Stoneywood Dyce’s run of good form continued at People’s Park where Stewart’s Melville were the latest side to feel the force of the Aberdeen team’s collective team spirit which keeps them joint top of the Eastern Premier.
Captain Jamie King acknowledged the 36 run win had been attributed to teamwork, rather than individual brilliance, although he was quick to pay tribute to Du Preez Stander whose unbeaten 60 was an outstanding knock in the team total of 201.
King said: “Once again a member of the team put his hand up, while our lower order batsmen came good for the third week in a row, putting on a vital 62 for the last four wickets.
“It’s a great win considering we were missing the services of Garreth Wolmarrans and Ewan Davidson.
“I will be spoiled for choice when they return from injury for our game in Edinburgh next week when we meet RH Corstorphine but their stand-ins David Kidd and Shaun Coetzer made valuable contributions.”
The home side were put in to bat but after a sound start from Jan Stander (21) and George Ninan, suffered a major top order collapse, sliding to five down for only 72.
An inspired, holding innings from wicketkeeper Andrew McLaren (28) in partnership with Du Preez Stander saved the day as did valuable contributions from King and Fraser McLean but it was the last wicket stand of 46 between Stander and Jon Grant (11) which enabled Stoneywood Dyce to set a testing total of 201.
Stewarts Melville made a solid start, putting on 41 for the first week before Du Preez Stander and McLaren combined to run out Steven Parker (20), sparking a mini collapse in a spell when they lost three wickets for one run, and despite a gutsy 31 from opener Andrew Appleton, slumped to 88 for five, giving the home bowlers control as they restricted the visitors to 165 for nine from their allocation of 50 overs.
Kidd and Nathan Elliott were the main wicket takers with two apiece.
Elsewhere in the Eastern Premier League, Heriots maintained their winning streak at the head of affairs but were pushed all the way by Forfarshire who amassed 315 only passed by the Goldenacre side in the penultimate over.
Gordonians win at Mannofield
At sun-soaked Mannofield, Gordonians triumphed over Aberdeenshire and Huntly in the 3 Counties in a T20 competition to progress to the semi-finals of the round robin tournament, but only after a titanic struggle in the first game against Shire.
Kenny Reid top scored for the home side with a blistering 81 to help his side reach an impressive 206, only to be gunned down by an on-fire Countesswells side who passed the home total in the final over for the loss of three wickets.
In the second game, Gordonians had a much easier passage against Huntly, reaching 194 of which Abrar Ahmed hit an imperious 80.
Despite a defiant knock of 43 from Huntly captain Jack Mitchell, his side fell 25 runs short, leaving Gordonians as convincing winners and by virtue of winning two games made the Shire against Huntly game redundant for the purposes of the competition.
Mayank Bandari, the Gordonians captain, declared himself delighted with the outcome and said: “It was great day’s cricket. We batted particularly well on a nigh perfect track.”
Reid acknowledged Gordonians had been the best team in the competition but said: “We didn’t bowl or field well enough.”
In the Grades, the top two in Grade 1 enjoyed wins, keeping them well ahead of the pack, although Crescent were taken to the wire by Bon Accord easing through by two wickets with only three balls in hand.
Bons scored 225 for nine which the Links side hunted down for the loss of eight.
Crescent were greatly indebted to Rajeenvan Sujaya who scored a magnificent 107.
Knight Riders were more comfortable winners, clocking up 229 before bowling their own second team out for 188.
Stoney exit Scottish Cup
Stoneywood Dyce crashed out of the Scottish Cup in the second round on Sunday, failing to replicate their Eastern Premier form against Forfarshire at People’s Park.
The hosts who were missing a number of their Saturday regulars, struggled when asked to bat, reaching only 138 all out. Saturday’s hero Du Preez Stander top scored with 40 while Nathan Elliott chipped in with 34.
The Angus side passed the home total in the 25th over for the loss of five wickets.
“It was a disappointing performance but with so many players not available it was always going to be difficult,” said Jamie King, the Stoneywood Dyce captain.
In the meantime, Aberdeenshire were making hay at Freuchie where they turned up the heat on the home side, amassing an astonishing 421 for the loss of seven wickets.
Captain Kenny Reid led the way with an impressive 107 but had magnificent support from overseas amateur Dian Forrester who smashed a near perfect 157. Lewis Munro kept up the pressure with an explosive 57.
The home reply was not surprisingly muted after the mauling their bowlers had received, collapsing to 153 all out. Luke Bain was the Shire bowling hero, claiming four for 19, closely followed by David Gamblen who took four for 32.
“It was a great all round performance, making up for Saturday’s defeat in the Championship 3 Counties, but it’s our league position which will define our season,” said Kenny Reid who has become the run machine at Mannofield, scoring two centuries and a number of half centuries to date.
This weekend’s results…
EASTERN PREMIER LEAGUE
Stoneywood Dyce 201 (25 points) (D Stander 60no, A Maclaren 28, C Shorten 3-39, A McHoul 2-24) Stewarts Melville 165 for 9 (6 points) (A Appleton 31, N Tandel 26, D Kidd 2-17, N Elliott 2-34)
Forfarshire 315 for 5 (6 points) (C Wallace 107, J O’Neill 87, M Watt 3-65) Heriots 318 for 6 (25 points) (M Shean 118no, M Watt 69, J Hogarth 2-69)
Carlton 246 for 9 (8 points) (A Pillai 89, F Burnett 40, B James 4-65, J Dickinson 2-30) RH Corstorphine 247 for 8 (25 points) (L Naylor 144no, E Rousen 33, A Pillai 2-35, R Allardice 2-37)
Watsonian 289 for 6 (25 points) (M Carson 91, L Hillis 39no, G Chambers 3-61) Falkland 212 (4 points) (L Robertson 50, C Cassell 49, T Pratt 3-23, G Carr 2-39)
Grange 266 for 8 (25 points) (J Jarvis 79, H Carnegie 49, C Ross 3-49, G Fraser 2-42) Arbroath United 180 (2 points) (R McLean 38, C Robb 26, J Jarvis 3-22, R McGlasham 2-30)
SPCU 3 COUNTIES CUP
Aberdeenshire 206 for 4 (K Reid 81, D Forrester 34, S Kistareddy 2-25) lost to Gordonians 214 for 3 (H Saraswat 79, A Arora 74)
Gordonians 194 for 4 (A Ahmed 80no, M Bhandari 32) won against Huntly 168 for 5 (S Cuconits 44, J Mitchell 43, H Saraswat 2-31, P Wig 2-32)
Strathmore 168 for 6 (T Brits 101, M Ali 2-15) won against Kinloch 154 for 9 (S Raghuraman 54, T Niazi 26, H Kiyani 2-27, C Milne 2-34)
Meigle 216 for 7 (Z Rasheed 46, R Gayashan 38, G Garden 3-53, T Msarara 2-34) won against 2nd Forfarshire 94 for 8 (M Rasheed 2-2, Z Rasheed 2-13)
Arbroath United 169 for 5 (B Pritchard 45no, P Saravanan 33, M Rasheed 2-30) lost to Meigle 170 for 1 (M Harvey 57no, M Rasheed 56)
NORTH EAST SCOTLAND CRICKET GRADES
GRADE 1
Inverurie Don Valley 201 for 9 (14 points) (T Norval 120no) Gordonians 202 for 4 (30 points) (I Pandit 60)
Knight Riders 229 (30 points) (S Palaniappan 86, A Kache 34, U Raghavendra 7-36) 2nd Knight Riders 188 (20 points) (E Ul-Haq 32, U Raghavendra 27, V Vijapur 4-27, P Malireddy 2-27)
Master Blasters Aberdeen 99 (7 points) (R Mantha 25, M Kakarla 21, A Ali 4-13, R Meghani 3-30) Infquick.com Cults 101 for 3 (30 points) (R Mahajan 30no, S Ali 23no)
Culter Curry Bon Accord 225 for 9 (18 points) (N Mirza 49, K Singh 39, A Singh 2-35, K Reddy 2-60) B-Secure Crescent 226 for 8 (30 points) (R Sujaya 107, A Pereira 38, F Awan 2-34, T Malik 2-40)
AGSFPs 163 (12 points) (R Swiergon 43, A Keith 40, I Bandara 3-25, A Sharma 3-33) Mannofield 164 for 3 (30 points) (R Hashmi 75no, K Yahathugoda 54, P Poosappadi 2-20)
GRADE 3
2nd Gordonians 133 for 5 (13 points) (S Gollakota 43, A Hounsome 37, N Ul-Hassnan 3-26, T Khan 2-31) 2nd Siyapa 137 for 6 (30 points) (S Jafri 44no, T Khan 27no, S Gollakota 2-25)
2nd Methlick 102 for 6 (12 points) Crathie 106 for 7 (30 points)
Dunecht 48 (3 points) (M Hordley 5-8) Methlick 49 for 2 (30 points) (V Mani 2-27)
3rd Gordonians 239 for 8 (30 points) (A Mukhopadhya 69, M Patel 47, B Snelling 3-40) Stonehaven Thistle 178 for 7 (18 points) (A Gale 60 no, B Snelling 32, A Mukhopadhya 2-19, V Amirtharaj 2-20)
Stoneywood Dyce 68 (2 points) (G Reid 3-10, M Tandon 3-30) Huntly 70 for 0 (30 points) (A Dawar 31no, M Clark 27no)
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