A lack of grass cutting was one of the topics of conversation in Grade 1 circles, but no such problem at Banchory as the Master Blasters batters weren’t shy of boundary hitting. With no Shoaib Laghari involved, Ajay Narne notched 68 and Vijay Vijapur 49 as Banchory bowled out the visitors in the 35th over for 212. The Banchory response collapsed from 113 for 1 to 165 all out with Barry Watt last man out for 63 as they lost by 47 runs.
It was attritional stuff at Rubislaw as Inverurie only hit 5 boundaries as they posted 121 for 8 against Aberdeen Grammar. Alex Keith smacked the only 6 of the match as Grammar won by 8 wickets.
3 run outs hampered Mannofield hopes, but a lower order unbeaten 35 by skipper Rahul Chandu helped put 177 for 9 on the scoreboard against champions Gordonians. Half centuries from Mohit Khosla and Akhlaq Bashir took Gordos to an 8 wicket win in the 24th over.
Pal Dhami made the only Grade 1 century of the day as Bon Accord set 231 for 7 for Knight Riders to go for at Links. Javed Aziz took 4 for 16 as Knight Riders were dismissed for 113.
Ahsan Jawad picked up 4 for 22 including Alex Pereira for 28 as Cults spoiled the Crescent party at Kemnay, bowling them out for 130. This didn’t look too shabby a total as Cults were reduced to 51 for 7 but 40 from Hamza Ali and an unbeaten 31 from Aqeel Ajazi gave Cults a 2 wicket victory.
In Grade 2, Siv Gollakota top scored for 2nd Gordonians with 57 as they made189 for 6 against Fraserburgh at Countesswells. Fraserburgh only needed 3 batters to chase down the required total, all made half centuries, Cory Bowie out for a quick 69 and Nick Gray and Liam Bowie not out on 54 and 56 respectively.
Sahil Kini took 5 for 15 as 3rd Aberdeen Grammar struggled with the bat at St Margaret’s against 2nd Master Blasters. 120 didn’t seem enough, especially when Harshit Gupta hit 55 off only 34 balls to set up an 8 wicket win for Master Blasters.
Mynul Nadim was in big hitting mode as his 72, with a bit of help from Jeby George making 60, propelled Grampian to 306 for 9 against 2nd Knight Riders. Prem Ballal finished his 8 over spell taking 5 for 50, excellent figures considering 2 of his early overs went for 35 runs. Ambrose John top scored with 52 as Knight Riders replied with 212 for 9.
Nathan Coffey put pressure on 2nd Aberdeen Grammar by taking 4 for 31 but Huntly ended up facing an insurmountable task in having to chase 221 for 7. Huntly were all out for 100 as Naveed Ul-Hassnan took 4 for 13.
Closest game of the day was at Methlick. Mike Hordley made an undefeated 61 off only 47 balls as the hosts posted 164 for 5 against Portcullis. The Portcullis middle order seemed to have victory in their grasp, but needing 43 to win off the last 8 overs, it was the Methlick bowlers who turned the screw to secure a nail biting 1 run win.
On to Grade 3 after the other Saturday games.
It was a good day for Stoneywood Dyce in the SPCU North East Championship as Nathan Elliott removed both 2nd Forfarshire openers cheaply and Jon Burnett finished things off with 5 for 23 to leave them to chase 92. It wasn’t the best of starts for the Stoneywood Dyce batters as they faltered at 20 for 4, but an unbeaten 48 from Joshua Vorster saw them win without further loss.
Kenny Reid made his 4th half century in a row for Aberdeenshire, but if it was any consolation for Gordonians, his 62 was his lowest to date. Lewis Munro started his innings slowly but accelerated to 79 as Shire put up a challenging 238 for 8. Cameron Brown ran through the Gordos top order taking 5 for 10 and it needed a return to form with the bat by Himanshu Saraswat, with 48, to accumulate some bonus points as Gordos were all out for 128.
All 5 Huntly bowlers took a couple of wickets as they bowled out an under performing Strathmore for 92. Haydn Evans with 39 rescued Strathmore from a perilous 49 for 8. Jack Mitchell made 52 as Huntly coasted to an 8 wicket victory.
It is looking like a difficult season for Dundee High as they were scuttled for 55 at Freuchie, the hosts losing 2 wickets as they scampered to the points in under 10 overs.
Perth Doocot looked in a bit of bother at 75 for 5 at home to St Modans, but 52 from Asif Naeem helped them to 216. Zeb Alamgir made 57 but the rest of the St Modans batters struggled and they were all out for 125.
Forfarshire lead the Eastern Premier League on net run rate having posted the highest score of the day as they rattled up 346 for 9 before dismissing Stewart’s Melville for 151. Charles Cassell was the player of the match with a century and 4 wickets for Forfs.
Heriots were runners up last season but they suffered at the hands of Falkland who matched the Forfs position of played 3 and won 3. Ethan Frosler ripped through the Heriots batting taking 5 for 20 to bowl them out for 68, Falkland losing only 2 wickets as they cantered to victory in the 15th over.
Champions Grange are also unbeaten as they overcame a spirited performance from Meigle. Raju Gayashan hit a quick 76 out of a Meigle total of 272 for 9, and despite Adi Hegde taking 4 for 21, an undefeated 86 from Finlay McCreath gave Grange a 5 wicket win with 4 balls to spare,
Watsonian prop up the table as they lost to RH Corstorphine who piled up 313 for 1 with Liam Naylor and Brandon McMullen making unbeaten centuries, the latter off only 50 deliveries. Callum Martin smashed a quick half century to give Watsonian some respectability as they were all out for 201.
Scotland discard Chris McBride made 80 as Carlton totalled 225 at Arbroath for whom Iain Worth returned figures of 7 for 53. Angus Beattie countered with 5 for 17 as Arbroath were all out for 93.
In Grade 3 2nd Methlick conceded the points to Dunecht and 2nd Mannofield will be disappointed to have been bowled out by 2nd Fraserburgh for 74, the latter recording their first win by a 5 wicket margin.
Nathan Macaulay-Dicks has been increasing his score every Saturday, moving from 39 to 47, and against Stoneywood Dyce at Duthie Park, he was out for 59. A late contribution of 28 not out from Clive Hinchcliffe, bettering his 2023 accumulated 20 runs in one go, was crucial as Stonehaven made 195 for 7. Mark Lambley was out for 51 as the Stoneywood Dyce reply struggled against the bowling of Jason Gouws and Alex Beveridge who took 4 wickets apiece to bowl them out for 145.
Viji Nair took 5 for 44 to help bowl out Grampian for 201 in the 40th over but the 3rd Gordonians reply got stuck in 1st gear as they also batted to the 40th over, but only put 70 on the board.
3 half centuries in the Aberdeen Tigers massive 331 against 2nd Banchory, the best being Zakir Hussain with 97 as he was one of 5 dismissals for Gordon Brown. The Banchory top 3 all made it to double figures but from there it was single digit scoring as they were all out for 85.
Shock result of the day was at Balmoral as a huge downpour arrived just as the batters were about to head to the wicket. Early pies were taken, and the 2 captains, Padre Moorman and Jonathan Barrett, posed with their umbrellas to show just how much water was deposited.
Sunday saw the start of the Bon Accord Cup, and also the increasingly rare sight of Ronnie Falconer padding up for Portcullis. With a run out off the last ball, Ronnie unfortunately didn’t get to stride to the crease as Portcullis scored 113 for 9 off their 20 overs against 2nd Grammar for whom Rasib Bashir took an impressive 4 for 12. Ronnie did get to take a catch as Aberdeen Grammar were surprisingly all out for 76.
Darren Morrison picked up 4 for 27 as Huntly did well to limit 2nd Knight Riders to 129 off their 20 overs. Callum Whyte led the Huntly reply with 44 as they won by 6 wickets with an over to spare. Grampian progressed at the expense of Methlick who were unable to raise a team.
In the SPCU North East Championship Stoneywood Dyce completed a productive weekend against 2nd Forfarshire. Forfs will have been relatively happy with their 196 for 6 but the Stoneywood Dyce batters motored to a 7 wicket win in the 29th over thanks to an unbeaten partnership of 163 between Michael Van Staden (105) and Ewan Davidson (53).
Gordonians celebrated their centenary putting out a strong side against the visiting MCC side at Countesswells. MCC batted first and declared on 141 for 6 with Aman Bailwal making 51. The Gordos batting line up suggested this was a premature declaration, but runs proved hard to come by against a tight MCC bowling attack. Himanshu Saraswat was left high and dry on 24 as wickets tumbled and Gordonians were all out for 87.
