It’s all change at the top of Grade 1 with Grammar’s victory over Cults at Allan Park. 5 for 15 from Fraser Proud helped bowl Cults out for 91. Alec Keith top scored with 34 as Grammar chased the total down losing 5 wickets in the process on what can only be described as a challenging wicket. Bon Accord had a narrow victory over Knightriders at Groats Road, Bons made 226 for 6 from their 40, then Knightriders fell 7 runs agonisingly short of a great chase finishing on 219 for 8. Nawaz Mirza and Shakeel Ahmed scored 50s while Prasanna Venkatesan and Pelhaj Tenneti replied with 50s of their own for the Knights. Grampian have managed to put good distance between themselves and the relegation places and enhanced this with a convincing victory over Siyapa. 94 not out from Muhammad Shahid provided the lions share of Siyapa’s 167 for 8. Grampian reached their total with 6 wickets to spare thanks to 53 from Jeby George. Inverurie scored 201 for 7 from their 40 overs against the Master Blasters with Trevor Norval notching up his first half century of the season. In reply Master Blasters stumbled to 81 all out with spin twins George Hadden and Chris Watson sharing 6 wickets between them. Gordonians hammered Crescent by 102 runs on a spiteful grass pitch at Links. Gordos scored an impressive 193 for 7 with Diep Patel scoring a half century then Arnav Mehta and Chamilla Perera both took 4 wickets each as Crescent were bowled out for 91
In the Bon Accord Cup the brothers grimm Cory and Liam Bowie put Ellon to the sword at Kessock Park. Admittedly Ellon were missing a regular or two but nothing should be taken away from their opening partnership with Cory scoring 85 not out and Liam making 72 as the Broch racked up 204 for 1 from their 20 overs. In reply an impressive 53 from Ali Addy had put Ellon in a good position but the introduction of Andrew Henderson’s leg spin completely baffled the Ellon batsmen as he picked up 5 for 24 from only 3 overs as Ellon were all out for 132. Portcullis made the semi finals after dispatching 2nd Knightriders. Despite not being able to buy a run all season Dave Mitchell stepped up with 87 not out as Portcullis scored 149 for 2. In reply the 2nd Knights were bowled out for 102 with Ross McKenzie, Mitchell, Shovon Mostafa and Lewis Randall all picking up 2 fors. Indy Yahathugoda was at his hard hitting best as Mannofield chased down 2nd Grammar’s 122 total. Indy with 81 not out as Mannofield reached their target losing only 2 wickets in the process. Methlick also made the semi-finals without a ball being bowled as Stoneywood Dyce have pulled out of Grade 2 due to a lack of players.
In Grade 3 in a competitive game at Burnett Park where Banchory didn’t seem to get the rub of the green, 2nd Grampian triumphed to put some breathing space between themselves and the rest of the chasing pack at the top of the league. Banchory were all out for 178 then 2nd Grampian only lost 4 wickets in their successful chase thanks to 71 not out for Mynul Nadin. Down at Stonehaven it seemed like Dunecht had done all the hard work reducing their hosts 67 for 9 but an outrageous last wicket partnership from Jason Gouws and Anton Kossman of 137 runs took Stonehaven up to 204. Gouws finished on 73 not out and Kossman made 52. In reply Dunecht were bowled out for 103 thanks to some fine flight and guile from Brian Campbell who finished with 6 for 27. Crathie defeated Huntly by 51 runs at Balmoral. Crathie made 138 for 6 from their 40 overs and Huntly could only manage 87 for 5 in reply. Bill Slee with 6 maidens in his 10 overs only conceding 6 runs and picking up 2 wickets in the process was at his economical best. 2nd Methlick got the better of 2nd Gordonians at Lairds. 50’s from Grant Cordiner and Tom Acton helped Methlick reach 188 for 6 from their 40 overs despite 4 wickets from Darri Peerless. In reply 2nd Gordos were bowled out for 133 with an evergreen Mike Bremaneson taking 3 for 18 although he had a DNB against him much to the relief of his teammates since he’s no stranger to a run out.
In the Aberdeenshire Cup Grammar progressed to the semi finals thanks to 104 from Fraser Proud as part of their 260 for 7, then John Thomson came to the party with 4 for 24 as Grampian were bundled out for 75. Crescent produced the shock of the round by knocking Bon Accord out of the cup at the Links. Crescent posted 187 for 9 from their 40 overs then bowled Bon Accord out for 185. Nathan Thangaraj with 3 wickets and 3 catches was the key man in the field for Crescent despite an undefeated 59 from Nawaz Mirza. Gordonians with a little bit of help from a couple of Strathmore Union regulars helped defeat Master Blasters by 86 runs. Mayank Bandari with 69, and 54 from Debo Barman, helped Gordos compile 206 for 8 from their 40. Master Blasters started off like a train but were bowled out for 120 despite a spirited 58 from former Gordo Chetan Aggrawal. Knightriders thumped Siyapa winning by 115 runs at Sheddockley. Abinav Kache top scored with 49 not out in their 164 for 8 total then the wickets were shared around as Siyapa were all out for 49.
In the SPCU North East Championship, having put in a controlled professional performance to beat Gordonians last weekend, Aberdeenshire started in similar fashion at Perth on Saturday. They bowled out the Doocot side for 131 with Chandu taking 3 for 27 but then the wheels came off….big time. Shire were reduced to 11 for 7 as 16 year old Olly Patterson took 5 for 11 in his 7 over spell. Rutwik Hegde and Findlay Anderson with 18 and 19 respectively, clawed back some respectability, but with the other 9 batsmen managing 7 runs between them, Shire were skittled for 52. At Countesswells, Gordonians made a slow start against a youthful Dundee High opening bowling partnership that was initially backed up well by the more experienced Milne and 67 year old Bob Hopkins. Once the ball stopped moving around, 65 from Adi Hegde and a blistering 120 from Himanshu Saraswat hoisted Gordos to 266 for 6, a total well out of reach of the visitors who were all out in the 45th over for 123. It was a day to forget for the Stoneywood Dyce 2nd XI as they went to Falkland short handed and the first 2 wickets for Falkland put on 117. At that point Harsha Cooray came in and added an unbeaten 158 to take the hosts to 325 for 4. Ryan Hepburn took 5 for 13 as SDCC succumbed to 48 all out in the 15th over.The match between Huntly and Forfarshire 2nds was called off due to an unfit pitch, and despite posting a decent 173 for 7, Arbroath lost to Strathmore by 5 wickets. Kinloch will have been delighted to have posted 195 for 9 against Freuchie, but the table toppers overtook their target for the loss of 4 wickets in 33 overs.
In the Eastern Premier League, Stoneywood Dyce got off to a great start as Jamie King took 4 early Watsonians wickets, including that of the dangerous Ollie Hairs, as the visitors struggled to 25 for 5. Unfortunately SDCC could not press home the advantage and 78 from Chalmers and 55 from Shivmangal saw Watsonians recover to 243 for 9. In a near repeat of the first innings, SDCC crumbled to 26 for 5 but their middle order recovery was not so sustained and they were all out for 101. To make matters worse for SDCC, Stewarts Melville pulled off a 2 wicket win against RH Corstorphine and this result leaves SDCC at the foot of the EPL. Elsewhere, an unbeaten 200 from Matthew Cross propelled Heriots to a big win over Arbroath, Meigle were bowled out for 74 as Grange beat them by 6 wickets, and despite a half century from Michael Leask, Forfarshire dropped off the top of the table as Carlton beat them by 61 runs.