The Ram revolution continues as 2s win at Melrose

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Melrose v Murrayfield DAFS 2 

Saturday 16th July 2022 Huntlyburn

By Lewis Mulholland

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Murrayfield DAFS 2 (20) - 224-4 all out off 40 oversM Akerkar 71*, B Peters 60*, L Mulholland 39A Singh 26, L Baird 2-31

Melrose (4) - 103 all out off 30 oversL Baird 34, S Nagenderan 3-9,G Mitchell 3-31

Murrayfield DAFS 2 win by 119 runs

[/vc_column_text][vc_zigzag][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]After a resounding win against Broomhall last week the 2s headed down to the borders full of confidence and even more so that were boosted by the return of The St Lucian Locomotive Bradley Peters and also young gun Sailesh coming in. Of course these positive reinforcements had to be levelled out so Graeme Mitchell fresh off his celebrations from the 12th came back into the side too.As the 2s arrived at the ground everybody was astonished to see that Brad was first person there…. Yes you read that right. Skipper Ram had also brought his lovely mum and dad to the game. Big pressure on the skip already.We were sent in by the Melrose skipper on a decent deck but still plenty in it for the bowlers. Opening the batting was pair Lewis and Skipper Ram to start off our innings (has there ever been a fitter opening pair.) It was important we made a positive start and with Ram having mum and dad watching it was important he delivered for his side and boy he did not as in the 6th over Compton trapped Ram LBW for 4 crashing into middle stump… I’ll also add that Ram did also try and hit the ball the other side of the border. This brought Anand to the crease and he meant business as he took his first 10 balls for 19 with 3 boundaries in 4 balls. Lewis also cleared the rope with a shot straight out of farmers weekly along with a few more fence finders as the pair managed to wrestle back momentum after a very tight opening spell from Brown and Compton. Lewis and Anand had taken their partnership just past 50 when Baird struck in his first over bowling Anand and ejecting his middle stump. With the score 64-2 it was important we kept the runs flowing after a positive start and who better than new MUFS cult hero LV who more or less came sprinting to the crease in excitement…just standard really. LV made his intentions quite clear as he hit the first ball of Melrose bowler Browns 6th over for 4, next ball 6 and then 3rd ball out caught at long off. LV’s excitement was short lived with 13 off 6 balls. The Score was now 83-3 and with less than 20 overs having been bowled the run rate was good but Melrose had got themselves right back in it with 2 quick wickets bringing in Maggy who went about his business with Lewis putting on a slight rebuild.This was also short lived as Lewis who looked to anchor the innings went for 39 after just being too early in a shot and chipping to mid on giving Baird a well deserved second wicket. 100-4 was the score and after good start we were in need of a partnership and with Maggy just settling in he was joined by Brad on his return and very quickly Brad launched a massive counter punch slamming 3 Sixes into another postcode while Maggy also fancied a piece of the action regularly finding the boundary with some exquisite lofted cover drives. The pair raced to their 100 partnership with both bringing up their 50s that really put Murrayfield in the driving seat. Highlight of the innings came as Maggy struck 4 consecutive boundaries to take the score past 200 and end the innings on 224-4 with Maggy not out with 71 and Brad unbeaten on 60 they ended up putting on 124 in 17 overs.After a fantastic Tea from our hosts Melrose who were brilliant all day it was time to take the field. The new Ball was given to Anand and Sakib who bowled very well with the ball hooping but sadly with no reward. After 9 overs we had kept the score to 29-0 which was the sort of tight start we needed. In came Adi with the glasses off and we knew that something big was about to happen and we were right as he struck with his 4th ball with a top of off pearler removing Scott who had found the fence twice in previous over. Then it was the turn of Brad to bowl up the hill and he quickly got in on the wickets as he removed the other opener Williams getting the edge and giving keeper Lewis an easy grab making the score 42-2 after 13. With momentum in our favour with strong efforts in the field led by Tom and Sailesh it wasn’t long before we struck again and it was that man Adi who found the stumps again with another top delivery making it 46-3. Brad clearly felt anything Adi could do he could do better as he removed Brown for 0 with Sakib making good ground to make the catch and really putting MUFS in the driving seat at 49 for 4. This was the end of both Brad and Adi’s spell with Adi bowing 8 overs straight through with figures of8-1-14-2 and Brad 4-0-12-12.It was time for some Spin and in the return that nobody asked for G Mitch came in and in his first over with the score on 55 it was simply inevitable that he’d make his mark and that he did by removing no 3 Crawford for 12 with Brad taking the catch keeping him in the action and making it 55 for 5. This brought in Baird who immediately went on the offensive taking 16 off G Mitch’s 3rd over with 2 big sixes. With Baird accelerating it was pivotal that we got his wicket and when Sailesh finally got handed the ball, he held is nerve to get the big breakthrough with Baird advancing down the track he managed to beat him with the spin and present Lewis with his first stumping. Massive wicket for MUFS as Baird was really threatening to go big but Sailesh didn’t stop there, and it was only 3 balls later he’d be celebrating his second by getting Compton to drag on, a perfect start for the youngster. Next over and G Mitch got his second by trapping Wilson LBW and now Murrayfield were tightening the screw and just like Sailesh, G Mitch also made it 2 in an over by making Howard dance down the track and beat the edge to present Lewis with his second stumping and finishing with figures of 6-0-31-3. There was resistance form the home side to prevent Murrayfield from getting that final wicket and even a comical fielding effort by Ram and Anand who both charged to field the ball only for both of them to pull out and let it go…. Really putting in a show for his folks was Ram. But finally the resistance was beaten with Sailesh getting the last and giving Lewis his 3rd Stumping… some keeper this lad eh? Murrayfield bowled Melrose for 103 with a Sailesh being the pick of the bowlers with 3-9.Brilliant win for Murrayfield in the end but big mention to our hosts Melrose who were fantastic and even got the BBQ out at the end and cooked up some quality burgers. Wish them all the best for the remainder of the season.Man of the Match has to be Sailesh on debut for 2s taking 3 wickets and putting in a ridiculous diving effect to prevent 4 at square leg.Dick of the day is Ram for letting his family down.UTM[/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image="6051" img_size="large" alignment="center" title="MUFSLAM CELEBRATION"][/vc_column][/vc_row]