Falkland's Village Cup hopes ended at Meigle

The match, which was the Scottish final of the UK wide tournament, was played in glorious weather in Meigle and the hosts, who won the toss, decided to bat first.

They got off to a slow start, though, and at one point were 60 for 5, Falkland fancying their chances of removing them for less than 100.

The bowling, particularly that of Ryan Hepburn, was tight from the start and difficult to put away.

That was until Zahid Rasheed stepped in and, after riding his luck for a spell, hit four sixes and seven fours in a total of 59 before he was caught in the outfield by Ewan Sloan off Steven Meikle.

Meigle's tail wagged to a certain extent, and the total of 175 looked a decent, but not necessarily unbeatable, score.

Once again Falkland had reason to be annoyed at themselves by bowling 22 wides, which also gave Meigle almost another four overs.

Falkland's reply started well with Sloan in particular looking as if he could carry Falkland to victory before he fell to a catch in the deep off Charlie Clark after reaching 41.

Only two other batsmen reached double figures, and that tells its own sorry tale as Rasheed and Neave each took four wickets to dismiss Falkland for 99 and help Meigle advance to the latter stages of the famous tournament.

Scoring: Meigle 175-9 (Z Rasheed 59, A Hamilton 3 for 29) Falkland 99 all out (E Sloan 41, Z Rasheed 4 for 42, A Neave 4 for 7).

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/sport/football/international/east-fife-start-to-prepare-for-tough-cup-schedule-3264775

https://www.fifetoday.co.uk/sport/football/international/east-fife-the-best-option-for-aaron-steele-following-st-johnstone-departure-3264729