bowlers taking 3/29 off his 8 overs. Ranjith Neelam for Morton made a commendable 60*, supported by contributions from throughout hist team and a generous 45 extras from ours, seeing them to 191/8 off their 40 overs. Toby Tucker’s 42* was the highlight of our reply which sadly fell a good way short as we were bowled out for 101 in 34 overs, Venkatesan Arjunan for Morton taking 4/19.

The 4s hosted Peebles County at Craiglockhart. Peebles have had a torrid few seasons, falling three divisions in three years but are enjoying a stronger start this year, having won three of their first four to share leadership of Division 8 with three other teams at this early stage. Winning the toss, we made the natural choice to bat first. Peebles clearly know who their bowlers are, with only four used, each taking wickets. Aarad Ajmal took 4/14 in his 8 overs. Sravan Parakkattu took 2 wickets with the ball and three catches for a fine day in the field. Each of our batters got a start but none could push on, Duncan Robinson doing best with 16. We were all out for 78 in 31.3 overs. All of our bowlers were economical, and the fielding was generally good, notwithstanding a couple of missed chances. Pranjan Patel took 2/9 off his 5 overs and Siddharth Rawat 1/15 off 4.4 but it wasn’t enough to stop Peebles reaching their target inside 27 overs with a 7-wicket margin of victory.

The Watsonian/Dumfries Women’s 1st XI hosted new team Grampian Thistles at Craiglockhart on Sunday in the third fixture of their season. The Thistles won the toss but apparently hadn’t heard that ‘Sonians like to bat first. Megan McColl (45) and Niamh Muir (54) made that immediately clear, forming an 83-run partnership for the first wicket in just ten overs. All our batters made contributions but Charlotte Nevard (40*) and Iona Lowry’s (19) partnership of 61 for the fifth wicket was the next most notable. The team scored an impressive 21 boundaries on their way to 223/6 from the 30 overs. Niamh’s 54 is her highest score for the club to date, beating a 53* from last year’s WPL.

The Thistles managed to last more than 23 overs and each of Robson (13), Milne (24) and Skinner (14) made double-digit contributions. Each of our bowlers took wickets, Kirsty McColl, Erin Leslie and Caitlyn Bruell two each. The final score of 75/8 (all out) gave a significant winning margin of 148 runs as Watsonian/Dumfries’ great start continues, winning three from three.

We have our third Masterton fixture tomorrow night, hosting Stewarts Melville at Myreside in what should be an exciting contest. SM have had a tough start in the EPL so far, losing three of four, and exited the Scottish Cup at the hands of last year’s winners Heriots, but have won their only Masterton match to date, against Drummond Trinity, chasing 112 down with 8 wickets in hand and nearly five overs to spare.

Next weekend brings the usual full slate of fixtures including big games for the 1st XI at home against joint top-placed Gala, likely rivals in the promotion fight, and for the Women’s 1st XI away against Carlton, last year’s WPL winners.