Firsts Lose in Edinburgh

SMRH 219 for 7 in 50 overs
(S Pillay 123 not out)

Falkland 62 for 3 in 20.2 Overs.

SMRH won by 22 runs on the D/L method.

Only in the province of theoretical mathematics can we now say that Falkland have a chance of avoiding relegation, and yet the way that they lost on Saturday to SMRH at Inverleith was particularly heartbreaking.

It is hardly an original statement to say that Duckworth Lewis is unfair, but it was extraordinarily cruel to be rained off, just two balls after Duckworth Lewis was implemented at the end of the 20th Over. An Over earlier and the game would have been voided, and if the game had been allowed to run its course, or even been allowed to go a little further, things might have been very different. As it is, the statement that Falkland lost by 22 runs on the Duckworth Lewis method is absurd, and yet true. But the rain came down at 5.10 pm and it rained hard for well over an hour and a half, and there was no real hope of getting back out to play even a little more of the game.

SMRH decided to bat first, and must have been regretting their decision when they were 79 for 6 after 30 Overs. But Falkland could not dismiss their professional Pillay and he went on to score 123 not out as SMRH reached 219 for 7. Yet although Falkland were disappointed at that, the total of 220 did not seem impossible, and Falkland were making reasonable progress at 52 for 3 when the rains came down. For the third time this season, we cursed the unfairness of Duckworth Lewis.

The wounded Falkland must now regroup and face the future with fortitude. Four games remain this season, and that must be our immediate concern. It would be nice to win one game, for there is far more talent in this team than the record would suggest.

David Potter