Heriot's produced a dominant performance to claim the first national silverware of the season with a comfortable seven-wicket win over Clydesdale at New Williamfield.

The pair had negotiated tricky last four ties against holders Grange and white-ball specialists Forfarshire respectively earlier in the day before clashing for what may be the first of three finals in the next few weeks.

They will certainly meet again in the Scottish Cup final on 24 August while a further showdown in the Willie Morton Memorial CS Grand Final is almost assured with both sides on course for successful defences of their respective league titles.

It was emphatically first blood to the star-studded capital troops in Sunday’s shootout at Stirling where a miserly Heriot’s attack first stifled Dale to 113-9 before racing to the target with 5.1 overs to spare.

Clydesdale’s bold decision to bat first soon backfired as their rivals dominated the powerplay, Gavin Main clean-bowling Paddy Barbour before Adrian Neill struck an even bigger blow.

Scotland skipper Richie Berrington had been the star of his team’s semi-final win and had already struck one boundary and a maximum before Neill induced a false stroke and Vian Maritz took the catch.

Neill struck again in his next over, having Craig Young brilliantly caught in the deep by Charlie Cassell and, at 37-3, Dale had a mountain to climb.

A 44-run stand between Sizwe Masondo and Adil Ghaffar offered a little hope but the pair fell in consecutive overs as Heriot’s imposed a complete stranglehold on the game. 

Mark Watt bowled Ghaffar behind his legs for 21 before Masondo chipped a simple catch to Ryan Brown off James Dickinson.

The South African’s 24 proved to be Dale’s highest score and, while their tailenders dug-in, only one further boundary ensued – a six by Ravi Alavala.

However, the Heriot’s bowlers always held the upperhand, Main, Watt and Brown all adding a brace to Neill’s 3-24.

The Glasgow side desperately needed a strong bowling powerplay to claw their way back into contention but instead Watt took the game away from them with an impressive display of power hitting. Watt took a heavy toll on Ghaffar, striking 19 runs from the seamer’s first over and 16 from his second.

The introduction of Zeeshan Bashir accounted for the left-hander, holing out immediately after striking the spinner for the third maximum of a punishing knock which yielded 44 runs from only 25 deliveries. At 56-1 in the sixth over, Heriot’s were well on their way, Matthew Cross adding 37 and skipper Lloyd Brown 26 as they cruised home.

Despite defeat, Clydesdale can take heart from the bowling of Bashir (2-22), Zak Rahman (1-14) and Alavala who all caused problems for the Heriot’s batters.

Twenty-four hours earlier Heriot’s had been equally convincing in overpowering Forfarshire in a one-sided Eastern Premier clash at Forthill.   The Edinburgh club skittled ‘Shire for just 130 in 36.1 overs, Neill and James Dickinson each claiming three wickets.

Callum Garden’s 25 was the home team’s top score before Watt blazed his way to an 18-ball 48 to set-up the victory charge. Maritz top-scored with 51 as Heriot’s secured a seven-wicket win in just fourteen overs.

Meanwhile Meigle stepped-up their bid for survival with a hard-fought win against Falkland. The Perthshire side travelled to Scroggie Park with just one win all season – also against the Fifers – and they completed the double with a 30-run success.

It appeared as if they were heading to another below-par batting display when they slumped to 76-7, Logan Briggs starring for the Fifers with 4-25 from his ten overs. However, Matthew Sinclair and Adi Hegde dug-in with a battling stand of 66 before the former was dismissed for 25.

Former Scotland Under 19 all-rounder Hegde, though, was able to offer even more resistance, going to stroke seven boundaries in a crucial 74-ball 76 as the visitors hoisted their tally to 201, all out in the final over.

Falkland might still have been confident of launching a successful run-chase but they were unable to form any meaningful partnerships as the Meigle bowlers found the happy knack of picking-up wickets at regular intervals. Tassawar Hussain, their recent recruit from Perth Doo’cot, was the standout with 4-36 while Sami Ejaz claimed 3-38.

Asif Khan was left to fight a lone battle for Falkland with a resolute 90 from 81 deliveries including nine boundaries and four maximums but he was bereft of support.

Meigle still prop up the table but have hope going into the final three matches of the season.

Arbroath’s hopes of finishing in the top half suffered a setback when then went down by a huge 171 runs against Edinburgh South at Inch Park.

Both home openers Vaishak Rajagopalan and Rukhmangad Holey hit centuries in a total of 324-4. The latter took the attack to the visitors, racing to 103 from only 93 deliveries while Rajagopalan was much more circumspect initially but opened-up to top-score with 138 from 148 balls, hitting eighteen boundaries and two maximums.

Cameron Brown and Craig Ramsay shared the wickets for Arbroath before Brown’s hard-hitting 71 was the highlight of the reply, though they collapsed to 153 all out in just 24.5 overs, Holey completing a fine all-round display with 4-27.

Owen Gould notched a second consecutive league century as RH Corstorphine romped to a 263-run win over Stewarts Melville at Royal High School. The former Scotland Under 19 captain hammered no fewer than twelve maximums in a brilliant 186 as his side racked-up 407-5, Tyler Stagg also reaching three figures. It was far too much for the visitors who limped to 144 all out in 38.2 overs.

Carlton leapfrogged Grange into second place after a five-wicket win at Grange Loan where the hosts took fewer than thirty overs to overhaul Grange’s 228-8. 

Clydesdale may have been well beaten in the T20 Cup final but they can console themselves in the knowledge that they will almost certainly retain their Western Premiership title. They moved within touching distance with a dominant display against Ferguslie at Titwood. Isaac Rahman went through the Paisley side’s top order with 4-20, Taimoor Ahmad top-scoring with 63 in a meagre total of 145 all out in 43.4 overs before the league leaders eased to an eight-wicket success.