In what was billed to be a close run thing with the 2 undefeated teams at the top of Grade 1 meeting on Saturday but Crescent absolutely steamrollered Knightriders to win by 98 runs. Nathan Thangaraj had a great game scoring 71 not out of Crescents 194 for 6 total then followed this up with 3 wickets for 19 runs as the Knights were bowled out for 96.
At Allan Park Master Blasters won by 13 runs against Gordonians. Despite 4 for 11 from Ashfaq Bashir, Master Blasters posted 152 all out. Vishal Desai was chief destroyer for Master Blasters with 4 for 14 as Bashir’s 52 not out was in vain as Gordos could only muster 139.
Bon Accord were in a rush against Mannofield as they knocked off their 169 total with minimal fuss scoring 170 in 17 overs with Fazal Awan finishing unbeaten on 101 and Nawaz Mirza with 60 not out.
Grammar must have been reasonably happy with the 205 that they posted against Cults with Agha Haider top scoring with 49 and Nattrass, Penman, Anand and Swiergon all getting starts. However Abid Ali was a man in form with the bat scoring 78 from 61 balls laying the foundation for the chase as Cults won by 4 wickets.
Inverurie and 2nd Knightriders served up a high scoring game at Kellands Park. 58’s from Chris Watson and Jordan Thom plus 44 from an evergreen Stuart Murrison helped Inverurie rack up 248 for 8 from their 40 overs. 54 from Sajid Muhammad got the 2nd Knights back into the game then a 71 run 9th wicket partnership between Sham Ul-Haq and Balaji Selvaraj had Inverurie thinking lightening would strike for the 3rd time this season however a great catch by Shaj Manohar off the bowling of John Jessiman saw Inverurie home by 15 runs.
In the Bon Accord Cup Siyapa racked up an impressive 212 for 4 from their 20 overs. Khurram Haseeb with 62 from 40 balls and Arfan Ali with an even more destructive 70 from 34 did the damage. Banchory gave the chase a good go and despite 38 from 22 balls by Mark Herbert Siyapa won by 68 runs.
Fraserburgh must have thought it was going to be their day on Saturday when Ryan Duthie struck twice in the opening over removing John Varghese and Maynul Nadim for ducks however Josino Aluvathingal and Jeby George made 56 and 53 to help Grampian to 172 for 5 from their 20. In reply only Nick Gray 29, Liam Bowie 34 and Omar Rohani 10 made double figures as Grampian won by 58 runs.
Siyapa and Grampian meet at Mannofield on the 31st of July.
In Grade 3 Methlick are still leading their way with their 100% record although Gordonians 3rds did make life difficult for them with a good middle order partnership between Lokesh Mohan and Mahesh Patel helping Gordos to 133 for 8 from their 40 overs. Tom Acton with 50 must have been worried about his factor 50 running out as he took Methlick to the brink before Colin Addison finished things off to see Methlick home by a 6 wicket win.
In a low scoring thriller at Sheddockley 2nd Siyapa triumphed over Huntly by 2 wickets. Tanweer Khan and Arshad Nishar picked up 4 wickets each at Huntly were bowled out for 54. In reply Siyapa were 4 for 4 then 20 for 7 and looking down the barrel before 25 not out from Salman Jafri lead them to a 2 wicket win.
2nd Gordonians piled on the runs on the Countesswells Astro scoring 341 for 6 against Dunecht. Alex Hounsome scoring 141 from 81 balls while being ably supported by Ryan Davis 60 and Umesh Basavaraju 83 not out. In reply Mike Baldry is getting closer to buying a jug for his teammates after scoring 46 last week and 49 this week as Dunecht were bowled out for 156 and suffering an 185 run defeat. A Dunecht insider said if Alan Burnett was playing we’d definitely have kept the score under 330.
Crathie posted a competitive 150 all out at home to Stoneywood Dyce. Paul Morris top scoring with 38 and Jack Humphrey not far behind with 37. Stuart Reid picked up 4 for 44. In reply 3 wickets apiece from Humphrey, Justin Thomas and Lyndain O’Brien helped bowl Stoneywood out for 123 despite 46 not out from Ahsan Jawad.
Deni Sarafimoski could well have been dancing in the streets of Methlick on Saturday night after 2nd Methlick picked up their 2nd win of the season. Fraser Grant lead the way with the ball with 6 for 30 as Stonehaven were bowled out for 84. Methlick knocked this off losing 3 wickets in the process with Sarafimoski leading from the front with 24.
The table topping clash between Aberdeenshire and Meigle went the way of Shire. Unfortunately the score hasn’t been updated on the SPCU website so we can’t tell whether Meigle picked up enough bonus points to stay top.
The Gordonians plan to see out the opening spell of Safyaan Sharif of Freuchie worked perfectly, but unfortunately for Gordos he was brought back to get 2 lbws, including Himanshu Saraswat who had raced quickly to 48. Gordos finished their overs on 197 for 8. Freuchie opener Dean Stonebridge smacked 76 off 48 balls to break the back of the run chase and they coasted home to win by 8 wickets.
It always helps when you get a professional out for a duck, and Adrian Merry delivered on that for 2nd Stoneywood Dyce at Perth on Saturday. Unfortunately for them Babar Ali had already made 119 to go with a half century from Musakhar Hussain as Perth Doocot piled up 299 for 6. Mike Louw top scored with 39 in the SDCC response of 125 all out.
Having beaten Aberdeenshire last weekend, 2nd Forfarshire travelled to Huntly and struggled with the bat as Barry Newlands and Jack Mitchell picked up 3 cheap wickets apiece to remove the visitors for 83. Huntly cruised to a 9 wicket win and third spot in the league.
An unbeaten 80 from Matthew Simpson helped Strathmore recover from a rare Tiaan Brits failure with the bat against Arbroath United who were all out for 178. 40 not out from Jonny Blackie helped Simpson give them a 6 wicket win.
Nobody from Dundee High made it into double figures as they were rolled out for 55 in an 8 wicket loss to Kinloch.
In the Eastern Premier League, normality has returned in terms of international players making results more predictable. Gavin Main took 5 for 40 as Heriot’s bowled out Stoneywood Dyce for 122 in the 40th over, Garreth Wolmarans top scoring with 36. Lloyd Brown smashed 50 off 25 balls to put Heriot’s on the way to a quick 6 wicket victory. SDCC drop to 5th place in the table behind Forfarshire on net run rate, Forfs having squeaked home against Carlton at Forthill. Ali Evans found himself in the unusual position of top scorer with 72 out of the Carlton score of 227 for 7. Half centuries from Michael Leask and Callum Garden, and a bit of a tail wag, gave Forfs a 2 wicket win.
Caleb Whitefoord took 6 for 22 to run through the Falkland batting as they were all out for 112. George Munsey didn’t have to bat as RH Corstorphine only lost 3 wickets in picking up the points.
Chris Greaves and Dylan Budge made centuries as Grange put 368 for 8 on the board against Watsonian. Olly Hairs made a quick 77 but Watsonian subsided to 194 all out.
Arbroath United must have felt they had turned a corner as a Matty Parker ton took them to an impressive 295 for 8, but Stewarts Melville had 3 half centuries as they won by 6 wickets. Arbroath remain detached at the foot of the table.
Gordonians travelled to Inverleith for the ECB Vitality under 13 finals day on Sunday, unfortunate to have drawn eventual winners Carlton in the semi final. The format means that batters retire at 30 and Gordonians did exceptionally well to ensure that only Olly Stones made it to the retiral stage as Carlton scored 151 for 7. Rudra Chouksey and Gaurav Singh bowled exceptionally well for Gordos with Chouksey taking 3 for 25 as they were left to rue a few dropped chances, not unusual at this age group. Chouksey retired on 30 and Riyansh Kirodian scored 23 but the rest of the Gordos batters struggled, particularly against the prodigious spin of Stones who took 4 for 8 as Gordos batted out for 72 for 8. Uddingston had collapsed from a strong position in the other semi final chasing the 86 for 8 set by Livingston, and found themselves in the 3rd/4th place play off against Gordos. Gordos again bowled well, and controlled batting from Kirodian and Prayuj Patel secured a comfortable 3rd place for Gordos in a quick run chase.
An unbeaten 74 from Megan McColl helped the Northern Lights to 171 for 9 at Mannofield against Carlton. Sam Haggo got 61 for Carlton, but when she was out with the score on 167 the Lights almost worked their way through the tail as Carlton edged home with 2 wickets to spare.