The top two in Grade 1 came through what could have been difficult encounters on Saturday. AGSFPs retain a narrow 3 point lead over Bon Accord, and did so by restricting Inverurie to 184 for 8 at Kellands. Chris Watson fell 9 runs short of a century and Jordan Thom offered good support with 41, but both were part of the 5 for 23 bowling figures of Mahesh Challa. Thom and Alan Johnston took a couple of wickets apiece to take out the Grammar top 4, but Fraser Proud stepped in with an unbeaten 62 to secure the win with 4 overs to spare. At Links, Cults took Bon Accord wickets fairly regularly, but Virender Sood stuck in with 96 to post an impressive 232 all out from the Bons 40 overs. Presanth Gopinathan picked up 4 for 22 to dent any run chase and Cults were all out for 164.70 from Vijay Ramaswamy was the backbone of the 195 for 8 that Knight Riders amassed against Gordonians, who did well to keep down on any late acceleration in the scoring. Gordos were 65 for 4 in reply but Arnav Mehta controlled the remainder of the innings with an unbeaten 82 to take Gordos to a crucial victory with an over in hand. Grampian and Siyapa are now level at the bottom of the table after they lost heavily to fellow strugglers Master Blasters and Crescent. Bijil Jacob stuck in with 30, but wickets crumbled around him as Grampian were shot out for 94 by Master Blasters. 15 overs later, and for the loss of 2 wickets, Master Blasters jumped to 8th position. On a minefield of a pitch at Sheddocksley, Abrar Pewekar batted for the vast majority of the 40 overs to guide Crescent to 200 for 7. Anjum Toor took 4 for 9 as Siyapa struggled to 90 all out.
In Grade 2, Portcullis must be wondering what went wrong at Duthie Park. An unbeaten 106 from David Mitchell from a total of 210 for 2 set 2nd Knight Riders a daunting target, but Mohan Vallatharasu hadn’t read the Portcullis script and was unbeaten on 85 as they won by 3 wickets.Ross Wade took 5 for 23 as Ellon bowled out 2nd AGSFPs for 85. Jonny Barrett and Rich Greenfield didn’t take long to overhaul the target. Methlick have really missed the sun worshipping Stuart Anderson this season, and they needed 49 from Mark Woodhouse to help them compile 115 against Fraserburgh, for whom Messrs O’Neill, Rennie and Gospel took 3 wickets each. The Bowie brothers were in dominant form with the bat as the boys from the Broch won comfortably.
In Grade 3, it was the prequel to next Sunday’s Reid Cup final as 2nd Grampian hosted Banchory at Harlaw. Perhaps with an eye on the shortened format of the cup final, both teams managed to get all out in roughly 30 overs. Ferdinand Thomas took 5 for 35 as Banchory were bowled out for 152, John Ambrose making a well timed return to the side with 53. 4 wickets each for Hendrikson and Herbert consigned 2nd Grampian to a first defeat of the season as they were bowled out for 128. 2nd Gordonians won the battle of the bottom 2 sides as 2nd Methlick were dismissed for 107 in the 34th over. Alex Hounsome must have been in a hurry to get home for the rugby as his 58 helped Gordos tackle the challenge in under 10 overs. 190 for 6, including 63 from Fergus MacLeod, looked like a winning total for Crathie as they visited Huntly. Yet another stylish 50 from Liam Ferguson inspired his teammates to take the game to the last over and a 5 wicket win, perhaps sparking a round of diluted orange juice at the bar for the young Huntly side. 44 from Keith Milne took Dunecht to a painstaking 120 for 9 against Stonehaven, and whilst Dunecht took 4 good wickets, Alex Lynch knocked a quickfire 45 to finish the Dunecht resistance.
In the Eastern Premier League, rain killed off the games between Carlton and Heriots, Stew Mel and Grange, and Watsonians and RH Corstorphine, the latter 2 helping preserve the percentages of Stew Mel and RHC. Meigle dropped to the bottom of the league as Craig Wallace racked up an unbeaten 132 for Forfarshire out of a total of 269 for 5. That is a big score for Victory Park, and the Meigle reply concluded on 143, 67 of those from Peter Drummond.It was a thriller at People’s Park as Stoneywood Dyce took on Arbroath. Ross McLean ran out of time for the 3 runs he needed for a century, but 280 for 5 looked a very defendable total for Arbroath. A century from Jan Stander and an unbeaten 95 from Jack Lambley took the hosts to within 10 runs of the visitors, and whilst they could have done with a 51st over to secure a win, at least SDCC came away with a rare and precious 2 bonus points.
In the SPCU North East Championship, the much anticipated Freuchie v Aberdeenshire match was rained off, as was the game between Dundee High and Huntly. At Countesswells, Perth Doocot won the toss and batted, but whatever they had planned went very wrong as Adi Hegde ripped through them taking 6 for 16 to skittle the visitors for 88. Abrar Ahmed and Aman Arora played some top shots as they peppered the boundary to give Gordos a win in only 6.5 overs. Kinloch took a 10 wicket beating at Arbroath as Bruce Pritchard took 6 for 12, and then followed it up with an unbeaten 47 chasing down 110.Falkland enjoyed batting at Forfar, totalling 230 for 5, Lyle Robertson undefeated on 65. Strathmore were never in the hunt and were all out for 91, Logan Briggs taking 4 for 17.
In the SPCU match on Sunday, Stoneywood Dyce had a runfest against 2nd Forfarshire, Andrew Maclaren 91 not out from their massive 280, Jamie King showing he is no mug with the bat as he added 45. Jack Lambley took 4 wickets as Forfs were all out for 150.