Cults pulled off the surprise of the day at Kellands Park as they ran out winners by 12 runs in a high scoring match. Cults opener Ravi Mahajan batted the full 40 overs for a superb undefeated 122 as the visitors racked up 216 for 6. 42 from Luke Bain added to 69 from George Hadden gave Inverurie a shot at victory but when Aqeel Ajazi had Hadden out hit wicket to add to 3 earlier big wickets, the chase fell agonisingly short. AGSFPs made short work of Master Blasters Aberdeen at Allan Park. Roland Knudson and Fraser Proud did the damage with the ball as MBA were all out for 81. Alex Keith was 43 not out as AGSFPs knocked off the runs in 17 overs for the loss of only 2 wickets.Extras top scored as Crescent toiled to 70 all out in the 33rd over at Groats Road against Knight Riders. 3 wickets apiece for Vijayapur, Kumurasamy and Palaniyandi kept the score down and Knight Riders lost 4 wickets overhauling the visitors. Gordonians posted their first win of the season despite being dismissed for 151 by Siyapa. Debo Barman topped the scoring for Gordos with 42 and he was then amongst the wickets as Siyapa were skittled for 69 with only Khurram Qadir registering double figures. Grampian did well to bat the 40 overs at Links against Bon Accord thanks to 67 from Josino Aluvathingal and 62 from Jeby George as they totalled a respectable 175 for 9 even though Tauqeer Malik took 4 for 10 for Bons. Fazal Awan was back to form with 70 but a rearguard action was required as Bons blitzed their way to a squeeky 2 wicket win.
In Grade 2, Ellon stay top courtesy of Stoneywood Dyce being unable to raise a team, and they are joined at the top of the table by Mannofield who got their season underway with a predictable big score at home to Portcullis. 77 from Indy Yahathugoda was the cornerstone of their 255 for 6 and Portcullis subsided to 109 all out with Ranga Bandara and Isira Bandara picking up 3 cheap wickets each. Fraserburgh kept up their 100% record with a last ball victory at home to Methlick. 80 from Daniel Reeve and 74 from Adam Veersema hoisted the visitors to 225 for 7. 66 from skipper Liam Bowie got things moving for the Broch and an unbeaten 36 from Stuart Flowerdew led them to a thrilling win.Asad Waqar was the star man as 2nd Knight Riders beat 2nd AGSFPs. His 5 for 31 restricted 2nd AGSFPs to 170 and he followed this up with 44 as he rescued them from a perilous 88 for 6 to secure a 3 wicket win.
In Grade 3, the youthful 2nd Gordonians were no match for the experience of Stonehaven. Graham Bonds took advantage of anything short and plundered an unbeaten 113 out of a Stonehaven total of 211 for 3. 3 for 8 from Nigel King helped bowl out Gordos for 99 in 27 overs. The visit of Crathie to Methlick was a short lived affair as Justin Thomas took 4 for 4 to run through the 2nd Methlick batting and dismiss them for 44. Victory was achieved for the loss of 2 wickets in only 11 overs. Huntly will have been disappointed to have been bowled out for 102 by 2nd Grampian who secured a comfortable 8 wicket win. An unbeaten century from Ross Devlin helped Banchory to amass 180 for 4 against Dunecht. The Dunecht run chase never really got going and they struggled to 103 for 5 in their allotted 40 overs.
In the Eastern Premier League, one of the attractions of visiting Arbroath is the quality of their teas, but Covid guidance has ruled out that veritable feast for this season. Another attraction is the friendliness of their pitch to the batsmen and Stoneywood Dyce were made to toil as 88 from Mattie Parker boosted the home total to 281 for 9. SDCC never got going with the bat and they were all out in the 43rd over for 126.In the SPCU North East Championship the biggest score of the day was at Forfar as Gordonians burst any bubble that Kinloch may have had after they beat Huntly last week. Gordonians were 59 for 2 after 11 overs but that only brought Abrar Ahmed and Himanshu Saraswat together, and it became a long hot day in the field for Kinloch as they scored 109 not out and 72 respectively as Gordos piled up 314 for 4 in 45 overs. New signing Prashant Srinivasan could have had far better figures than 3 for 17 as he had the Kinloch batsmen repetitively playing and missing as Kinloch were bowled out for 96. Aberdeenshire made the short trip to Huntly and they would have expected to have made more than 136 all out. 56 from Callum Whyte helped Huntly chase down victory for the loss of 6 wickets in the 30th over. At Peoples Park the Stoneywood Dyce 2nd XI were taken to task by some fine Strathmore batting as the visitors totalled 272 for 7. Ryan Williams made 56 as SDCC again made little impact on a run chase being all out for 156. Elsewhere, Falkland and Freuchie stayed unbeaten as they trounced 2nd Forfarshire and Dundee High respectively and Perth Doocot had a comfortable win over Arbroath.
The Aberdeenshire Cup kicked off on Sunday with Grampian rattling up 253 for 4 against Cults, with Saturday run scorers Josino Aluvathingal with 85 and Jeby George with 56, making the big contributions again. Cults gave it a go but were all out for 191. Holders Inverurie exited without a ball being bowled as injuries from Saturday meant an unfortunate concession to Master Blasters Aberdeen. Aberdeenshire had a much better day on Sunday in the Scottish Cup as they made a fruitful trip to Gala. 126 from Kenny Reid was the highlight as they made 302. Lewis Munro took 3 for 13 as Gala made a spirited 208 all out in response.