Rory hits 103 as Selkirk notch up 120-run win at home to Haddington

That fourth win in nine fixtures so far this term leaves the Souters sixth in the table on 116 points, with a points-haul rate of 64%.

Along with sunshine came some form with the bat for the hosts, Rory Banks leading the way with his second century for the Philiphaugh club, scoring 103 not out.

Having lost the toss, Selkirk were put in to bat and Greg Fenton, with 21, and Kenny Paterson, on 26, got them off to a solid start.

After Paterson was run out, Banks joined Michael Fenton at the crease with 69 runs already on the board, having stepped in following a last-minute call-off, and proceeded to more than make up for falling one run short of a half-century the week before.

It required a nervous single to get to 50, but with that milestone passed, the shackles came off and it only took 25 balls for Banks to reach three figures with a pulled shot to the midwicket boundary.

At the other end was the in-form Michael Fenton, scoring 71 not out, and there were few dot balls in the latter overs for either batter as they made their way to an undefeated 170-run partnership.

Although only a co-star on the day, Fenton’s near-three-quarter century took him to the top of the batting list for the division.

Set 240 to win, the visitors were slow to get going but didn’t fall too far off the pace. However, wickets then began falling every few overs.

Greg Fenton, with two for 19, and Blaine Gillie, on three for 17, shared the first four dismissals, including those of Callum Sholto-Douglas and Scott Logan, for 23 and 20 respectively.

Having more than done his bit with the bat, Banks (on 4-28) almost secured the perfect reward for his efforts after taking off his wicket-keeping gloves.

He took an early catch behind the stumps and took another himself off his own bowling to set up an entertaining finale, but Haddington No 11 Thomas Proctor defended the final three balls to see out the innings 120 runs short.

Next up for Selkirk is a trip to Edinburgh South’s table-topping seconds this coming Saturday, with a 1pm start.

Three divisions up, Gala made it six wins out of seven so far this championship season by getting the better of Grange’s seconds at home, thanks in part to a half-century with the bat from Vikesh Malik and a bowling shift of 3-21.

Batting first, they scored 227 all out, with their visitors managing 132/9 in response from 31 overs and the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern method being called into play.

That leaves them third in the table on 125 points and a points-picked-up-rate of 89% ahead of a trip to bottom-of-the table Morton, still awaiting their first win of this term, this Saturday.

Division one’s fixture card for Saturday saw Kelso beaten by 29 runs away to Royal High Corstorphine’s seconds in Edinburgh, extending their losing start to the season to eight games on the bounce and leaving them propping up the table on 44 points and a 27.5% scoring rate.

Set a target of 205/7, the Borderers could only muster 176/9 in reply.

No 5 batsman Ryan Webb was their highest scorer with 53 and opener Charlie Hines wasn’t far behind on 44. Otherwise, only Callum Davidson, with 15, and and Josh Gibson, on 20, made it into double figures.

Craig Adams and Gibson were the pick of their bowlers, taking two wickets apiece for 24 runs and 37 respectively.

Kelso are at home to third-from-bottom Musselburgh this Saturday, with a 1pm start at Shedden Park.

Hawick and Wilton and St Boswells enjoyed differing fortunes in division four, with the former winning at home to Grange’s thirds by 39 runs after batting first and scoring 78/10 and the latter losing away to Drummond Trinity’s thirds by 60 runs after being set a target of 112/10.

Best at batting for Hawick were Evan Alexander with 25 and Joe Molloy with 24. For St Boswells, it was Ross Graham with 14.

This Saturday sees Hawick and St Boswells both at home, respectively to Livingston’s seconds and Heriot’s thirds.

Hawick go into round ten of this season sitting second in the table on 97 points, with St Boswells bottom on 54.