Published: Thursday, 12th June, 2008 8:20am

Yasar has a ball against Saltires

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Kinights Captain Steve Fryer

DUNFERMLINE Knights youngster Yasar Arfat had a dream weekend after his heroics with the ball in a Twenty-20 exhibition match against the Scottish Saltires on Friday evening.

After winning the toss, Saltires" skipper Ryan Watson elected to bat and they were well set to post a huge total after reaching 90 from the first 10 overs.

Watson led the way with a swashbuckling 41 but an outstanding spell of bowling by Arfat (4-14) put the brakes on. Some good fielding, including a superb run out by Roger Barnes, restricted the Saltires to 150 from their 20 overs.

Determined to have a go, the Knights were finally bowled out for 93 with the Saltires" experience showing through.

The umpires picked Arfat as man of the match for his bowling performance and he was presented with the trophy before taking a moment to thank the considerable support and praise the Saltires.

He was back in action on Saturday as the First XI pulled off a "Houdini" act to snatch victory at Prestwick.

Chasing 203 for victory, Prestwick were cruising at 140 for 1 with half of their allotted 50 overs remaining before the Knights turned it around to dismiss them for 179.

Steve Fryer (3-26) and Vasu Reddy (3-35) bowled consistent line and lengths.

Earlier, the Knights were wobbling on 130 for 6 despite solid contributions from Colin Ingram (31), Matthew Jones (35) and Gowtham Rai (26).

However Arfat picked up his second man of the match award of the weekend with a mature 38, his highest league score of the season.

Captain Fryer reserved special praise for Arfat and said, 'Yasar"s knock was undoubtedly key to posting a competitive total and he really stepped up to the plate when it counted.'

There was no rest on Sunday for a tired but upbeat Knights team as they faced Corstorphine for a rearranged Scottish Cup game. The Knights reached 226 for 9 from their 50 overs with notable contributions from Jones (62) and Ingram (42).

The hosts hit 30 runs off their first two overs but the Knights turned it round with Fryer, Ingram and Arfat each picking up three wickets to bowl Corstorphine out for 150. This gives the Knights a psychological lift ahead of the league encounter in a fortnight"s time.

The Knights" second string restricted Murrayfield DAF"s to 110. A great knock by Mush Beg led to the Knights chasing down the total for victory in less than 20 overs.