Forres will have 3 fewer players to select from as Asim Ali, Javed Aziz and their prolific run scorer, Pal Dhami, will be making the drive down from the Highlands to play for Bon Accord.
The first 6 of the season, and the second 6 of the season, maybe not surprisingly, came from the bat of Fazal Awan of Bon Accord as he adapted quickly to the boundary lengths at Harlaw in the match against Cults. Over the wall at Rubislaw the first 2 wickets of the season were bagged by Muhammad Kashif as 3rd Aberdeen Grammar made early inroads into the 2nd Aberdeen Grammar batting line up.
Awan was out lbw for Bons for 31 with the score on 57, the wicket claimed by Salman Nazir whose 5 overs at that stage had gone for 45 runs. Bons advanced to 70 before Khawar Ahmed was next out for 29, and then the wheels came off as Ahsan Jawad took 5 for 30, including the 3 new players for a cumulative 4 runs, to put Cults on top. A cameo of 28 from Nawaz Mirza helped boost Bons to a total of 129 in the 29th over, the final 5 wickets falling for the addition of only 9 runs. Tauqeer Malik was last out for Bons, one of the 3 ducks that appeared on their scorecard alongside 4 lbw’s.
At Rubislaw it was fairly pedestrian stuff as boundaries proved hard to come by. 2nd Aberdeen Grammar were in a lot of trouble at 58 for 7, but 45 from Asif Yousuf gave their innings some respectability, topped up by Abdul Saboor contributing an unbeaten 32 batting at number 9 as they were all out for 145 in the 39th over.
At Harlaw the Cults reply got off to a bad start as Malik claimed an lbw with his 2nd delivery. Aqdas Chattha also took a wicket in his first over and it was 2 for 2 after 2 overs and not looking good for Cults. The outcome of the match looked done and dusted when Cults were reduced to 71 for 8, but Aqeel Ajazi is slightly better than your average number 10 and his quick 23, in a partnership of 53 with Ubaid Ullah, heralded a nail biting finale. 6 to win, or 1 wicket to win, depending on which side you were on, and 3 overs to go. The match went to the last over with 2 runs required, and a leg bye followed by a wide, meant Cults had pulled off a remarkable victory, Ullah undefeated on 48.
In the 2nd innings at Rubislaw, Ali Naseem took 3 for 22 as 2nd Aberdeen Grammar took control against their 3rds. Sameer Bin Khalid stuck in for the 3rds but they looked out of it as Abdul Saboor picked up 3 for 34 to put the 3rds 9 wickets down with 117 on the board. From that point Bin Khalid monopolised the strike and the scoring and he whacked a 6 in the 35th over to snatch victory from the gaping jaws of defeat. Bin Khalid 54 not out to round off a day of 2 exceptionally close matches.