Scottish Cup Defeat

McCrea West of Scotland took a strong side to Edinburgh to take on Heriot's in the Scottish Cup.

On a true but slightly slow pitch, the home side took first advantage, putting on an opening stand of 82, with a fine fifty from Eastern Knights batsman, Pete Ross. West fought back in the middle overs, especially through Fennah (1-29) and Chance (3-46). At the 40 over mark, Heriot's were 166-4 and the innings was in the balance.

Despite boundaries being hard to come by, some excellent work at the death from the Nails saw them take 68 runs to finish the innings on 234-7. An imposing total even with the pink ball.

West started with great confidence. Openers Young and Braithwaite attacked the new ball, putting on a magnificent 100 stand in just 17 overs. When Young fell, Kleinveldt continued with Braithwaite for another big stand. With the pace of the ball, runs were not quite as easy, but the pair still added 71, getting the Mitres to 179 in the 34th over, well ahead of the rate. Braithwaite scored an excellent, drive filled 83.

Kleinveldt went for one too many big hits and was caught on the boundary, sparking a horrifying collapse. West lost five wickets for five runs in four overs and reeled on 184-7 with McNulty the last hope at the crease.

Despite a huge effort from the Aussie seamer, the rate began to steeple and by the time the last over arrived West needed 24 runs, a far cry from the three an over needed earlier. It proved too much: McNulty was caught on the boundary aiming for unlikely glory, West all out for 219 and out of the cup.

While many will say it was a chance thrown away, it was also a strong team performance from West overall and a fantastic effort to come to Goldenacre and be ahead from much of the game. The team can only learn from the experience and come back stronger.