In Grade 1, It was the Chamila Perera show at Mannofield with 4 for 33 and then 85 which helped Gordonians reach a tricky total of 239 for 6 after Rameez Hashmi with 79 had helped Mannofield to 238 for 9. A patient captains innings of 42 not out from Pehlaj Tenneti helped Knight Riders cruise home by 5 wickets at Cults. Somu Kumarasamy with 4 for 11 had helped bowl Cults out for 162. An understrength Grammar were humbled at Groats Road by 2nd Knightriders. Losing talisman Alec Keith first ball wasn’t exactly an ideal start for last seasons double winners as Balamurali Balaji picked up 4 for 11 as Grammar were bowled out for 80. Vivekanandan Vivekanandan with 43 not out helped 2nd Knight Riders get home with 8 wickets to spare. It was runs galore at Inverurie for the 2nd week running although Inverurie still haven’t registered their first win of the season. 61 from Fraser Lawrance and 82 not out from Jordan Thom helped Inverurie post 225 for 5 but Fazel Awan with 114 and Akhlaq Bashir with 85 helped the Bons chase down the total with relative ease. Master Blasters racked up 184 for 6 with 71 from Ajay Narne and 69 not out from Bhanu Yalamanchili however Nathan Thangaraj hit 96 as Crescent chased down their target with 4 wickets to spare.
In Grade 2 Fraserburgh maintained their 100% record at the right end of the table with a 7 wicket win over 2nd Grampian for who Akil Mahbub made 59. The Brothers grim Cory with 39 and Liam with 44 scored the bulk of the 123 runs required for victory. Grampian had a comfortable 93 run victory over Portcullis at Duthie Park. 3 wickets from young Ben Horne allowed Portcullis to restrict Grampian to 207 for 7 but an impressive bowling and fielding display from Grampian bowled Portcullis out for 114. Siyapa triumphed over Ellon by 3 wickets at Harlaw. 5 for 21 from Arfan Ali helped bowl Ellon out for 89. Jon Barrett and Ben Webb combined to take 6 wickets but Siyapa just crept over the winning line. Banchory picked up their first win of the season as a result of 2nd Grammar being unable to raise a side.
In Grade 3 it was runs for fun on the Countesswells Astro with both Ryan Davis and Mark Lambley registering centuries when 3rd Gordonians and Stoneywood Dyce met. Gordos made an impressive 268 for 1 with Davis making 111 not out. In reply Lambley’s 108 and Adrian Merry’s 62 not out helped Stoneywood get home with 7 wickets remaining. Crathie were bowled out for 82 by 3rd Gordonians and 46 not out from Adi Mukhopadhya helped Gordos get home by 5 wickets despite 3 early wickets from Justin Thomas. Huntly defeated 2nd Methlick by 7 wickets. Methlick made 65 and Huntly chased their target down with few scares. Methlick posted a daunting 269 for 6 at Stonehaven with debutant Mike Hordley scoring 107 and Steve Murphy compiling 83. In reply the Methlick bowlers made short work of the Stonehaven batting line up dismissing their hosts for 45 as the wickets were shared around. 2nd Siyapa picked up 30 points as Dunecht couldn’t raise a side.
In the Aberdeenshire Cup Gordonians and Master Blasters both made the quarter finals. Abhinav Kache with 61 helped a youthful Knight Riders accumulate 170 runs but an impressive 88 not out from Indy Pandit helped lead his side home by 7 wickets. Master Blasters were in a rush at Allan Park bowling Cults out for 35 then chased down the total losing 1 wicket
BESTER WINS FALKLAND TESTER
With only one team getting relegated from the Eastern Premier League, victories over sides who may be looking at the bottom of the table rather than the top are crucial. Stoneywood Dyce will have been delighted to have put Falkland to the sword on Saturday, but it was a familiar story as their innings didn’t start well as they were reduced to 56 for 5 after 14 overs. Enter Lennard Bester, and by the time he retired at the end of the 42nd over, he had pummelled 127 including 12 fours and 6 sixes off the Falkland bowling. Andrew Maclaren batted through from the 14th over at the other end offering vital support with 64 as SDCC compiled a massive 280 for 7. With no Harsha Cooray in their ranks, this was a mountain to climb for Falkland and they were all out for 114 in the 33rd over, George Ninan the pick of the bowling with 4 for 20.
Jack Hogarth took 4 for 20 as Forfarshire bundled out Stewarts Melville for 126, and a rapid 72 from Craig Wallace gave Forfs an early lead at the top of the EPL on net run rate. The big win of the day was Heriots running up 311 for 7 against Grange in the battle of the Edinburgh giants. Matt Cross hit 13 sixes in his 162 to post a total that Grange got nowhere near as they were all out for 160.
Watsonians enjoyed an 8 wicket win over RH Corstorphine and Carlton posted 270 against Arbroath who had a bad day at the office, being bowled out for 72. They will be hoping for better things when their Pro arrives.
In the SPCU North East Championship, Aberdeenshire had a bit of a wobble at Huntly, Kenny Reid making 44 out of a lowly total of 123. Huntly in reply never got going, and they were dismissed for 76 in 26 overs, Luke Bain wrapping up the tail with 3 for 3.At Countesswells Abrar Ahmed got Gordonians off to a flying start against 2nd Stoneywood Dyce, his 80 added to by a more sedate 45 from Himanshu Saraswat helped the hosts to 233 for 7. The SDCC batting got to drinks having lost only 1 wicket, but as soon as they tried to accelerate, wickets tumbled and they were all out for 145.
Meigle posted another big score as their pro Raju Gayashan made consecutive centuries as 2nd Forfs chased the ball around the field as Meigle made 332 for 7. Forfs batted out their 45 overs for 176 for 9. Dundee High were all out for 175 at Arbroath, the hosts losing 7 wickets in securing a victory.
It was the Safyaan Sharif show at Freuchie as his 123 made up the bulk of their all out total of 241. He took 3 for 30 as Perth Doocot replied with an impressive 227 for 9.
The local derby at Forfar was an unexpectedly close affair with Kinloch all out for 161 to their landlords Strathmore. An early hat trick for Richard Bowman had Strathmore in all sorts of trouble and they were 9 down with only 125 on the board staring defeat in the face. James Colhoun and Uthman Ahmed held their nerve and broke Kinloch hearts by knocking off the 37 required for a Strathie win.