Falkland XI, 18th August 2013
University of St Andrews Staff XI 245/9 (40 overs) beat Falkland XI 213/ao
(36.1 overs) by 32 runs
(S. Frankland 100, A. Dick 45)(S. Frankland 3-35, A. Dick 3-43)
A strong batting performance and a disciplined fielding effort saw St Andrews maintain
their position at the top of the league with victory over a powerful Falkland side.
Losing the toss, Captain Bransden sent young Dom Coates and the returning Andy Dick
out to face Falkland's National League player as he opened the bowling. Dom
unfortunately lost his off-stump first ball to Ferguson to compound a disappointing
personal week for him, but that proved to be a false dawn for Falkland, as Ferguson
and the other opener Waterstone proceeded to send down a succession of short of a
length balls and full tosses from that point on, allowing Andy and Stan to cash in
on a fast outfield and decent pitch.
The change bowling did little to stem the flow of runs and the 100 partnership came
up in the 16th over with Stan reaching a 63-ball 50. Indeed, it was a surprise when
Andy fell for 45 (from just 36 balls), bowled by Wilkie in the 19th with the score
on 120. Tom joined Stan at the crease as they began to rebuild the innings against
the impressively controlled bowling of Falkland stalwart, Gallagher, before Tom was
out, bowled by a full ball from Chambers.
Falkland remained under the cosh as Captain Bransden began to push the singles with
Stan, the pair adding a quickfire 50 partnership and St Andrews were threatening to
set a challenging total. Stan's excellent innings ended the ball after he reached
three-figures - the first century by a St Andrews player in league cricket - as he
too was bowled by Chambers for a round 100 off 106 balls (15 fours) with 8 overs to go.
The tail all contributed useful runs, sacrificing themselves to push the total up
towards 250. Captain B was unlucky to be run out for the third time in four innings
for a run-a-ball 30 as the bowler got a hand to a well-hit straight-drive from Paul
which cannoned into the stumps at the non-strikers end, and Sam was spectacularly
caught by Falkland's smallest player with an unbelievable one-handed pouch. Patrick
and Akash saw out the final over, scrambing an excellent two off the final ball to
reach 245-9 at the end of the innings.
A hearty tea (including a somewhat randomly produced bowl of macaroni cheese amongst
the sandwiches and cakes) provided an alternative feast to the run-feast we'd just
witnessed, but with a powerful Falkland batting line-up ahead, St Andrews knew they
would have to perform well in the field to stay in the match.
The left-arm (medium) pace of Phil and Will opened up and quickly got an idea of the
challenge ahead as the two young openers put away anything slightly short. In the
third over, with the score on 23, Phil got one to lift on its way passed Langlands
(who had just played the most beautiful cover drive many of us had seen in a long
time) and the edge was safely snaffled by Captain Bransden behind the stumps. Stan
replaced Will and took a wicket in his second over, bowling Wilkie at the end of an
over where the batsman could have been out a couple of times before he actually fell.
This brought St Meikle to the crease to join Gallagher in a partnership that
threatened to bring Falkland back into the match, launching a number of powerful
lofted straight-drives for boundaries, but not without a couple of lives as chances
in the deep were put down by Phil and Tom.
St Meikle ran out of lives however two balls after one of these drops as Akash's l
ong-hop (the one poor ball in a good spell) was gloved behind to Captain Bransden.
Nellies joined Gallagher, who was still blazing away but getting noticeably more tired,
and he was next to fall for a well made 83 (7x4, 3x6), stumped by Captain Bransden off
the returning Stan. Stan then bowled the number 6 for a duck to end his spell, before
Andy got in amongst the wickets with two good catches by Will punctuated by a wicket
for Sam from the other end. Another wicket for Sam left Adam Ferguson at the crease
with just the number 11 for company and Andy brought a swift conclusion bowling Adam
off the first ball of the 37th over.
For a long time Falkland were still in with a chance, but the dismissals of St Meikle
and Gallagher proved to be the difference as the last 7 wickets fell for just 30 runs
in 6.1 overs to leave Falkland 32 runs short on 213. Very solid ground-fielding and
sensible cricket backing up an excellent batting performance allowed St Andrews to
extend their winning league run over Falkland, with a very satisfying (and deserved)
man-of-the-match award for Stan for his century and figures of 3-35.
Back to main results page
