Cults remain at the top of Grade 1 thanks to an inspired bowling performance from Atif Shehman with 6 for 17 despite some late order hitting from Kamal Reddy which had the nerves jangling before Aqeel Ajazi came on to spark jubilation for the home players. A daunting 229 total by Bon Accord thanks to 66 from Nawaz Mirza proved too much for Grammar although Rob Swiergon provided resistence with 81* as the Bons won by 91 runs. Grampian had a convincing 7 wicket victory against Gordonians with Jamil Shaikh top scoring with 55 in the first innings before Johnson Varghese and Rohin Joseph seeing their side home with unbeaten 40’s apiece. Knightriders triumphed against Inverurie at Kellands Park by 74 runs. A good mid order partnership between Somu Kumarasamy with 46 and Vijay Amirtharaj 40 provided the backbone of their total. Then Amirtharaj was chief destroyer with the ball as well as the Inverurie lineup misfired. Master Blasters had the narrowest of wins over Siyapa squeeking home by 1 wicket with numbers 10 and 11 batting.
In Grade 2 Mannofield and Fraserburgh still top the table with 100% records. Paul O’Neill with 53* and 5 for 16 was undoubtably man of the match against 2nd Grammar in the Broch’s 9 wicket win. John Dickinson with 115* was the star man with the bat at Mannofield in their 247 for 3 total. 4 wickets each from Alexander Cummings and Manu Saraswat helped complete a 58 run victory over Ellon for Mannofield despite 61 from Brian Veldsman. Portcullis put 2nd Knightriders to the sword at Groats Road bowling the home team out for 123 then reaching the total with 6 wickets in hand. Lewis Randall with a hand in 4 wickets was a key man in the field while Kannan Vijayakrishnan with wickets and runs also made a major contribution. Unfortunately Stoneywood Dyce couldn’t raise a team to face Methlick and chances of avoiding the drop to Grade 3 look very slim indeed,
2nd Grampian and Banchory lead the way in Grade 3. 2nd Grampian made 173 for 9 against Crathie despite 6 for 37 from Mike Baldry however in the 2nd innings they bowled out their opposition for 148 to win by 25 runs. Banchory chalked up 202 for 5 in their 40 overs thanks to 50’s from Sam Rotheram and Josh Crawley. Stonehaven could only muster 111 in reply as wickets were shared between 6 different bowlers by Banchory. Huntly had a convincing 9 wicket win over 2nd Gordonians thanks to Russell Mann and his undefeated 64 runs. Dunecht were indebted to an impressive knock from Matt Witz with 64* of the 84 runs that Dunecht required for victory against 2nd Methlick who Daniel Reeve scored the majority of their runs with 48 of his own.
In the SPCU North East Championship it was the annual Findlay Anderson day as he turned on his all round skills at Mannofield. The Stoneywood Dyce 2nds made a steady start against Aberdeenshire and Mark Lambley registered another half century, but it was downhill rapidly from there as the last 7 batsmen contributed 9 runs between them, Anderson taking 2 for 10 and Lewis Munro the destroyer in chief with 5 for 16. 142 was always going to be difficult to defend but 4 wickets from Mike Louw helped take out the Shire top 7 and put SDCC on top until an unbeaten 40 from Anderson came to the rescue with a valuable supporting 18 from Clark Cameron as they won by 3 wickets. It was an equally close game at Huntly as Gordonians were all out for 142, 7 of their batsmen making it to double figures, but none making it past 19. The spin of Jordan Squire picked up 4 for 26 aided by 3 for 17 from Barry Newlands. Huntly started off cautiously and slumped to 39 for 5 off 20 overs. Squire then took control batting magnificently, but wickets kept falling at the other end as Huntly were bowled out for 122, Squire left high and dry on 65. Gordonians stay unbeaten at the top of the table alongside Freuchie who totalled 202 for 7 as they won the battle against next door neighbours Falkland by 48 runs. Strathmore piled up 212 for 8 against Kinloch at Forfar with Sami Ejaz taking 5 for 21 to complete an easy 129 run victory. The misery continued for Dundee High as they slumped to a 6 wicket defeat to Perth Doocot. In the Eastern Premier League Stoneywood Dyce were made to chase leather as Scotland international Tom Sole spanked an unbeaten 130 at the Grange as the Edinburgh side rattled up the highest score of the day. Chasing their 346 for 8 was always a very long shot and former SDCC man Gordon Goudie took 5 for 27 to bowl out SDCC for 99. Elsewhere, Carlton hammered RHC, Watsonians made short work of Meigle and Arbroath kept Stew Mel at the foot of the table with a 3 wicket win.