Good batting and bowling earns win for Hawick & Wilton

Justin Tait was the first to fall in the fourth over. Cobus Huisamen came in at three and continued his high scoring rate from the previous week, but a good straight ball saw him return to the pavilion for 16.

Captain Euan Hair had to slip down the order as he needed a small bit of medical attention, reports Bruce Mactaggart.

However, he had to recover fairly quickly after the middle order found the Marchmont spinners a handful.

Hair steadied the innings with some very controlled batting, while also punishing any bad balls with a few well-hit sixes.

By the time he was out, he had amassed a nice 36 off 34 balls, which had increased the score from 52 to 108 in 12 overs.

That period also saw a very mature innings from Gareth Welsh, who kept the H&W captain company in the 55-run partnership and finished on 22 not out.

With time running out, Ryan Johnston showed his power with a nice 17 runs from 18 balls and the innings closed after the 40 overs on 139.

The Marchmont innings began well with a run rate of four per over. However, Ryan Johnston’s pace was decisive in the fourth over when he clean-bowled G. Thomson.

The Marchmont batsmen looked comfortable but tight bowling kept the run rate slow. The wickets should have come quicker but the H&W catching didn’t look as sharp as they would have liked.

However, Gary Alexander was the exception, with a brilliant one-handed catch at full stretch in the slips.

Wickets fell at regular intervals thanks to the sound bowling of Johnston and Stuart Hair.

With 30 overs played in their innings, Marchmont had only scored 70 and needed another 70 in the last 10 overs. Again, the Hawick bowlers were accurate and, with a large boundary, the visitors were struggling to get any over the rope.

Persistence paid off for the fielders and they managed to get the last wicket in the 38th over, with the Marchmont score on 108.

Man of the match went to Stuart Hair, with three wickets and 12 runs.

It was another good win for the Buccleuch Park men, who welcome Holy Cross down from Edinburgh this week.