Group A Cricket Media Sixes 2012
Carlton remain undefeated after the opening round of fixtures as group A of the 2012 Cricket Media Super Sixes got underway last Friday evening (6 January), with two convincing victories over Stenhousemuir and last year’s winners, Grange.
All eyes were firmly on the first match of the night between Edinburgh rivals, Carlton and Grange, as the men from Grange Loan batted first.
Carlton’s opening batting pair of Fraser Watts and Kyle Macpherson got off to a comfortable start with both batsmen quickly compiling their 30 runs, which resulted in their retrial.
Grange got their first breakthrough of the match, when Gregor Maiden caught a hard-hit Mommsen drive off his own bowling. One wicket brought two, with Drummond being run out at the non-strikers end by Jamie Burton at square leg. Carlton suffered their second run out of the match with Jamie Kerr was short of his ground after another direct hit- this time from Gregor Maiden.
Maiden impressed further with his fielding with a superb one handed stop to deny Sean Olivier a certain boundary, before the latter was bowled in the final over. The four Carlton wickets brought back Watts and Macpherson, who proceeded to hit the first 6 of the tournament and conclude the Carlton innings on 129-6 from 10 overs.
The Grange batsmen looked a little out of sorts, unable to find the same gaps that their opponents found freely in their innings. Ex-Warwickshire and Scotland batting coach, Mike Powell hit some classy leg-side shots before being run out from a direct hit from Fraser Watts.
Scotland U19s batsman Henry Edwards’s unfortunate dismissal, mistiming a Macpherson full toss, triggered a Grange batting collapse- The final wicket fell on 51 with youngster Matthew Angelini, run out as confusion between both batsmen stuck at one end.
In the other matches, Carlton proved too strong for Stenhousemuir as they amassed 167-3 against the Forth Valley outfit. Youngster Kyle Macpherson shone with the bat once again and added an unbeaten 38 to the Carlton total, whilst wicketkeeper-batsman Jamie Kerr scored 27*. However, it was captain Preston Mommsen who top scored in the innings with a stylish 53*.
In reply, Stenhousemuir made 98 before the last wicket fell - second ball of the final over. I MacDonald was the only batsman to offer any resistance, top scoring with 30*.
In the final match of the evening, Grange defended 141-4 to record their first victory in this year’s tournament. Scotland cap Gregor Maiden top scored for the Stockbridge men with 30*, closely followed by Mike Powell who scored 27*.
Stenhousemuir performed significantly better in this match. Good batting displays from Kirk 32* and Jones 25* put the Grange fielders under pressure, but in the end fell just short of Grange’s total, scoring 120-3 from 10 overs.
Report by Lea Tsui 11/01/12
