Cricket: Back from the brink

After back-to-back defeats Grange found themselves on their Raeburn Place pitch chasing an Uddingston total of 172 that was eventually overcome with eight overs to spare.

A relieved Patel, in his fourth season as captain, said: "I can't remember the last time I lost three in a row. I woke up in the morning and thought 'I don't want to do that'.

"It was important that we got back on form after the past few weeks. We started really well. Stuart (Davidson) and Warren (McSkimming) bowled well up top and we maintained that.

"There's still room for improvement but the main thing is that it was a pretty convincing victory in the end despite their Sri Lankan pro (Ras Pryadarshana ) bowling particularly well."

The win sees Grange sit sixth in search of a place among the top four who will ultimately play-off for the title and this latest success had much to do with pro McSkimming's all-round form.

The New Zealander hit an unbeaten 69 with the main support coming from Patel (22), Simon Taylor (18) and Henry Edwards (16) on the way to avenging a shock defeat in the fixture a year ago when the visitors chased down 340 - a league record.

For Heriot's it was a fourth straight win as they destroyed Greenock at Glenpark by nine wickets to consolidate a top four place. Opening bowler Andre van Niekerk and Craig McKellar did most to restrict the hosts to a modest 114 after which overseas amateur Chris Kent, who next month will lead Papua New Guinea under-19s against Scotland under-19s in world cup qualifiers in Northern Ireland, cut loose with the bat. Opening the innings Kent, who is on a scholarship to Scotland, helped captain Steve Knox to a remarkable 55-0 from five overs.

By that stage Kent was on 48 and his half century came up off 30 balls.

Eventually Kent was out for 68 off 42 balls leaving Heriot's to cruise home.

Knox said: "It was a good toss to win in putting Greenock in on a soft wicket and our bowlers were patient and persistent, so much so that Craig McKellar gave his best performance of the season. As for the batting, the match was all over by the 18th over of our innings."

For Knox (35) it was a second successive not-out innings.

Also winners on the road were Carlton who extended their unbeaten start to six matches as records tumbled at Dunfermline Knights.

Not only was the Edinburgh side's total of 348-5 the highest in the league this season it was also Carlton's all-time competition high.

Furthermore, Dunfermline's eventual reply of 223-6 was two runs short of the fourth wicket partnership between Preston Mommsen (152) and Gordon Drummond (114 not out).

It was Scotland captain Drummond's first century for the club while Mommsen eclipsed the previous highest ever SNCL score by a Carlton batsman- Fraser Watts' 151.

Despite such fireworks in which the 225 stand is a competition best for 2011, Carlton cannot shake off Forfarshire who, albeit they have played two games less due to bad weather, share top spot with placings being determined on a percentage basis.

Incidentally Carlton were left celebrating a full house with all four teams winning on Saturday. Things got tense for a spell at Myreside before Forfarshire edged home against Watsonians who has dropped down to ninth after consecutive setbacks will be grateful for the arrival of an overseas amateur from India in time for this weekend's trip to Uddingston.

Given first use of the crease Watsonians' international opener Ryan Flannigan top scored with 88 in a total of 226-7.

By contrast, though, with the 102 balls from which Flannigan compiled his half century the remaining 38 runs came at even pace. Altogether Flannigan hit nine fours as well as one six in settling into a prolific third-wicket partnership of 155 alongside Ewan Chalmers who hit 66.

In the Forfarshire reply both 'keeper Fraser Boyd and left arm seamer Mike Legget pouched brilliant catches running backwards and focusing intently on the ball in a swirling wind to dismiss, respectively, Matthew Parker and Aman Bailwal. That wasn't sufficient though to deny the Taysiders who, with 15 required from three overs and three wickets standing, effectively closed out the match with a six-hit from Tim Hancock.