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Masterton Trophy - match 1
Stewart Oliver8 Jun 2022 - 17:51
Masterton Milestones
The 1st XI got its Masterton Trophy campaign underway at Myreside last Thursday against regular opponents in the competition, Edinburgh CC. Winning the toss and electing to bat, Mike Carson and Oli Hairs set off at an amazing pace with the 50 being reached in only 21 balls. Mike fell at that total but Oli carried on at the same pace, his personal half century being reached in the same number of balls (21), which included 5 fours and the same number of sixes. The team 100 came up in 7.4 overs, followed shortly thereafter by Oli’s century. His second 50, taking him to his century, was reached in only 14 more balls with another maximum - 35 balls in total (9 fours and 10 sixes). Dropped on 115 and bowled on a free hit immediately following a no ball, Oli was finally dismissed for 134 after facing a mere 47 balls which included 10 fours and 14 sixes - 124 in boundaries! This was the highest of now only four centuries recorded in 176 Masterton matches played since 1964. After Oli’s departure, the Andrews Brock and Chalmers added a partnership of 72 before the innings closed on 261 for 5 after 20 overs. That total is the highest recorded in this competition, the previous best being 234 for 7 in the 2015 final at Grange Loan when, co-incidentally, Edinburgh was also the opposition!
Matches against Edinburgh have often been high-scoring affairs and on this occasion they set off to chase our daunting total in customary fashion. Their opening bat was severe on our bowlers and reached his half-century even more quickly than Oli - only 17 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes. The chase was on. However, when his was the fourth wicket to fall - with the total on 93 - for 64 in 23 balls the momentum was lost. While several other batsmen attempted to keep the run-rate on track, we continued to take wickets at regular intervals and the innings eventually closed on 187 for 8 and victory by 74 runs was achieved. The best bowling figures were recorded by Gregour Carr, with 3 for 18 in his 4 allotted overs, and Lachlan Hillis, 2 for 23 also in 4 overs.
The other matches in our group are against Linlithgow (away, on 9th June), Heriot’s (at home on 16th June) and Stewart’s Melville (away, on 21st June).
Matches against Edinburgh have often been high-scoring affairs and on this occasion they set off to chase our daunting total in customary fashion. Their opening bat was severe on our bowlers and reached his half-century even more quickly than Oli - only 17 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes. The chase was on. However, when his was the fourth wicket to fall - with the total on 93 - for 64 in 23 balls the momentum was lost. While several other batsmen attempted to keep the run-rate on track, we continued to take wickets at regular intervals and the innings eventually closed on 187 for 8 and victory by 74 runs was achieved. The best bowling figures were recorded by Gregour Carr, with 3 for 18 in his 4 allotted overs, and Lachlan Hillis, 2 for 23 also in 4 overs.
The other matches in our group are against Linlithgow (away, on 9th June), Heriot’s (at home on 16th June) and Stewart’s Melville (away, on 21st June).
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