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West of Scotland's demolition of Carlton at Hamilton Crescent on Saturday while Aberdeenshire were being denied victory by Grange at Raeburn Place further strengthened their position at the top of the SNCL.

Mark Gilchrist was the architect of West's nine-wicket romp against Carlton but Craig Wright began the slide with the crucial wickets of Fraser Watts and Cedric English in his second over, to have the visitors 3 for two.

It was catching practice for West after that as Carlton struggled to 138 all out, Gilchrist taking six for 35 with his slow swingers.

To confirm that the Hamilton Crescent wicket had no part to play in the debacle, West openers Corey Richards and Douglas Lockhart set about an equally moderate Carlton attack to put on 134 for the first wicket and Richards put the visitors out of their misery to finish on 80 not out.

Aberdeenshire's batsmen also found runs at a premium against Yasas Tillikeratne's leg-spin. He had five victims as the north-easterners struggled to 166 for 9 on a benign surface. However, the arrival of sea fog changed conditions and Grange were happy to hold on for the draw.

Ayr's faint title hopes were dashed at home to Heriot's. After being given an excellent start by Bruce Patterson (70), Alan Simpson (54) and Graeme Rummans (47), the rest of their batting collapsed against off-spinner Euan McIntyre, who took six wickets . Chasing 213, Jamie Watkins (72) led Heriot's to a seven wicket win.

In the basement, West Lothian took 15 points from a high-scoring draw against Stoneywood Dyce. The Boghall side were indebted once more to Ayaz Gul for a sparkling 68 which earned him a late call-up to the Scottish side as they reached 278 for 8. David Lamb led the response with 71 to add to his 5 for 40 and Grant Dugmore's unbeaten 90 assured the draw.

Ferguslie, too, showed that they are prepared to fight for Premiership survival asMark Atkinson 70 guided them to 201 for 6. Greenock seemed on course to overhaul them as Dene Hills (77) and Davie Arnott (57) gave them a flying start but tthe later batting collapsed and, with two wickets left and five short of victory, they settled for a share of the spoils.

The meeting of the top two in Division One at Titwood also saw the points shared with Clydesdale finishing 16 runs short of victory with eight down after half-centuries from Sangram Sawant and Ian Stanger.

Gavin Richmond (64), Zulfiqhar Shahid (59) and Drew Parsons (55) had given Prestwick the ideal start but Sawant's decisive return of 6 for 90 pegged them back.

Stirling County won the SCU Trophy when they defeated Poloc by three wickets at Titwood with former Poloc player Sajid Ali wrecking his former colleagues' hopes with a swashbuckling 90.

Scotland's depleted playing resources will be further tested in their second three-day game against the South African Cricket Academy at Boghall, starting today.

Injuries and unavailability mean first caps for Aberdeenshire paceman David Cox and Prestwick seamer Martin Hays.

Scotland (v S Africa Acad at Boghall).- *G Salmond (Grange), +C Smith (Aberdeenshire), J Brinkley (Worcester), F Watts (Carlton), D Cox (Aberdeenshire), M Hay (Prestwick), Ayuz Gul (West Lothian), N MacRae (Aberdeenshire), N Dyer (Chichester), G Maiden (West of Scotland), C Wright (West of Scotland).