Any hopes Knight Riders had of making it four Aberdeenshire Cup wins in a row were dashed by a workmanlike performance from Bon Accord who made light of the 155 they were set by the Groat’s Road side, cruising to a six wicket win with 11 overs in hand.
On a still, perfect day for cricket, on a Mannofield track which looked full of runs, Knight Riders failed to cash in on a good start from their openers who set the scene for the eagerly awaited clash between two sides who had genuinely threatened to pose a threat to Mannofield in the race for the Grade 1 title, only to falter in the run in.
This final was therefore judged to be some consolation for the two, only to fall short of being a classic after Tauqeer Malik’s decision to put their opponents in to bat paid off; this despite Knight Riders putting on a respectable 27 for the first wicket, only to crumble to 36 for four. Thereafter it was a major struggle, saved only by a stand of 47 between Kiran Balasubramanian(33) and Jerome Richard Jeyaseelan(43).
The later order batsmen did not help the cause, throwing their wickets away with a succession of poor shots, but worst of all failing to bat out their allocation of 40 overs.
Being bowled out in only 28 overs effectively handed the game and cup to Bon Accord who were best served by Shakeel Ahmed whose three for 16 set the win up for his side.
Knight Riders were then left with the task of getting early wickets and when they had danger man Fazal Awan caught for only eight, there was a glimmer of hope of a genuine contest.
But cometh the hour, cometh the man. In this case it was former Delhi player Pritpal Dhami who stepped up to the mark with a sumptuous unbeaten 77 to give the occasion the class it demanded. While he was at the wicket Bon Accord never remotely looked like losing.
As the wicket lost any venom which it might have held, the young man took his time, gracefully driving and pulling with authority.
The loss of two late wickets, only served to flatter the Hazlehead men as conceded captain Kannan Palaniyandi. “We failed to set a target when we batted. Bon Accord were the best team, but it was good to be here,” he said.
Malik for his part was delighted to have collected late silverware and said:”This compensates for not winning the league but in fairness a young Mannofield were worthy winners. Winning the Aberdeenshire Cup is always a great achievement.”
Thus another season draws to a close with only the minor honours to be settled, though for those clubs contesting the various cups, there is nothing minor about them.
All that now remains is for Aberdeenshire to clinch the Strathie at home to Crescent-Dunecht on Saturday to claim a place in the top Scottish club league.
For the sake of North East cricket we should all welcome this outcome.
The NESC is grateful to Gilles Gardner for allowing us to use his excellent photos from the Aberdeenshire Cup Final. This link will take you to additional photos from the final – https://www.flickr.com/gp/gillesgardner/LR8H5J3x7a