Congratulations to Stoneywood Dyce on winning the Reid Cup final last weekend against 3rd Gordonians. Once the Stoneywood Dyce bowlers made a breakthrough it was clear that Gordos were going to struggle to post a challenging total. Abbas Zahid took the first 2 wickets and Gordos slumped to 33 for 6 after 9 overs as Andrew Rayner demonstrated a combination of short of a length bowling followed up by excellent yorkers. Bruce Davidson added a player of the match 3 for 13 to heap more misery on the Gordos innings as they were eventually bowled out for 61. Gordonians did take 4 Stoneywood Dyce wickets but opener Mark Lambley controlled the run chase with 19 not out in just under 15 overs.
The big game in Grade 1 between Master Blasters and Bon Accord was rained off as were the games between Grampian and Knight Riders and Cults versus Mannofield. No such issues at Inverurie as the hosts made a promising start against Gordonians, Hadden and Norval putting on 60 for the 1st wicket. From there Inverurie couldn’t accelerate the innings as Gordos bowled well with Harshad Parkar taking 2 for 23 to restrict Inverurie to 132 for 8 from their 40 overs. Gordos captain Indy Pandit opened the batting and was 77 not out as they won by 8 wickets in 27 overs.
The AberGreen batting didn’t really take off against the Crescent bowling as Kamal Reddy picked up 4 for 33 and they were bowled out for 137. Shubham Sharma made 43 as Crescent won by 3 wickets.
The Grade 2 title is confirmed for AGSFPs although their game at Methlick was another victim of the weather. 2nd Knight Riders overpowered 2nd AberGreen to boost their chances of a return to Grade 1. Siva Palaniappan took 3 for 34 and Somu Kumarasamy 2 for 23 as AberGreen were bowled out for 123. An unbeaten 39 from Raja Duraisamy and a quick 35 from Uday Reddy completed an 8 wicket win.
Banchory kept up the pressure in 3rd spot as they overtook Fraserburgh with a 41 run win in a reduced overs match. Will George was the immovable object again as his 71 not out helped Banchory to 178 for 5. Michael Watson was unbeaten on 59 for Fraserburgh but the big hitting at the other end didn’t happen as Clive Matthews took 4 for 25 to restrict the Broch to 137 for 8.
Alex Starling made an impressive return to cricket as his 38 topped the Ellon score of 165 for 9 against Huntly. Starling also took 2 wickets but Matt Sandham picked up 4 for 19 to dismiss Huntly for 135.
43 from Harry Murphy helped Portcullis to 133 all out with ex-Portcullis player Kasun Gayashan removing 4 of his former colleagues for 15. 2nd Grampian cruised to an 8 wicket win with Jeby George retiring out for 50 and Mynul Nadim undefeated on 59.
Only one Grade 3 match survived on Saturday. Aayush Sinha made 47 for 2nd Mannofield before becoming one of 6 victims for Paresh Patel as 3rd Gordonians bowled them out for 117. The Gordos reply was clinical as they knocked off the runs for the loss of 3 wickets.
The SPCU North East Championship matches involving Aberdeenshire, Gordonians and Huntly were all abandoned without a ball being bowled. The Perth Doocot v Arbroath clash was a low scoring affair dominated by the bowlers. Safyaan Sharif made 60 for Perth, their only batter to get past single figures, as they were bowled out for 103. Jared Meiring picked up 4 for 11 for Arbroath including the wicket of Sharif. Meiring top scored with 33 for Arbroath who were bowled out for only 87, Brock Ditchmen the pick of the bowlers with 4 for 17.
Freuchie were bowled out for 80 as they chased the 173 for 9 set by 2nd Forfarshire in a 35 over match.
In the Eastern Premier League it was a bad day for Stoneywood Dyce and they didn’t even play. Meigle were restricted to 207 for 9 by Grange with Alan Neave making 56 as Gordon Goudie took 3 for 34. Harris Carnegie made 79 for Grange as they seemed to be coasting to victory, but a few late wickets gave Meigle 8 losing bonus points, enough to jump ahead of Stoneywood Dyce at the bottom of the EPL. Grange did win by 2 wickets.
Elsewhere, Carlton beat RH Corstorphine by 170 runs and Watsonian couldn’t chase the 244 for 9 set by Falkland.