DUNFERMLINE and Carnegie Cricket Club's first XI moved into the top half of the East of Scotland Cricket Association, Division Two, for the first time this season with victory over Kirk Brae on Saturday.

The McKane Park outfit travelled to Edinburgh and, on a difficult, wet wicket at Double Hedges Road, batted first.

Playing with care in a bid to accumulate runs, solid contributions from Bruce Callan and Vasu Reddy saw them post 99, after which the hosts found their innings difficult against an accurate Dunfermline and Carnegie bowling attack.

Wickets fell steadily, thanks to the work of Callan, who claimed five, skipper, Raj Khurram and Yasar Arfat.

Kirk Brae were bowled out 24 runs short, which moved their opponents onto a points percentage of 65.83 from 12 matches, and in fifth place in the table.

Khurram said: "The wicket was very difficult, and we knew that anything in three figures would set a decent target. Our bowlers responded well by being very difficult to score off and wickets fell steadily."

Dunfermline and Carnegie (20) 99, B Callan 25, V Reddy 19.

Kirk Brae (6) 75, B Callan 5 for 15, R Khurram 3 for 14, Y Arfat 2 for 13.

In Division Six, Dunfermline and Carnegie's second XI enjoyed a crushing nine-wicket success over Dunnikier second XI to cement fourth spot in the standings.

Dunnikier batted solidly enough and, in their 40 overs, achieved the very respectable total of 169, but their attack was put to the sword by David Miller and Daryl Wood.

Although Dunfermline and Carnegie lost an early wicket, Miller and Wood shared a partnership over 150 to reach the target with six overs to spare.

Dunnikier second XI (6) 169, G Singh 48, W Gill 25, S Wilson 4 for 34, M Ashraf 3 for 16, S Ali 2 for 31.

Dunfermline and Carnegie second XI (20), D Miller 69 not out, D Wood 53 not out.

There was, however, disappointment for Dunfermline and Carnegie's third XI, who went down to Morton fourth XI in Division Eight.

The hosts produced a challenging total of 167 at Cavalry Park and, although the young West Fife team batted well to pass 100, they ended up 52 runs short.

Morton fourth XI (20)167 for 4, S Sunil 90, D Saha 24.

Dunfermline and Carnegie third XI (5) 115, J Pike 26, C Bond 15, N Gupta 15, B Singh 3 for 14, P Mondal 3 for 10.

In Division Two of the Stathmore and Perthshire Cricket Union leagues, Broomhall lost an important clash at Kinloch second XI by 88 runs.

League leaders Kinloch batted confidently, despite some good bowling by Neil Millar, and scored at over five an over, leaving a target of 227 that was always going be tough.

Ieaun Ward batted well, and completed another half century, but the support from the other batters was not enough and Broomhall finished well short of the target.

Kinloch second XI, 227 foir9, M Saghir 61, W Israr 46, N Ramsay 3 for 59, C Hoefling 2 for 25.

Broomhall 139, I Ward 53, M Sadiq 3 for 24, M Rasaq 2 for 23.