The Bon Accord versus Crescent game ventured into new territory for Grades cricket as they became the first teams to have on field Level 3 sanctions applied by the umpires, both teams finishing the game with 10 players. Their previous encounter this season didn’t end well either, and it is hoped that their clash in the Aberdeenshire Cup final on 28th August will concentrate on cricket.
It was a good day for Knight Riders at Allan Park as they kept in touch with the top 2 teams. Scores in the 40’s from Sajid Muhammad and Sivaganesan Palaniappan made up the bulk of their 164 all out against Master Blasters for whom Murthy Kakarla took 3 for 24. Master Blasters would have fancied their chances of knocking off the runs, but the Knight Riders bowlers reduced them to 65 for 8 before a late unbeaten 32 from Hemal Chovatiya kept the chase alive until the 30th over when they were all out for 125. If Knight Riders win their last 4 games and don’t leak too many bonus points, then they could win the Grade 1 title for the first time.
It was a bad day for Gordonians who lost by 1 run against Cults and dropped from 6th to 9th place. Cults stumbled to 6 for 3 but Ravi Mahajan led a mid order recovery with 37 as they made it to 160 before losing their last 3 wickets for no further score. 36 from Sree Devadas got Gordos off to a quick start but 3 costly run outs and a burst of 3 for 30 from Irfan Nawaz bowled out Gordos for 159.
The return of Harry Mapplebeck to the AGSFPs team would have given them some hope that they could turn their beleaguered season around, but he couldn’t make any impact on another below par batting performance with nobody getting beyond 19 as Grammar were bowled out for 107 by Mannofield. Andrew Hastie with 4 for 30 took out the middle order. 51 from John Dickinson and 28 from ex-AGSFPs batter Rutwik Hegde took Mannofield to a 6 wicket win in the 21st over. On the cricketing side of things, Bon Accord beat Crescent in a high scoring match and sneak into a 1 point lead at the top.
Grampian stay top in Grade 2 as Ellon conceded due to mass unavailability. Grampian 2nds may have expected to beat Portcullis at Duthie Park but 3 wickets apiece for Ross McKenzie and Kannan Vijayakrishnan saw them bowled out for 102. Portcullis were easing to victory on 94 for 6 when wickets started to fall, and the last wicket partnership had to squeeze out a nervous 4 runs to give Portcullis the points. A half century from Mark Herbert took Banchory to an excellent 200 for 8 at Fraserburgh. Fraserburgh looked to be heading to defeat until Liam Bowie and Ryan Duthie buckled down with an unbeaten 8th wicket partnership to give them a 3 wicket win.
In Grade 3, Methlick continued their march to promotion by beating Huntly at Lairds. 64 from Tom Acton and 32 from Steve Murphy helped the hosts to 217 for 7. Daniel Reeve put a halt to any Huntly chase with 3 for 13 and credit goes to Lewis Myron-Petrie who battled on for 42 not out as wickets fell around him. Huntly drop to 3rd in the table but look safe for promotion alongside Methlick. 2nd Siyapa are second in the table after a 6 wicket win over Stonehaven who were bowled out for 93. Batting isn’t easy at Sheddocksley and an 8 over spell of 5 maidens and 3 for 5 from Arshad Nisar didn’t help the Stonehaven cause. Clive Hinchcliffe picked up 3 for 26 as 2nd Siyapa lost 4 wickets in the 17 overs they needed to win.
3rd Gordonians did a lot of ball fetching as Matt Witz went big for Dunecht with 136 out of their 247 for 8. Mike Baldry took 3 for 39 to bowl out Gordos for 196, but the latter will be encouraged by 12 year old Riyansh Kirodian scoring 36.
Chris Stride took a very economical 3 for 14 as 2nd Gordonians struggled to 131 all out at Crathie. Gordos were indebted to their number 9 Peter Morgan who made 38 to give their bowlers something to bowl at, although 13 year old Rudra Chouksey didn’t need quite such a big total as he ripped out the Crathie top order with 5 for 15 as they were dismissed for 55. Jack Humphrey was 31 not out for Crathie as everyone else made single figures. An undefeated half century from Brian Carr propelled 2nd Methlick to 144 for 7 with Bruce Davidson taking 4 for 26 for Stoneywood Dyce. Gaurav Lenekar was unbeaten on 62 as Stoneywood Dyce only lost 1 wicket chasing down the total.
No change at the top of the SPCU North East Championship as Aberdeenshire, Huntly and Meigle all won. Shire were surprisingly bowled out by Kinloch at Forfar for 193 with Kenny Reid making 56. The highlights suggest that the main cause of the dismissals was hoicking across the line, but the Shire bowlers were just too good for Kinloch as Dian Forrester and Aayush Das took 3 wickets apiece to give them a 41 run win. An unbeaten century from Alan Neave and half centuries from Majid Rasheed and Josh Edington took Meigle to an imposing 289 for 4 against 2nd Forfarshire. Half centuries from Graeme Garden and Richard Rennie just delayed the inevitable defeat, 2nd Forfs all out for 192. Meigle stay top.
Huntly were in a bit of bother as Strathmore reduced them to 77 for 6, but Darren Morrison stuck in with Sam Cuconits who scored 90 out of the Huntly total of 192 for 8. The Strathmore reply got off to a promising start but the spin twins of Jordan Squire and Jack Mitchell with 4 wickets apiece sparked an almighty collapse and Strathie were all out for 113.
Gordonians hold on to 4th spot in the league despite suffering a 24 run defeat against 2nd Stoneywood Dyce. The latter were all out for 137 in a day of high quality catching, this being particularly evident as Gordos were dismissed for 113, Ryan Williams having a good day with the ball taking 4 for 31. It was another difficult day for Dundee High who were skittled for 59 by Freuchie who romped home by 7 wickets. The batting of Tassawar Hussain has been a big plus for Perth Doocot this season, and his ton along with 93 from their pro Usman Saeed set a formidable 249 for 7 for 2nd Arbroath to chase. Half centuries from Blair Carnegie and Matthew Salmond helped take Arbroath to within 7 runs of a surprise win.
The string of defeats continued in the Eastern Premier League for Stoneywood Dyce as they went to Stewarts Melville. This was however a better bowling performance by SDCC as 97 of the ponderous Stew Mel total of 200 for 9 came from Shaylen Pillay whilst everyone else struggled. It was unfortunately a similar story for the SDCC batters as skipper Lennard Bester was the only one to get going. Neel Tandel picked up 5 for 26 including Bester for a rapid 72 as SDCC were all out for 129.
Callum Garden made 64 as Forfarshire were bowled out for 188 by Heriot’s as the top of the table clash failed to take off. 103 not out from Lloyd Brown and 72 from Matthew Cross saw Heriot’s cruise to a 9 wicket win. Heriot’s now have 9 fingers on the EPL trophy and the champagne will be in the fridge for next week. The Arbroath United misery is the gift that never stops giving as they were bowled out for 106 by Grange. Willem Lubbe made 55 but nobody else got out of single figures other than the wides column. Grange only needed 15 overs to secure victory.
Watsonian openers Oli Hairs and Michael Carson both made tons against Falkland, one significantly faster than the other. 349 for 6 was never within the grasp of Falkland who were all out for 199. Carlton beat RH Corstorphine by 3 wickets.
Gordonians were runners up at the national under 14s finals day at Perth. They didn’t start well in their semi final against Uddingston and Rudra Chouksey was their only batter to retire on 30 as they were all out for 99 in 17 overs. Whilst Uddingston had a good bowling attack, their batting was distinctly fragile as they were blown apart by Chouksey who took 4 for 11. Kiran Singh made 30 of their 59 all out. Grange disposed of Livingston in the other semi final and went hard at the Gordos bowling from the off in the final. The occasional swing and a miss didn’t look technically convincing, but the shots that regularly connected did a lot of damage and Grange finished their 20 overs on 205 for 3. Unfortunately for Gordos, Grange had a raft of good bowlers to capitalise on the scoreboard pressure. Tanish Kirodian made 28 and Chouksey 24, but Aarav Nair, who had excelled in the field, put up the shutters to ensure Gordos batted out the overs for 96. Livingston finished 3rd as they won a thriller against Uddingston who couldn’t score the 7 they needed off the last 2 overs with a bundle of wickets in hand.