Stewart’s Melville CC    138 all out (S Pillay 42, K McCallum 38, H Sweet 22);   Carlton   127 all out

The Club 1st XI achieved their first win of the season in the East Premier League against Carlton at Grange Loan on Saturday.  This was also the first time the club had won a league match at Grange Loan post the Stew Mel merger (although most of that time we have been in different leagues).   The win came about when defending a total of 138 we dismissed Carlton for 127 to win by 11 runs.  Batting first the introduction of spin bowling  saw us slide from 91 for 1 to 138 all out the sound foundation coming via our three South Africans Kyle McCallum (38 runs), Hayden Sweet (22) and Shaylen Pillay (42).  The main perpetrator for Carlton, Adeel Raza (5 for 26) is a Stew Mel FP!   In reply Carlton lost wickets at regular intervals to be 75 for 6 before a stand of 51 featuring their Australian pro Michael Castle took them to the brink of victory.  After Castle fell to an outstanding catch having scored 71 himself the remaining Carlton wickets fell for just one run to the unlikely pair of Kris Steel and Kyle McCallum and celebrations began.   For the moment at least the win takes the club away from the relegation spot and equal on wins with Carlton and Watsonians.