Ali Evans hails Carlton's fielding as they claim Masterton Trophy

Carlton captain Ali Evans praised his side's fielding after they defeated RH Corstorphine in the Masterton Trophy T20 final at Grange Loan.

Ali Evans shows off the Masterton Trophy after they overcame RH Corstorphine at Grange Loan. Pic: TSPL

In front of a healthy crowd at their home ground on Thursday evening, Carlton posted 132-7 batting first and then bowled the opposition out for 104 to secure the silverware by 28 runs.

Hugo Southwell hit 58 with the bat while all of the bowlers did a tidy job for the victors, but it was their ground fielding and ability to cling onto catches as the light began to fade that impressed and kept putting pressure on Corstorphine.

Shiv Gupta and Chayank Gosain were among those taking tricky catches and Evans said: “We knew that 132 was a pretty good total batting first, but after they got off to a quick reply [22 coming in the first over] we knew there was no margin for error.

“From there the bowlers all chipped in while the high standards we have set in the field came through.

“The guys have been working hard on their fielding with [player/coach] Michael Castle and it certainly showed in this one.”

As mentioned, Southwell’s half century was the mainstay of Carlton’s innings and he was well supported by Arun Pillai with 31. Corstorphine captain Joe Kinghorn-Gray took 4-25.

The beaten finalists will rue the mix-up that saw opener Rob Taylor run out after he had hit 21 in quick time while Adeel Raza took a good caught and bowled to remove key man Sam Flett.