THE jury may still be out on whether Mark Watt is the natural opening partner for George Munsey in Scotland’s T20 line-up but there is little doubt he can handle the role in the less rarified surroundings of the Eastern Premier division.

Certainly, that would be the conclusion of anyone who witnessed Watt’s magnificent century as Heriot’s overpowered Stewarts Melville at Goldenacre on Saturday.

Returning to the club scene following a string of single-figure scores during the national side’s Tri-Series against Nepal and the Netherlands, the 28 year-old was in imperious form in anchoring his side’s innings of 272.

Watt lost fellow opener Peter Ross early but went on to share stands of 95 with Josh Elliott (28) and 109 with Dougie Voas (45) to put the reigning champions in control. The left-hander, controlled yet purposeful throughout, faced 152 deliveries for his well-crafted 133, stroking eleven boundaries and four maximums.

When Watt was third out, caught-and-bowled by Greg Ruthven, Heriot’s contrived to lose their remaining wickets for 34 runs, Shaylen Pillay and Connor Shorten claiming three wickets each.

Having opened the batting, Watt then took the new ball, striking in his third over to trap Abeer Chowdhury in front.

The champions proceeded to show their ruthless streak, picking-up wickets at regular intervals to complete an 84-run DLS success despite spirited efforts from Harry Armstrong (48) and Pillay who was unbeaten on 56 at the end.

Watt finished with 2-23, figures matched by fellow spinner Ryan Brown.

Liam Naylor was another Scotland man who relished his return to the club scene, blazing his way to a third century of the campaign as RH Corstorphine upset Grange at Portgower Place. The visiting bowlers played their part by restricting Grange to 207-9, Calum Clarkson bagging 4-21 while Charlie Peet top-scored with 57.

Naylor was then turbo-charged from the start, hammering an array of boundaries and three maximums to reach 109no from 88 balls as the visitors cruised to a revised target of 197 with eight wickets and fourteen overs to spare.

Edinburgh South also took advantage of batting second in a rain-affected encounter at Inch Park. Safwan Ullah’s 3-31 helped dismiss a normally free-scoring Carlton for just 138 in 32.1 overs before the home side made hard work of reaching a revised target of 133. They got there but lost eight wickets in the process and needed Ullah, batting at No 10, to complete a fine all-round display by hammering four maximums in an unbeaten 28.  

Arbroath maintained their positive start to the Eastern Premier season to leave Falkland still winless after an impressive run-chase at Lochlands. The home side looked to be up against it when the Fifers, having elected to bat, posted an imposing 339-5 thanks to brilliant centuries from Kyle Jacobs and Asif Khan.

The pair put on 255 for the third wicket sparking a recovery from 24-2 after early strikes from Keegan Crawford and Shouvik Chakraborthy. Khan eventually became Chakraborthy’s second victim, but not before contributing a sparkling 124 from only 101 deliveries with ten boundaries and four maximums.

However, Jacobs proved immoveable, going on to finish unbeaten on 154 having struck eighteen boundaries and three sixes.

Heavy rain during the interval saw Arbroath set a revised target of 210 from twenty-five overs and, thanks to healthy strike-rates throughout the order, they got there with four wickets and six balls in hand. Four batters scored comfortably better than a run-a-ball, Cameron Brown and Crawford starring with 66 from 30 balls and 30 from 15 respectively.

Victory has hoisted the Lochlands side to second in the table. Falkland remain bottom but will surely take confidence from their batting display while Zane Schlebusch added three more wickets to his impressive haul.

Forfarshire have moved into the top four after a comfortable seven-wicket win at Meigle. Meigle’s batting frailties were again exposed, several players making starts but none making more than Zahid Rasheed’s 29 while Imran Saim and Jack Hogarth had three wickets each as the home side were dismissed for 154.

Callum Garden’s half-century spearheaded the chase as ‘Shire reached the target in just 21.5 overs to make it three wins in a row.

If Watt and Naylor were the returning Scotland stars to grab the headlines on Saturday, only one man stood above the rest in Sunday’s Scottish Cup action – the national skipper Richie Berrington. Clydesdale were 16-2 against Forfarshire at Forthill before Berrington produced an innings of phenomenal power and skill.

Moving through the gears, the 38 year-old reached his century from 71 balls before accelerating to make 150 from a further 23 deliveries. By the time he chipped a catch back to Lewis Robinson he had raced to a superlative 172 from 101 deliveries, smoking seventeen boundaries and eleven mighty maximums.

His heroics helped Dale reach 291-7 from 38 overs – not enough to ensure victory when ‘Shire set off in pursuit of a revised 275 from 38 overs. Indeed, the Forthill team were ahead of the par score for much of the innings, thanks to a rapid opening stand of 76 between Harjeet Brar and Thomas Knight.

They were still favourites when Michael Leask and Callum Garden embarked on an 80-run partnership. However, when both fell in the same over to Ali Khan, ‘Shire lost their way and collapsed to 201 all out.

Elsewhere, Arbroath’s league form eluded them as they crumbled to 56 all out against Carlton at Grange Loan. Chasing a revised target of 253, they had no answer to Conor Regan whose seven overs yielded a remarkable return of 7-17. Dan de Costa had earlier smacked 91 and Ollie Davidson 71no in Carlton’s 238-4 in 35 overs.

Heriot’s completed a winning weekend with a six-wicket DLS success against RH Corstorphine while Ferguslie’s clash with Prestwick was abandoned.