Week 9 of 19 completed and the Crescent juggernaut unexpectedly stalled on the hallowed turf at Mannofield. The hosts resisted the temptation to give match practice to some of their more senior SPCU players, but they have a group of youngsters who are really finding their feet, none more so than Aayush Das who made 91, with the slightly more experienced John Dickinson adding 78 as Mannofield totalled 257 for 5 off their 40 overs. Crescent opener Rajeevan Sujaya made a half century as others fell chasing the scoreboard pressure, although Vineet Khanna made a swift 41 to take them to within a hair’s breadth of victory, their innings ending on 254 for 9. The Knight Riders challenge also hit the skids as they faced Bon Accord at Links. Their openers Mohan and Vijapur made a very solid start but 4 cheap wickets for Fazal Awan helped Bons run through the middle order and bowl Knight Riders out for 146. Awan was in sparkling form with the bat as he dominated the Bons reply with 118 not out off only 76 balls as they won by 8 wickets to move into 2nd spot.
The AGSFPs losing run had to come to an end and Gordonians were the ones to suffer as AGSFPs posted 246 for 9 at Countesswells. 69 from Mike Nattrass and 66 from George Gill were the major contributions as Talwinder Singh took 5 for 36. Gordonians were boosted by the return to action of Sree Devadas, but his 53 was in vain as Prash Poosappadi scooped 6 wickets to dismiss Gordos for 163. It was a thriller at Groats Road as Cults made an excellent 239 for 9 against 2nd Knight Riders. The 2nd Knight Riders response got off to a controversial start as the umpire allegedly called a no ball due to the Cults bowler not telling him his bowling action, a novel misinterpretation of Law 21.1.1if it was indeed the case. Prasanna Venkatesan led the 2nd KR chase with 66 but it was a quick 38 from Balaji Selvaraj that set up the last wicket partnership to add 9 more as they tied the scores off the final ball. A Covid outbreak in the Inverurie ranks led to the postponement of their game against Master Blasters, and thanks are due to the latter for their sympathetic approach to the situation. It is hoped that those affected are clear to return to action for next weekend.
The Grade 2 live game from Harlaw between Siyapa and Grampian didn’t produce the expected batting fireworks, Siyapa probably thinking their 138 was distinctly below par. Grampian had other ideas as they showed that heaving across the line is a dangerous option if you miss a straight ball, and the accurate bowling of Muhammad Shahid and Arfan Ali skittled them out for 102.2nd Grampian fared better than their 1sts as they amassed 305 for 7 against Banchory with Mahmud Rahman notching a ton. Tim Donald top scored for Banchory as they were all out for 184. 229 for 7 is a formidable score at Gordon Park with 90 from Cory Bowie and 70 from Michael Watson leading the way for Fraserburgh. Unfortunately for the Broch side it wasn’t enough as Stewart Davies and Ben Webb opened up for Ellon with half centuries and Jonny Barrett put the icing on the cake with an unbeaten 86 to give Ellon a 3 wicket win.
In Grade 3 an understrength 2nd Gordonians will take positives from their display against Methlick as 14 year old Siddharth Seenivasan made 69 and skipper Simon Hounsome an unbeaten 58 from their 189 for 6. Methlick only needed 29 overs to take the points with Adam Veersema undefeated on 57 as they lost 3 wickets. Crathie couldn’t maintain the bounce from their recent cup win as Dunecht skittled them for 41, cruising to an 8 wicket win. An excellent all round performance from Nathan MacAulay-Dicks with 4 wickets and 87 runs gave Stonehaven victory over Stoneywood Dyce. 43 from Joe Slater took SDCC to 200 all out and Stonehaven won by 6 wickets with Andy Gale missing out on a half century with 49. 2nd Siyapa enjoyed themselves at Lairds totalling 245 for 5 as Hassan Masood top scored with 91 whilst Liam Davis took 4 for 34 for 2nd Methlick. Arshad Nisar took 5 wickets as 2nd Methlick batted out the overs for 130 for 9, Muhammad Rehman making 54. It was the battle of the youngsters as 3rd Gordonians travelled to Huntly. The hosts made 190 for 5 with Michael Myron-Petrie undefeated on 81, and the considerably more mature Jim Lodge took 4 for 8 as Gordos took the batting practice to close on 118 for 8.
In the SPCU North East Championship, Meigle kept up the pressure on leaders Aberdeenshire by rattling up 293 for 8 against Kinloch, Raju Gayashan top scoring with 71. The Rasheed brothers took 3 wickets apiece as Meigle bowled out Kinloch for 69 in under 18 overs. Shire head the table by one point ahead of Meigle. At the other end of the table 2nd Stoneywood Dyce posted their first win of the season as they bundled out Dundee High for 98 and cantered to an 8 wicket win. The Gordonians visit to Perth proved to be a nail biter as a rain delay and a DLS adjustment set up a dramatic conclusion. Perth Doocot pro Usman Saeed top scored with a conservative 68 as they put 217 for 6 on the board off their 45 overs. After the rain delay Gordos were set 181 to win off 33 overs and hurried to 90 for 2 in the 14th over, and then they collapsed. 10 overs later they were 143 for 9, but Perth could not close out the innings as Prashant Wig managed the finale with an unbeaten 48 to scrape home with 4 balls left. Jack Mitchell is back on form for Huntly and his 80, plus 66 from Anuj Dawar, gave them a total of 262 for 5 against Arbroath. The latter were all out for 180 with Jordan Squire spinning his way to 3 for 30. 2nd Forfarshire won by 81 runs against Strathmore.
In the Eastern Premier League 4 wickets for Du Preez Stander had Carlton in bother at 137 for 7, but a late order rally hoisted them to 230 all out. The Stoneywood Dyce reply stuttered to 32 for 4 and then burst into life as Garreth Wolmarans knocked up a century. Unfortunately for SDCC their tail didn’t wag for as long as the Carlton tail, and they were all out for 187 in the 41st over. Michael Leask topped the scoring with 78 for Forfarshire as they scored 302 for 9 against Watsonian. The Watsonian reply got off to a flier as Oli Hairs hammered 63 off 33 balls, but he was the first of 4 wickets for Leask as Watsonian were dismissed for 227. RH Corstorphine won by 6 wickets against bottom club Arbroath who would have hoped the arrival of pro Willem Lubbe might have produced an instant return on their investment. Grange chased down the 218 for 8 by Stewarts Melville for the loss of only 2 wickets, and Falkland could only muster 88 runs against Heriot’s who won by 6 wickets.
Sunday saw the Aberdeenshire Cup quarter final between 2nd Knight Riders and Mannofield at Rubislaw, and the battle commenced before the toss as 2nd KR questioned the eligibility of 2 of the Mannofield players, both of whom sat out even though they were perfectly eligible to be involved. Mannofield scored 227 for 7 with Rahul Chandu among the runs again, and the 9 men of Mannofield bowled out 2nd KR for 160 with Arnav Saraswat picking up 6 wickets.
The Scottish Cup quarter final at Mannofield didn’t go to plan for Aberdeenshire as Gareth Weatherall took 5 for 25 as Watsonian bowled them out for 168, 54 of those coming from Dian Forrester. Oli Hairs opened for Watsonian, and as on the day before, his innings only lasted 33 balls, but it was an action packed 33 balls of supreme timing as it included twelve 4s and five 6s in his 85. Andrew Brock was 44 not out as Watsonian went through to the semi finals where they will face Forfarshire who had a stunning win over Heriot’s thanks to an innings of 162 from Michael Leask in their total of 375 for 7. Heriot’s were 316 all out.