Croma Vigilant Dumfries Sunday team travelled to Stainton, but were narrowly beaten by 1 wicket, in a game where the ball dominated the bat.

Dumfries won the toss and elected to bat but it was bouncy track with the Stainton bowlers bowling tight lines and wearing down the facing batsmen. Early wickets of Andrew Reed and Max Corbett-Byers gave the Stainton bowlers plenty of confidence. Sam Thornley and Sean Thornley put in useful displays to stop the rot, but Sam went next ball after a fabulous six as he top edged to the boundary and the fielder took the catch on the fourth attempt. Daniel Armstrong and Rory Thornley hit some big blows to get the scoreboard ticking, but again the bouncy track first of all did for Armstrong with a ball that did not get up, whereas Rory was dismissed, caught, after a swashbuckling innings. The innings came to a close with Dumfries all out for 102.

Dumfries went out in determined mood as they took early wickets, first Danny Armstrong dismissed the opener with a superb in swinging delivery clipping the bails and then took a majestic catch in slips diving to his left and snatching the ball out of the air for Callum Reynolds-Lewis to claim his first wicket of the day. Stainton were wobbling with 3 wickets down and not many on the board. However their batsmen did what the Dumfries team did not and buckled down and survived to keep the board ticking over. It looked like they were going to cruise to an easy victory with the score at 74 for 3, however step forward Sean Thornley who generated a lot of swing and picked up 3 wickets for just 10 runs. Callum Reynolds-Lewis returned to the attack and picked up 2 more crucial wickets and Stainton were suddenly 85 for 9. Nick Lancaster batting at Number 10 committed to his shots and struck a few boundaries and successfully pulled Stainton over the line.

The first outing for Croma Vigilant Dumfries Sunday Development XI saw many of the juniors deliver good performances and this bodes well for the season ahead. Man of the Match for Dumfries: Sean Thornley