Sloppy fielding costs Selkirk cricketers dear in 165-run loss at home to Clackmannan County

Selkirk won the toss and elected to bowl, and an opening maiden and a wicket in the second over appeared to bode well for the hosts.

Their Alloa opponents lost another wicket in the fourth over and runs were hard to come by for them.

When Daniel Johnson joined the opener Tariq Mehboob at the wicket, the score began to move, however, the former eventually succumbing to a Blaine Gillie ball for 32.

Mehboob powered on, ably assisted by Moon Sharif with 31 and Rohit Gangwani with 16, as the score moved past 200 and the opener completed his century.

The visitors also took great advantage of the Souters’ scruffy fielding, with at least six drops on the day.

Mehboob carried his bat to finish 134 not out and Selkirk were set an intimidating target of 228 runs for what would have been their fourth win of the current East of Scotland Cricket Association division two season.

The Clackmannanshire bowlers made short work of their hosts’ top order, however, with Rizwan Ashraf the pick of the bunch, taking five wickets for the loss of only 7 runs.

The visitors also gave Selkirk a lesson in catching as they took almost all of their opportunities.

Only Gregor Robbie, with ten, and Iain Purves, with 14, finished on double figures as the hosts were bowled out for 62.

That defeat leaves Selkirk sixth in the table, with 99 points and a scoring rate of 61.88% after eight matches.

That’s one place, five points and 3.12% worse off than their Borders rivals Kelso, beaten at home at Shedden Park by six wickets by Edinburgh’s Kirk Brae on Saturday after setting a total of 168 for ten.

Third-placed Kirk Brae will be Selkirk’s hosts in the league this coming Saturday.

Kelso are at home again at the weekend, hosting Edinburgh’s seconds, currently eighth in the table.

Gala beat Edinburgh Accies by a wicket at home on Saturday, leaving them second in the ESCA Championship, on 105 points from six fixtures.

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