Cricket: 'Sonians skip hails his title chasers

At one stage during a pulsating afternoon it looked as if Grange - beating Aberdeenshire - may clinch their sixth title in 11 years with nearest challengers 'Sonians struggling against West at Myreside.

Watsonians recovered though to win by two runs just before the rain came and it means that they head to Dunfermline Knights for their final match this coming Saturday knowing that the title could still be theirs if Grange slip up at Forfarshire.

Going in to the last over of the match against West the visitors needed 12 runs to reach 175 and hand Grange the title. Watsonians' left arm seamer Mike Legget held his nerve and restricted Aftab Talpur and Gordon Thomson to nine runs though.

After the dramatic finale Paige said: "We don't like doing things the easy way at Watsonians that's for sure. However, we won and we have given ourselves a chance to win the title going into the final game. If you had said that would be the case at the start of the season I would have certainly taken it.

"Credit to Ewan Chalmers (who made 60] for the way he batted with maturity and common sense and to Ally Fleming (32] who brought a bit of urgency to our running between the wickets and helped us post a total that was better than we were looking likely to get at one point. Paddy Sadler then bowled brilliantly for us while the guys held on to their catches and we really had to scrap."

Paige had won the toss and decided to bat against the struggling visitors, but soon after the noon start it seemed like the wrong choice as West's experienced opening pair of Iain Cran and David McNulty were keeping things tight.

In the early overs the ball was doing quite a bit and Sonians opening batsmen James Easton and Andy Learmonth were finding it hard to score runs. Indeed by the 12th over they were both out, Easton lbw to McNulty and Learmonth bowled by Cran, and their side were 24-2.

Things got worse for the hosts when Stuart Chalmers went for a duck and was then followed back to the pavilion by Craig Wright who had made 11 before he was trapped lbw by one of Talpur's skiddy seamers.

At that point they were 45-4 and although wicketkeeper Euan Stubbs scored 20 in a partnership of 36 with Ewan Chalmers he was out soon to be followed by Ross Paxton.

So at 106-6 with just ten overs of the innings still to go 'Sonians were in bother, but Chalmers and Fleming worked well together. On numerous occasions they turned one run into two by pressurising the fielder and Chalmers, who is away with the National Academy squad in Loughborough this week, reached his 50 in the 48th over. Cran, who had returned to the attack, then had Fleming caught behind and Paige was out the very next ball.

In the 49th over Chalmers hit a superb six off Talpur before Cran got another two wickets in the final over as the hosts made 174 all out.

West's reply started well with captain Ian Young making 18 and Stuart Murray 13 before they both fell to teenage seamer Sadler. Gregg Watson and Anjan Luthra then went to Stuart Chalmers and the visitors were 60-4. Both Murray and Luthra were well caught by Easton.

After progressing to 84-4 off 25 overs West needed another 91 runs to win and two overs later spinner Ross Paxton got a double breakthrough when he got Jatinder Singh out for 16 and then took a superb catch off his own bowling to dismiss McNulty.

Stuart Chalmers continued the good fielding with a catch over his head to give Wright Stewart Leggat's wicket before Neil Bisman and Cran, with 38 and 24 respectively, took their side to within 32 runs of victory.

Soon after they both fell though and Talpur and Thomson just could not get them over the line as 'Sonians escaped to fight another day in an enthralling title race.