Published: Thursday, 11th June, 2009 11:40am

Knights go top after Forfarshire victory

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HEAVY rain was unable to stop Dunfermline Knights going top of the SNCL Division 1 table with victory over Forfarshire at the weekend.

Saturday"s downfall reduced the match to a 37-over contest.

Forfarshire won the toss and chose to bat on a good wicket. The visitors made a good start until pegged back by Vassu Reddy with two wickets. They continued to score at nearly six an over until a run out and two wickets to Azhar seemed to put the Knights back on top. Even better was to follow when Forfarshire slumped to 126–7. However, their tail-enders batted brilliantly, taking the score to 212 all out.

The Knights also made a positive start but with the score at 85-3, having lost both openers and Reddy, the match was in the balance. A brilliant partnership between Alistair Gray and Marshall Bunting, in good time, changed the game. Bunting, whose 51 was achieved at better than a run a ball, was adjudged lbw with 35 to win. Safyaan Sharif, the Scotland under-19 all-rounder, joined Gray to take Dunfermline to victory with nine balls to spare.

Knights skipper Gowtham Rai praised both Gray and Bunting.

Rai said, 'Alistair has brought with him a very professional attitude which is rubbing off on the guys around him. Not only is he a very good batsman, he works extremely hard on the planning and preparation side of his game. There is also an air of calmness about him which means the team don"t panic when they are put under pressure.

'Marshall is proving to be a very reliable middle order batsman. He is not a big hitter, more a computer of runs, who rattles up a decent tally without any fuss'.

Forfarshire 212, (Wallace 53, M Bunting 3-38, A Sharif 3-40). Dunfermline Knights 213-4, (A Gray 78 n.o. M Bunting 51)

Table-toppers Knights now travel to meet Poloc at Shawholm on Saturday with an unchanged team. Poloc were top of the table prior to last weekend but lost to Stirling County.

The Knights" second XI kick started their season with a win at Craiglockhart over Watsonian third XI.

The toss was won and the home side asked to bat. They were restricted to 178-9 in 50 overs with Shaun Davidson taking 1-14 off 10 overs. Young Douglas Petrie also contributed with figures of 2-2 off one over. After tea with the weather and pitch deteriorating drastically Dunfermline took up the chase.

Openers Jordan Davidson and Chad Sabatta got them off to a flyer before Davidson was dismissed. With assistance from skipper David Miller and Shaun Davidson, Chad saw Dunfermline home in the 33rd over with an unbeaten 93. Watsonian 3rds 178-9, Dunfermline 2nd XI 181-4.

Dunfermline Knights" third XI were disappointed to lose to Murrayfield DAFS at Roseburn having had three wins in succession.

They reached 106–3 with Matt Jones (32), David Lucas (26) and Alan Leitch (20) but collapsed to 119 all out. In reply, Vince Shipley took 2-13 but Murrayfield DAFS lost only three wickets in reaching the required target in 34 overs.

l Dunfermline Carnegie Cricket Club overcame the weather and Edinburgh University Staff at Pitreavie on Saturday to record a deserved victory in their East League Division 4 game.

Heavy rain delayed the start and reduced the game to 35 overs a side with Carnegie batting first. Early wickets put the team under pressure but a responsible partnership between Neil Harris and Martin Honeyford steadied things. When Harris was dismissed, the middle order wobbled and Carnegie were in a spot of bother at 70-5. Honeyford continued to bat well until he was eventually dismissed for an entertaining 39. This left Monty Urolagin and Gavin Ross to fashion an unbroken partnership of 27 and lift Carnegie to a respectable 124-8 in their 35 overs.

In reply, EUS were immediately in trouble as Ross struck in his second over. Some disciplined bowling followed from Ross, Mitchell and Wauchop as the required run rate began to spiral. The introduction of leg-spinner Urolagin was the key moment of the game as he bowled a devastating seven-over spell, taking 3-15. The superb bowling was backed up by an equally impressive fielding display with no catches going down. EUS were dismissed for 72, giving Carnegie an excellent victory by 52 runs.

Carnegie skipper David Mitchell said, 'It was easily our best all round display this season with everybody contributing. Monty Urolagin was the stand out bowler today and very much the catalyst for our victory.'

Man of the Match went to Urolagin. This weekend Carnegie host league leaders Haddington on Saturday before celebrating their centenary with a match against Scotland at Pitreavie on Sunday.

l Broomhall seconds travelled to play Drummond thirds in East League Division 8 on Saturday.

On the Inverleith artificial surface, Drummond put Broomhall into bat and the visitors lost two quick wickets early on. They recovered with a 137-run stand between Calum Breen and Mike Warren for the third wicket, with Warren scoring his first ever ton after 48 years of trying, taking the total to more than 200 for the first time for the seconds.

With steady falling of Drummond wickets the game was eventually over with some tremendous and comical catching. The game was played in good spirits by both sides despite a contentious caught behind.

Broomhall gained revenge for the trouncing they received last season and maintain their push for promotion now with five wins on the bounce. They host Murrayfield this Saturday whilst the firsts are away to Kirkbrae in Division 4.

Broomhall 204-6, (Mike Warren 109, Calum Breen 37, Turpie 3-20, Fairhurst 3-41). Drummond 91 all out, (Turpie 33 not out, Calum Breen 3-9, Matt Howis 2-24).

In the Small Clubs Cup on Sunday, Broomhall, fielding nine seconds players, took on Kinross at full strength who are unbeaten at the top of Strathmore Division 2.

Broomhall were put into bat and were quickly four wickets down before a spirited 76-run stand between Ian Bold and Calum Breen eventually reached a creditable 158 all out.

Kinross reached their target for the loss of five wickets, despite some brilliant bowling by Stuart Glasgow and a tremendous catch by Steve Mcilroy on the boundary.

Broomhall 158 all out, (Ian Bold 54, Mike Warren 24 not out, Calum Breen 21, D Weir 5-20, James Ross 3-18). Kinross 159-5, (Peter Ross 48 not out, A Drew 29, James Ross 23, Stuart Glasgow 2-15, Mushrafa Ali 2-43).

l East League Division 4: Broomhall 1st XI 162 all out, (Jamie Bell 68, Drew Drummond 31). Haddington 1st XI 139 all out, (Liam Doherty 4-27, Ash Kumar 57). Broomhall won by 23 runs.