Kelso v Holy Cross
27 August 2016
On a glorious day at Shedden Park, Kelso hosted Holy Cross in the final weekend of the 2016 ESCA Championship Division Season.
Kelso won the toss and elected to bat first on an extremely flat wicket that promised to be a high-scoring affair. The first innings did not disappoint, with openers Tom Grindell and Craig Adams sharing a 100-run stand before the fall of the first wicket. Adams fell for 59 trying to further accelerate the run rate, bringing to the crease Mason Hughes in the 28th over. Grindell and Hughes scored fluently all around the pitch, before Grindell brought up his second 100 of the year for Kelso, finishing as the 4th top run scorer in the ESCA Championship Division. Grindell fell for an impressive 111 to finish off an excellent season for the young opener. Hughes continued to build an incredible innings with the support of Jimmy Takos, bringing up his first league century for Kelso in emphatic style with a crashing cover drive to the boundary. Hughes finished 140* with noble support from Takos 36* leaving Kelso 370-2 from their 50 overs, the highest score in the league all season.
Holy Cross struggled from the outset in the run chase, with Kelso opening bowler Greg Davidson (2-16) continuing his fine form with the ball removing opening bat V. Shah in his second over. Tight bowling from the veteran Craig Adams (3-26) and Callum Davidson in the middle overs made life extremely difficult for Holy Cross needing over 7.5 runs per over. To add to his 140 runs, Mason Hughes then took 3-11 to limit Holy Cross to 84 all out and credibly claim the Man of the Match award after a fine day at the office.
Kelso finished the season in a respectable 7th place in their first year in the ESCA Championship Division. The Club would like to thank all the players and supporters for another fantastic year, with a special mention to the two overseas players Jimmy Takos and Mason Hughes for their efforts over the past 18 weeks.