NEIL McCallum warmed up for Scotland's showdown with Yorkshire by producing a gem of a knock for Grange against Clydesdale yesterday.
In the wake of a shaky start by both sides at a bitterly cold and blustery Titwood, McCallum and pro Warren McSkimming stamped their authority on the contest.
Opening seamer Hari Singh had just too much variety in his repertoire as he sent down a
stream of wides and no-balls. Luckily for Dale, Mo Afzal proved a steadying influence at the other end and his nagging accuracy soon had Grange in bother.
A beast of a delivery accounted for Cammy Coles, the ball clipping the top of the bails as he played all round it. Four overs later, Afzal also removed Gregor Maiden. Having reached 24, Maiden got the thinnest of edges to keeper Craig Smith to make it 37 for two.
By this stage, Singh had found his rhythm to keep the shackles on McCallum and McSkimming. The batsman showed commendable patience, though, and it was only when spinners Zeeshan Bashir and Ross Lyons entered the fray that they began to find the gaps on a regular basis.
McCallum and McSkimming completed their half tons in quick succession to provide the momentum for Grange's tally of 241 for five. The former perished for 72 with the total on 196, clean bowled by an Afzal yorker.
But McSkimming kept up the good work and cruised to a well-deserved century in the 47th over. He finished unbeaten on 114, having struck two sixes and nine fours.
Carlton last night launched their bid to consolidate their position at the top of the SNCL premier division.
The surprise leaders face a weekend double header with yesterday's visit to Poloc being followed by a clash with the national U19s at Grange Loan today.
Sent in to bat in tricky conditions at Shawholm, Carlton recovered from the early loss of skipper Cedric English to post a challenging 196-9 against a Poloc outfit attempting to pull away from the wrong end of the table.
Persistent overnight rain meant there was plenty of assistance for the bowlers while a slow outfield made run scoring difficult – even for one of the strongest batting line-ups in the country.
The Edinburgh side dug in to gradually claim the initiative with Saltires batsman Fraser Watts and Australian professional Peter Wooden in prime form.
Both men have already notched centuries for Carlton in the opening weeks of the campaign and they combined technique and temperament to get the scoreboard ticking.
Watts moved smoothly to his half-century and was immediately given a "life" when he was dropped at mid-on off the bowling of Keith Sheridan.
The Scotland opener looked like cashing in heavily when he hoisted Ali for a straight six in the next over. However, having reached 75 from 94 balls, Watts' innings was cut short when Sheridan got his reward.
The former Scotland bowler held one back and induced a false stroke which was snapped up by Walton at mid-on.
Sheridan struck again to remove Bryn Lockie in similar fashion in the same over as Carlton suddenly lost their way.
However, Wooden went on to reach 60 as the visitors hoisted their tally towards the 200 mark in spite of Sheridan's excellent 10-over spell which brought 3-34.
Division one pacesetters Aberdeenshire cruised to a 10-wicket triumph against Drumpellier at Mannofield.
Richie Lamb and Todd Astle had three wickets apiece as the Lanarkshire side were skittled for 59 before Astle and Kenny Reid took less than seven overs to knock off the runs.
However, Drumpellier's total was not the lowest of the day – that dubious honour went to Arbroath who made just 31 against West of Scotland at Hamilton Crescent, the home side completing an easy nine-wicket win.
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