Cricket – Linlithgow v Edinburgh, Baillie Gifford ESCA Championship

On Saturday Linlithgow 1st XI took on Edinburgh at Boghall. Linlithgow won the toss and elected to bat first. Linlithgow’s innings struggled to really get going and wickets fell at regular intervals. Top scorer for the home side was Gregor Thomson who made 33 runs.

Several batsmen made it into double figures but failed to capitalise on making a start.

Linlithgow were bowled out for 117 in 32 overs.

In reply Edinburgh came out determined to finish the match as quickly as they possible. The Linlithgow bowling attack was taken apart with a flurry of early boundaries. Linlithgow could not capitalise on the few chances that did come their way. Edinburgh chased down the total in a little over 14 overs, winning the match by 9 wickets.

The only wicket taker for Linlithgow was skipper Grant Raven, thanks to a good low diving catch taken by Clinton Dixon.

Edinburgh collected the maximum 20 points from the fixture with Linlithgow collecting just 2 bonus points. Next weekend Linlithgow travel to Galashiels in a match due to start at 12 o’clock.

Linlithgow’s 2nd XI travelled into Edinburgh to take on Edinburgh 3rd XI at the Meadows. Linlithgow skipper Andrew Graham won the toss and elected to bat first. The visitors struggled to come to terms with the conditions and some tight bowling. Top contributor for Linlithgow was Andrew Graham with 30 well made runs. Linlithgow finished with a total of 129 runs for the loss of 9 wickets from their allocation of 40 overs.

In the second innings, Edinburgh came out looking to be positive in chasing down the total, however unlike their counterparts at Boghall, the home side lost wickets regularly and struggled to build meaningful partnerships. The match looked destined to go down to the wire and this was exactly how it played out. Linlithgow won an enthralling encounter by 1 run sparking wild scenes of celebration.

Andrew Graham took 3 wickets for 15 runs from his 8 over allocation, while Chris Whitton bowled a superb spell, which included bowling the all important final over of the match and finished with figures of 2 wickets for 17 from his 8 over spell.

Linlithgow 2nd XI collected 20 points from the match while Edinburgh 3’s picked up 5 bonus points. Next Saturday, Linlithgow 2nd’s take on Stewart’s Melville 3rd XI at Boghall looking to build on this great result.

All images LCC I v ECC. Images from the match will appear here over the next few days.