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Edinburgh Inflict 2nd League Defeat |
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Written by Administrator
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Batting first, Livingston's line-up crumbled to their second defeat of the season on Saturday. Edinburgh 2's captain Arshad ignored reassurances that the wicket was sound, and invited Livingston to bat.
Wickets tumbled with regularity, preventing Livingston from posting a decent total. Swing conditions and variable bounce made life difficult, though that didn't excuse Livi's failure to dig in. Kirk Crichton however continued his fine form, easily top scoring with 41. Later order batsman, including tenacious efforts from Navid Asghar, Richard Drewett and Hamad Ahmed, helped push the total past the slightly embarrassing to a more respectable total. At the finish Livi fell 1 short of an extra bonus point, 124 all out.
In reply Edinburgh confidently set to the chase. With Hamad Ahmed's knee injured whilst batting, and regular bowlers Collings and Wilson missing, the bowling array available was slightly barer than normal, though Livingston still had plenty of options. Unfortunately the early breaks in previous matches were not repeated, and Livi's only salvation looked to be the looming black clouds. With Edinburgh roughly a quarter towards the target, a heavy rain break ensued.
Despite damp patches, conditions improved to allow a restart. Livingston were encouraged by a couple of breakthroughs but quickly realisation set in that it was not our day. Impending defeat did allow for some lighter moments, Iain Murdoch (sub.) ordering a takeway from slip, and then dropping a skier. In desperation Skipper Jukes lobbed a few non-turning off-breaks (or grenades) which mysteriously claimed two wickets from successive balls, before the inevitable Edinburgh victory.
A performance to forget, particularly with the bat. We should however remember the sporting resumption after the deluge, so the game could reach a natural, and very late conclusion around 9pm. Let's hope the boot (please note - with spikes when the ground is wet) is on the other foot in matches to come.
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