The rain that was forecast to hit Aberdeen arrived as predicted and brought numerous interesting matches in the North East to a premature and fruitless conclusion.
In Grade 1, Crescent pulled off a remarkable last over win at Kellands Park, chasing down what seemed an insurmountable Inverurie total. An opening stand of 193 from Mark Strachan and Trevor Norval set the hosts on the way to 261 for 4, Strachan making 73 and Norval 117. The Crescent batting was as persistent as the drizzle, but it was number 9 Kamal Reddy with an unbeaten 77 that pulled victory from the jaws of defeat. Hats off to number 11 Dave Gibson with 8 not out in support, a great effort considering he only scored one run from 6 innings in 2021!
It was a Bon Accord runfest against Cults at Links as Akhlaq Bashir ran away with the hypothetical player of the day award. He was 143 not out from a huge 384 for 8 by Bons, and followed this up with 5 for 21 as Cults were all out for 87 in 17 overs. Fazal Awan made 85 in the Bons innings as they installed themselves as early season title favourites.
An under strength Gordonians team battled their way to 147 for 6 off 30 overs at Groats Road against 2nd Knight Riders. 13 year old opener Tanish Kirodian led the way with 32, before Jamil Shaikh, at the other end of the age scale, made a solid 37. 2nd Knight Riders were up with the required rate, but ran out of wickets as they were bowled out for 122 in 26 overs.
In another 30 overs a side match at Allan Park, Master Blasters were dismissed for 183 in the final over by Mannofield. New captain Ajay Narne in an unfamiliar number 7 position top scored with 29. The Mannofield reply got off to a terrible start as Chetan Aggarwal removed the Yahathugoda duo for ducks. Sajan Alawattage didn’t hang around and made a rapid 66, but Hemal Chovatiya with 5 for 16 off 19 balls ran through the Mannofield late order to seal a 19 run win for MBA.
A much changed AGSFPs side totalled 151 for 8 off 40 overs at Rubislaw against Knight Riders, George Gill top scoring with 61. Knight Riders were 47 for 3 in reply when the rain brought matters to a close.
In Grade 2 the Grampian derby was eventually rained off. Alwin Nimmy was to the fore for 2nd Grampian with 52 from their total of 134, plus taking 2 wickets as Grampian were on 43 for 3 when stumps were drawn.
Shahram Memon top scored with 46 as Siyapa were bowled out for 116 at Fraserburgh, Rennie and Gospel taking 3 wickets apiece. 41 from Cory Bowie and 31 from Nick Gray took Fraserburgh to a comfortable 5 wicket win.
Portcullis did well to restrict Banchory to 117 for 9 in another 30 overs a side match at Burnett Park. An unbeaten 26 from Ewen Chisholm took Portcullis to victory with 5 balls to spare.
Ellon had a walkover as 2nd AGSFPs scratched.
In Grade 3 Stonehaven and Huntly had walkovers against Dunecht and Crathie respectively. Two of the new teams to Grade 3, Stoneywood Dyce and 3rd Gordonians, turned up at Duthie Park to find no pitch had been prepared, so the rain didn’t even get a chance to intervene. 2nd Gordonians piled on the runs against 2nd Methlick with a first career century for Sivaram Gollakota and 88 for Karl Morris as they amassed 358 for 4. The 2nd Methlick reply was brought to a halt by the rain on 37 for 2 after 12 overs.
Half centuries from Steve Murphy and Adam Veersema helped Methlick to 159 for 7 against visitors 2nd Siyapa. 4 wickets for Tim Duffy did the damage as 2nd Siyapa were all out for 86.
In the SPCU North East Championship only one match survived the weather, that being the game at Mannofield with Kinloch skittled for 102 thanks largely to Dian Forrester taking 5 for 17. Kenny Reid hurried Aberdeenshire to victory with a rapid 65 as they cantered home in under 10 overs.
At Countesswells Gordonians stuttered to 15 for 3 before Himanshu Saraswat rescued them with an impressive 90. Huntly didn’t have a chance to get their batting pads on as the rain prevented them chasing the 215 for 7 by Gordonians.
48 from Shaun Coetzer held the Stoneywood Dyce innings together against Strathmore at Forfar before rain stopped play on 120 for 5 off 31 overs.
Meigle went run crazy against Dundee High at Dalnacraig scoring 336 for 3 off 33 overs before the rain. Alan Neave was unbeaten on 149 and Raju Gayashan was catching him up with 105 as Meigle were only 2 wickets down at the time.
The matches between Perth Doocot and Arbroath, and the Freuchie versus 2nd Forfarshire game were also rained off without a result.
In the Eastern Premier League Stewarts Melville top the league after a DLS win over Watsonian. Stoneywood Dyce were bowled out at home by Forfarshire for 156 in 47 overs. Craig Wallace made a quick 56 as Forfs tried to get a result before the rain, but they were on 100 for 2 in the 14th over when a halt was called. All the other ties were victims of the rain.
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