The combined Dumfries CC and Galloway CC Women’s team fought well but lost out to a stronger Carlton unit on Sunday in the Scottish Women’s Premier League.
The visitors from Edinburgh, Carlton, won the toss and chose to bowl at Gatehouse. Not daunted by the strong Carlton bowling attack Niamh Muir and Lorna Jack set about trying to build an innings but with Scotland seamers, Hannah Rainey and Samantha Haggo, bowling at both ends scoring was always going to be a challenge.
The Dumfries/Galloway pair began to settle with Muir playing some good shots. The home team hoped the pair would start to motor a little as they had in the previous game but that all changed when the prized wicket of Jack went, edging a Rainey delivery to gully.
Earlier than hoped, Sue Strachan joined Muir and tried to rebuild with runs at a premium. They persisted and had managed to reach a solid position at 45 for 1 in the 13th over.
However Muir fell for a well fought top score of 23 giving up a catch off a slower ball. Rosy Ryan joined Strachan but then a moment of indecision and Strachan was out clean bowled for 17 to Maceira. Then the accurate bowling of Maceira immediately knocked the locals back as another wicket bowled made it 54 for 4. Rosy Ryan became another of her victims also bowled for a hard won 9 and the side were five down for 63.
The rest of the home team struggled with the quality of the bowling with Jo Williams and Kylie Watson being the stand outs for their determined stands which helped the total to creep up to 84 all out but ithe side were disappointed not to quite bat out the thirty overs.
Rosy Ryan and Katy Anderson opened the attack for the home side and kept things tight in the opening overs and were rewarded with Ryan bowling Beith in the fifth over. That brought the Aitken-Drummond pairing together for Carlton and they were soon ticking over at four runs an over. Bowling changes brought Jack and Muir on and the latter struck second ball as Scotland player Abbi Aitken-Drummond aimed to hit straight and clear long-off only to be excellently caught by Nicola Brown right on the boundary.
The bowling was on target but Annette Aitken-Drummond was marshalling the response. Skipper Orla Montgomery took a top edged catch off the bowling of Jack to remove Farmer and then she brought herself on to bowl rapidly and well in the remaining overs.
She was unlucky and that told a tale for the home side as three to four catches went down off her and earlier difficult chances might have also been taken to remove the quality batters in Carlton top order.
However Charis Scott with 11 not out and Annette Aitken-Drummond with 29 not out kept rotating the strike to boost the run rate and to usher the visitors to a seven wicket win by the seventeenth over.
The bowlers did a good job with accuracy and few extras but overall the Ashleigh Building Player of the Match was Niamh Muir, for the second league game, with the top score and coming on to again take a wicket in her first over. The team next play at Stewarts Melville/Edinburgh South on Sunday.
Women’s Premier League
DumfriesCC/GallowayCC Women 84 (27.3 overs)
Niamh Muir 23, Sue Strachan 17; M Maceira 5-14, H Rainey 2-7, A Robertson 2-13
Carlton Women 85-3 (17 overs)
Abbi Aitken-Drummond 25, Annette Aitken-Drummond 29no; N Muir 1-15, R Ryan 1-16, L Jack 1-20
Carlton won by seven wickets.
Ashleigh Building Player of the Match: Niamh Muir
Photo: Carlton and DumfriesCC/Galloway CC Premier League teams at Gatehouse
