Century by skipper Greg Fenton sets up capital gain for Selkirk cricketers

Selkirk skipper Greg Fenton, pictured playing Carlton's thirds in mid-May, scored 103 at Kirk Brae on Saturday (Pic: Grant Kinghorn)

A century from captain Greg Fenton, allied to performances of equal calibre in the field and with the ball, earned Selkirk a bounce-back East of Scotland Cricket Association division 2 victory against Kirk Brae in Edinburgh on Saturday.

Batting first, Selkirk made steady progress, with openers Fenton and Iain Purves putting on 35 for the first wicket.

Kieran Toor looked in good touch when he came to the crease with the score at 82-3 and combined well with his skipper to frustrate the home bowlers and take Selkirk to three figures.

With their partnership moving into the 80s and Fenton notching up his first century of the season with a quick two, the Philiphaugh side looked set for a strong finish.

Taha Khan had other ideas, however, taking the wickets of Fenton, for 103, and Toor, on 32, in the same over.

A cameo innings from Darren Fenton, including a six from Khan’s last ball, added valuable runs, allowing the Souters to finish on 189-7.

In reply, Kirk Brae’s top order set a good pace despite losing a couple of early wickets.

Opener Afaque Hussain, currently top of the division’s standings for runs scored, took a liking to the bowling of Daniel Heard, crashing five fours and a six off his first four overs. Heard had the last laugh, however, catching Hussain off a Greg Fenton ball.

At 82-2 after 17 overs, Kirk Brae were still looking likely to reach their target, but a combined seven-over spell from John Henderson (4-21) and Blaine Gillie (4-22) saw the home side lose eight wickets for ten runs.

The pair simply bamboozled the batters, and with only one dropped catch on the day, opportunities were duly taken as they arose.

Having solidly undertaken his opening batting duties, Iain Purves performed equally well in the field, taking a great catch at gully to remove the dangerous Gajander Singh, who’d scored a quick-fire 50 the previous week.

Selkirk, currently third in the table, on 119 points, return to the capital this coming Saturday to take on Edinburgh’s seconds, 94-run victors at Kelso at the weekend.

Gala lost by 19 runs at second-bottom Dunnikier in Fife on Saturday, leaving them third in the ESCA championship table on 112 points. A visit from Edinburgh South is next up this Saturday.