Gordonians kept their NE Championship title hopes alive, mainly due to a thunderous innings from Abrar Ahmed, who hit an unbeaten 97 to lift his side to a six wicket win at Countesswells in the derby game with Aberdeenshire.
Kenny Reid, the Shire captain, admitted Ahmed had been the difference between the two sides.
He said: “Had we got Abrar early on we could well have won. He had one of those days when he could do nothing wrong.
“Even when he hit it in the air, it was always well away from a fielder. It was a great knock, but our 140 was 30 or 40 short of a winning total.”
Gordonians won the toss and elected to field, with their captain, Mayank Bhandari – who took two wickets and enjoyed a stand of 66 himself – saying: “It was a good toss to win.
“I had no hesitation in asking Shire to bat. We have bowled particularly well all season. Today was no different.
“But at the end of the day it was Abrar’s magnificent innings which won the game. He was at his aggressive best.
“We are still in contention for the title, but will need someone to beat Freuchie and Falkland, while I believe we will win our three remaining games against Kinloch, 2nd Stoneywood Dyce and Strathmore.”
Joesph Horne top scored with 41 for Shire.
The game between Huntly and Strathmore was rained off, while 2nd Stoneywood Dyce could not raise a team for their game at St Andrews where they were scheduled to meet Kinloch.
In the North East Grades, Aberdeen Grammar FPs took another step towards the Grade 1 title, amassing 259 against Siyapa before bowling the visitors out for 105. Grammar’s in-form captain Rob Sweirgon hitting 53 to lead the way.
Bon Accord kept their slim hopes of catching the leaders with a 66 run win against Gordonians, while Inverurie’s chances of a top three finish all but disappeared after they lost by two wickets to Crescent.
Cults raged back to form in a run fest at the Allan Park, where they scored 266, with Master Blasters Aberdeen just failing to hunt down their total – coming up 26 runs short.
In Grade 2, the shock of the day was Mannofield losing their first game of the season in another high scoring game. The league leaders’ total of 236 was overhauled by 2nd Knight Riders with four wickets in hand.
SPCU BREEDON NORTH EAST CHAMPIONSHIP
Aberdeenshire 140 for 9 (5 points) (J Horne 41, A Das 32, M Bhandari 2-19, I Pandit 2-28) Gordonians 143 for 4 (25 points) (A Ahmed 97no, N Elliott 2-38)
Huntly v Strathmore – No Play Rain
Kinloch (25 points) Stoneywood Dyce (0 points) Match Conceded
Falkland 278 for 3 (25 points) (S Meikle 91no, E Sloan 79, P Stewart 2-48) Arbroath United 82 (3 points) (L Robertson 5-22, G Chambers 3-25)
Dundee HSFPs 76 (4 points) ion8 Forfarshire 2nd XI 77 for 5 (25 points)
Freuchie 230 for 6 (25 points) Perth Doocot 84 (4 points)
NORTH EAST SCOTLAND CRICKET GRADES
GRADE 1
Culter Curry Bon Accord 198 for 9 (30 points) (P Gopinathan 59no, S Bhatta 3-41, A Mehta 3-42) Gordonians 132 (16 points) (A Mehta 31, T Malik 4-20, S Ahmed 2-22)
Inverurie Don Valley 160 (17 points) (M Strachan 40, S Tahseen 3-25, A Toor 2-18) Crescent 161 for 8 (30 points) (U Qureshi 37, A Toor 30no, G Hadden 4-15, T Norval 3-27)
Grampian 190 for 8 (12 points) (J George 68, L Thomas 31no, S Peedikayil 2-37, P Ballal 2-38) Knight Riders 194 for 2 (30 points) (M Mohan 69, P Tenneti 51no)
infquick.com Cults 266 for 6 (30 points) (T Singh 70, A Ali 48no, B Gonsalves 2-51) Master Blasters Aberdeen 240 (16 points) (A Hashmi 36no, B Gonsalves 35, A Ajazi 4-78, G Khan 3-52)
AGSFPs 259 for 8 (30 points) (R Swiergon 53, M Nattrass 43, M Shahid 5-37, A Siddiq 2-48) Siyapa 105 (13 points) (K Qadir 43, C Mckinney 4-21, A Sood 3-25)
GRADE 2
2nd AGSFPs 158 (11 points) (L d’Costa 65no, K Vijayakrishnan 5-38, D Mitchell 3-28) Portcullis 159 for 3 (30 points) (A Philip 73no, K Vijayakrishnan 51no, H Javaid 2-14)
Mannofield 236 for 5 (16 points) (R Van Oorschot 75no, S Alawattage 40, A Waqar 2-38) 2nd Knight Riders 239 for 6 (30 points) (P Venkatesan 82, S Muhammad 52no, D Brown 2-45)
Quilter Cheviot Ellon Gordon 231 for 5 (30 points) (S Davies 72, J Barrett 62, B Webb 59, L Bowie 3-28) Fraserburgh 188 (15 points) (P O’Neill 55, C Gospel 37, J Barrett 3-38, J Roberts 2-20)
GRADE 3
Dunecht 168 for 8 (15 points) (M Witz 50, S Derrett 30no, R Chouksey 4-22, R Davis 2-45) 169 for 6 (30 points) (C Cowperthwaite 47, S Hounsome 43, K Milne 2-11, C George 2-43)
2nd Methlick 170 for 9 (30 points) (S Murphy 71, A Smith 43, L Myron-Petrie 5-25, E Henderson 2-32) Huntly 135 (16 points) (D Morrison 36, M Rehman 5-29)
Crathie 158 for 9 (30 points) (F MacLeod 60, A MacPherson 30, L Hendrikson 3-53, C Matthews 2-19) Banchory 75 (12 points) (B Slee 2-7, M Baldry 2-21)
2nd Grampian 241 (30 points) (M Nadim 78, F Thomas 54, P Hay 4-43, B Snelling 3-32) Stonehaven Thistle 228 for 6 (20 points) (N MacAulay-Dicks 70, G Bonds 39, A Rathnayake 3-36)
