Prior to the match there was a delay of around half an hour due to heavy rain, during which time the two skippers agreed to reduce the match to 30 overs a side.

Home captain, Sharkey won the toss and asked Linlithgow to bat first on a fluffy white pitch.

Regular openers, Gregor Thomson and Paul Brookes put on 21 before Thomson was caught close in for seven.

Returning Kevin Stump joined Brookes at the crease and the pair added 57 before Stump edged one to the keeper for 27. With the score at 78 for two as the innings approached the half way stage, Linlithgow looked set for a good total.

When Paul Brookes departed for 32 in the 19th over the platform was in place for the middle order batsman to push hard in the final 10 overs.

John Strachan made 15 runs and Safeer Ahammed 16 before Alastair Napoli (26 runs) was joined at the crease by Rory Saunders. Thanks to some lusty blows, Saunders scored 27 from just 20 balls to give the innings a further boost before a flurry of late wickets. Linlithgow finished on an excellent total of 182 for 9 from their 30 overs.

Stewarts Melville’s reply started slowly and never really got going as they stumbled to 45 for 2 after 14 overs.

Opening bowlers, Gregor Thomson and Grant Blackwell bowled well at the top of the innings. Despite only taking a single wicket between them, they heaped pressure on the home side as they fell behind the required run rate.

Rory Thomson took 2 wickets for 17 runs from 6 overs when replacing his older brother Gregor. Grant Raven followed up at the other end with 3 wickets for 12 runs from 6 overs (including home skipper David Sharkey for 26). Paul Brookes finished up the innings with the superb figures of 3 wickets for 8 runs from his 6 overs.

Linlithgow won the match by 96 runs and collected 20 points from the match. Next weekend Marchmont are the visitors to Boghall in a match which is due to start at 1pm.