East Lothian Courier | Sport | Village People victorious

Monday, 12th May, 2008

Published: Friday, 9th May, 2008 09:00

Village People victorious

After last weekend’s disappointing start to their Division 3 campaign, Preston Village hosted Stewart’s Melville/Royal High (SMRH) at Polwarth and badly needed a win to kickstart their season.

The ‘Village People’ were put into bat and the early loss of Shiraz Ramzan did not help their cause.

But Russell and Davie King put together a stand of 46 in 15 overs, before Russell edged to the wicket keeper for 21.

This left the hosts on 50 for two, before Grainger came in at number 4 and produced an exhibition of controlled batting that saw him thrash 98 runs, before he was bowled just short of a well-deserved century.

The innings was a combination of classy shots and sheer brutality, with three huge sixes.

Recognising the form of his partner, King gave Grainger as much of the strike as possible, whilst he compiled a controlled 50 himself, with some superb cover drives and deft singles.

The partnership rose to 146, and the score to 196, before Grainger’s dismissal.

The pair just fell short of the club record for a third wicket stand, which had been set in 1994.

The rest of the batsmen failed to significantly add to the run rate in the final few overs, but 216 was a better than average score.

After tea, the villagers’ attack tore through the SMRH batting order, supported by some great fielding. Exceptional catches from young Ramzan and Hawkins stood out, along with a direct hit run-out, as SMRH were dismissed for 87.

The bowlers all performed well. Grainger was as pacy and threatening as ever, grabbing a brace of wickets. Whilst Barrie’s swing bowling continues to snare victims. There were three in this match for the youngster.

Shaz Ramzan, McMillan and Taylor also bowled well.

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