Eastern Knights skipper Andrew Brock couldn’t disguise his pride and glee as he was presented with the Tilney Group Pro50 trophy last night.
Brock had guided his troops to a clear-cut triumph over the Cally Highlanders at Raeburn Place to make sure of the glory.
While Grange star Brock marshalled the side superbly on his home turf, it was Mike Carson who emerged as destroyer-in-chief.
The hard-hitting Watsonian batsman thumped a brilliant 92 to set up the five-wicket victory.
Highlanders had set a target of 211.
And the visitors’ tails were up when Brock Ditchmen trapped George Munsey for four.
But the celebrations were tempered by his club mate Carson, who was in hungry mood from the outset.
His dominance was underlined as he brought up his half-century out of a total of 74 for one.
Hays van der Berg then departed for 28 – before Carson was given a life in the shape of a spilled catch by Michael Leask.
He responded by launching a massive six over the wall.
Cally earned a glimmer of hope when they accounted for Dylan Budge, but that only brought Preston Mommsen to the crease.
And he maintained the momentum after Carson perished just eight short of his ton.
Though Mommsen was to depart before the victory was sealed, Mark Watt confidently finished the job.
Earlier, Highlanders had made a solid start as Kyle Coetzer and Rory Johnston put on a century opening stand.
However, they suffered a significant double blow when Coetzer (82), Craig Wallace (17) and Leask were removed in quick succession.
And any prospect of a lofty total vanished as Safyaan Sharif also went cheaply, offering a return catch to Brock.
Brock was then presented the trophy by Cricket Scotland CEO Malcolm Cannon who said, “The 2018 Tilney Pro-50 series reached a thrilling climax on Sunday with a terrific match between More & Co Eastern Knights and the Caley Highlanders. A great knock from Caley’s Kyle Coetzer could not prevent Knights, with a solid bowling display from Andrew Brock and a match-winning 92 from Mike Carson, from bringing home the points they needed to secure the series.
Many thanks go to everyone involved in all three sides during this high quality tournament and of course to Tilney whose support has enabled the teams to raise the standards and profile yet further this year. We look forward to the Tilney T20 series reaching its conclusion in September and of course to future relationships with Tilney in years to come.”
