Gordonians produced the shock of the day in the NE Championship when they stunned title-chasing Falkland in Fife.
The Aberdeen side produced an all-round quality performance of batting and bowling to move up to third place.
Gordonians captain Mayank Bhandari was delighted with his side’s application.
He said: “We have been threatening to put together a performance like this for a while.
“Firstly we batted out our allocated 45 overs, posting a very good total of 245 for nine to give ourselves a fighting chance.
“We then bowled superbly, which has been our strength all season, managing to bowl Falkland all out for 210. It was a real team effort.”
Himanshu Saraswat once again top-scored for the Countesswells side with a sparkling 79, while Prashant Wig chipped in with an equally impressive 50.
The bowling honours were shared by Aman Arora, who took three for 36, and Abrar Ahmed with two for 26.
But the defining moment came early in the home innings when Saraswat bowled Harsha Cooray for one, ending the Sri Lankan’s run of scoring, while tipping the balance the way of Gordonians.
In the meantime at Mannofield, a resurgent Aberdeenshire took control of the game against 2nd Forfarshire who had to give way to an impressive knock of 82 from captain Kenny Reid whose innings included 14 fours.
Rahul Chandu produced a classy knock of 53 which was the match turner when Shire’s top and middle order batting faltered.
The effortless style of the youngster was most encouraging at a time when the Mannofield faithful are looking for a hero after their relegation of two seasons ago.
David Gamblen ensured a home victory with a return of four for 20, while Lewis Munro weighed in with three for 28 as Forfarshire succumbed to 104 all out, 91 short of the Shire total of 195.
“It was good to have total control,” said Reid.
Huntly roared back to form after a poor run, dismissing 2nd Arbroath United for 73 before rattling off the required runs for the loss of one wicket.
“It’s a great relief to have come back to form. We can now build on this win,” said Huntly captain Jack Mitchell, who shared an unbeaten half century partnership with opener Callum Whyte in the rout of the visitors.
At People’s Park, 2nd Stoneywood- Dyce were no match for league leaders Freuchie who bowled the home side out for 123, despite an opening stand of 70 by Martin Reid (39) and Mark Lambley (35) before going on to knock the runs off without losing a wicket.
In the NE Grades, Aberdeen Grammar FPs sent out a strong message to second placed Bon Accord that they will be hard to displace at the head of affairs in Grade 1. They amassed 319 for four wickets of which Alex Keith scored a 100. The Master Blasters Aberdeen’s scored 112 in reply.
Bon Accord’s 198 was enough to see off the challenge of Grampian who could only muster 143 all out.
The race for the title looks now to be a two horse race after Knight Riders were beaten by Crescent.
This weekend’s results…
NORTH EAST SCOTLAND CRICKET GRADES
GRADE 1
AGSFPs 319 for 4 (30 points) (A Keith 100, R Swiergon 73) Master Blasters Aberdeen 112 (9 points) (C Aggarwal 30, R Knudson 3-29, M Challa 2-10)
Knight Riders 203 for 5 (14 points) (V Amirtharaj 46, M Mohan 39, A Pewekar 2-37) Crescent 204 for 4 (30 points) (A Pewekar 77, U Qureshi 42, P Venkatesan 2-34)
Siyapa 128 (10 points) (N Ul-hassnan 57no, C Perera 3-10, M Suthanthiran 2-23) Gordonians 131 for 4 (30 points) (C Perera 34no, R Ratan 34)
Culter Curry Bon Accord 198 (30 points) (N Mirza 69no, U Khan 46, M Nadim 4-19, S Joseph 3-34) Grampian 143 (17 points) (J George 61, B Gopinathan 34, S Raja 4-27, F Awan 3-29)
infquick.com Cults 145 (13 points) (P Gundra 50, S Abassi 31, L Bain 3-32, C Watson 3-34) Inverurie Don Valley 149 for 5 (30 points) (T Norval 40, J Thom 38, A Shehman 2-20)
GRADE 3
Dunecht 147 for 7 (30 points) (P Barker 37) Huntly 137 for 8 (14 points) (M Myron-Petrie 33no, S Derrett 2-17, M Syed 2-27)
BON ACCORD CUP – Semi-finals
Portcullis 105 (J Dawson 25, S Rajapaksha 2-9, A Hague 2-13) lost by 10 wickets to Mannofield 109 for 0 (K Yahathugoda 52no, S Alawattage 39no)
Methlick 130 for 7 (A Veersema 30, M Witt 28no, C Gospel 2-7, P O’Neill 2-20) lost by 5 wickets to Fraserburgh 134 for 5 (C Bowie 62, C Gospel 32, A Veersema 2-35)
REID CUP – Semi-finals
2nd Grampian win against Stonehaven Thistle – Scratched
Banchory 199 for 5 (S Rotheram 78, R Devlin 37no) won by 44 runs against Crathie 155 for 6 (R McEwan 68, F MacLeod 36, M Herbert 3-31)
SPCU BREEDON NORTH EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Aberdeenshire 195 (25 points) (K Reid 82, R Chandu 53, J Girolami 4-50, G Garden 2-31) ion8 2nd Forfarshire 2nd XI 104 (9 points) (J Laing 30, D Gamblen 4-20, L Munro 3-28)
Gordonians 245 for 9 (25 points) (H Saraswat 79, P Wig 50, H Cooray 2-7, B Ditchman 2-41) Falkland 210 (11 points) (S Meikle 91, CNellies 30, A Arora 3-36, A Ahmed 2-26)
Stoneywood Dyce 123 (2 points) (M Reid 39, M Lambley 35, A Naeem 5-9, S Gibson 3-43) Freuchie 126 for 0 (25 points) (D Stonebridge 92no)
Arbroath 72 (1 point) (A Petrie 3-13, B Newlands 3-14) Huntly 73 for 1 (25 points) (C Whyte 40no)
Strathmore 152 (16 points) (M Simpson 39, G Hewitson 35, O Patterson 4-17) Perth Doocot 152 (16 points) (F Ali 32, A Hussain 31)
Dundee HSFPs 244 for 7 (25 points) (A Saeed 110, M Lowdon 37, M Shoaib 2-51) Kinloch 203 (10 points) (T Niazi 70, J Shah 39, A Lindsay 4-42, J Choudhray 3-39)
EASTERN PREMIER LEAGUE
Stoneywood Dyce 116 (0 points) (T Bovaird 31, L Bester 30, F Duncan 4-10, J Hogarth 4-27) ion8 Forfarshire 117 for 1 (10 points) (C Wallace 48no, M Leask 36no)
Arbroath United 260 for 5 (10 points) (M Parker 97, R McLean 95, M Rasheed 4-50) Meigle 87 (0 points) (D Salmond 3-10, C Ross 2-18)
Carlton 267 for 5 (10 points) (T Simpson 99, M Whitaker 70, L Hillis 3-52) Watsonians 130 (0 points) (OHairs 65, A Evans 3-7, A Beattie 3-33)
RH Corstorphine 25 (0 points) (D Budge 7-8, J Jarvis 2-4) Grange 27 for 2 (10 points)
Heriots 402 for 2 (10 points) (M Cross 180no, H Van Der Berg 135) Stewarts Melville 69 (0 points) (G Main 4-12)
