Scorecard

Meigle XI v Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians Sunday XI on Sun 18 Sep 2016 at 13.00
Gordonians Cricket Club Won By 4 wickets

Match report Just when you thought the season was over, a rearranged league match away to Meigle went ahead thanks to the work of their groundstaff. A lack of juniors and the usual call offs gave McCabe selection problems, and resulted in a debut for Praful Pant, Mayank taking the keeping gloves, and a very reluctant club secretary hunting out his whites. It was glorious sunshine when we left Aberdeen but not quite so summery at Meigle with a stiff breeze focused almost exclusively up and down the pitch. Meigle batted first and Clark got stuck in to a loose opening over from Russon. Porter opened at the other end with the wind behind, and this may have contributed as Clark didn't get the middle on a pull shot, Aayush Das making the catch look simple, the danger man gone for 8. Russon then settled down to deliver a fairly repetitive string of balls that nipped past the outside edge, and it was no surprise when he bowled Douglas for 2. Neave was looking in ominous form as he smacked a short ball from Porter for 6, but this was a rarity as Porter continues to improve his good to bad ball ratio. Ben Mills took over with the wind behind and Neave showed no mercy as he tanked another 6 over leg. The patient Dickson was bowled by Dalgarno in his first over and a calm piece of fielding saw Neave run out for 23, an unusual misjudgement from the experienced all rounder. With the first team players out of the way, Gordonians hoped they could settle down to a bit of bowling practice, but Warren Sutherland hadn't read the script and hit his first ball for 6. He was severe on anything short, or indeed over pitched, peppering the leg side boundary on a regular basis. Mills was unlucky not to take the wicket of young Edington as a conflagration of catchers resulted in Porter taking responsibility for the resulting spillage. Whilst young Mills went for 36 off his 5 overs, if you strip away the boundaries, it was pretty much a succession of dot balls. Aayush Das bowled 3 maidens in his 5 over spell, his figures looking very respectable despite Sutherland taking 14 off one over. An excellent first over from McCabe was followed by an absolute pasting from Sutherland who used his feet to great effect, before using the middle of the bat to even greater effect. Vibesh came on and concerningly served up an early collection of wides, but having got his compass in to line he bowled out Sutherland for a swashbuckling 73 which included five 6's and seven 4's. Pant came in to attack and brought the innings to a conclusion with a tidy spell of 3 for 12, Meigle totalling 165 in the 40th over.
The Gordonians reply didn't start well with Vibesh edging Croll low to slip without scoring. Aayush demonstrated some perfect defence but loose balls were reserved for Pant at number 3, who clicked almost everything on his legs to the boundary. A low incutter from Croll bowled Aayush for 3, possibly the first time he hadn't moved his feet at all. Mayank and Praful then proceeded to play excellently taking the score in to the 70's before Praful repeated the Aayush dismissal, failing to move his feet to the bowling of Neave, gone for 44. Ben Mills hit a well timed drive for 2 and got in line well before playing over the top of a ball from Bruce. Mayank and Neil Smith then took control, although it was unfortunate that Smith had left his square cut at home, playing and missing umpteen times. Mayank smashed the original tracer bullet of a shot to cover, unfortunate to pick out the left hand of Edington, fortunate for Edington that it wasn't at his face or he would have worn the crease mark. The ball looped gently up and found it's way to the ground at the feet of Edington who hardly knew where the ball had been. What looked like an easy 2 to young Josh Edington proved the downfall of Mayank, who was quite rightly sent back by Smith, getting his bat stuck in the ground as he tried to slide it to safety, run out for 44. Russon looked confident until Neave rattled his off stump, and Dalgarno joined Smith with 26 needed off 6 overs. 4 tight overs meant it was 15 to win off 2. Dalgarno had tried to play proper shots but was lacking timing so he just resorted to having a swing. 8 off an over from the otherwise miserly Clark saw the next man in, Porter, display total confidence in those at the crease, as he removed his helmet and proclaimed the game in the bag. Smith didn't disappoint as he flicked Gilkes to leg for 4 and easily picked up a 2 to win the match with 3 balls to spare.
This is what Sunday cricket should be, with all bar one player batting or bowling, and the game going to the wire. The day will also be remembered for the Mayank Meigle trouser trouble mystery, as his trousers (hopefully he has another pair) vanished from the dressing room.

Meigle XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 14w 3b 1lb 
for 10 wickets
19
165 (39.2 overs)		     
C Clark ct  Porter 8 1
C Dickson b  Mills 6
A Douglas b  Russon 2
A Neave Run out  23 1 2
J Eddington b  McCabe 5
W Sutherland ct  Ravindran 73 7 5
F Barron ct  Pant 18 1
D Gilkes ct  Pant 0
G Croll st  Pant 8 1
P Bruce ct  Raviindran 0
B Eddington Not Out  2

Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians Sunday XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Mike Russon5.0216116.003.20
Ian Zz_Porter5.0118118.003.60
Stuart Dalgarno5.01616.001.20
Ben Mills5.003600.007.20
Aayush zz_Das5.031800.003.60
Jamie Zz_McCabe5.0042142.008.40
V Zz_K5.001326.502.60
Praful Pant4.201234.002.77

Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians Sunday XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
1nb 8w 12b 1lb 
for 6 wickets
22
166		        
Aayush zz_Das b  Croll 3 1
V Zz_K ct  Croll 0 1
Praful Pant b  Neave 44 9 1
Mayank S Bhandari Run out  44 4 1
Ben Mills b  Bruce 2 1
Neil Zz_Smith Not Out  35 4 1
Mike Russon b  Neave 6 1 1
Stuart Dalgarno Not Out  8
Ian Zz_Porter  
Jamie Zz_McCabe  
Paul Gray  

Meigle XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
D Gilkes4.312800.006.22
G Croll8.011326.501.62
C Dickson5.013000.006.00
A Neave8.0024212.003.00
P Bruce4.0020120.005.00
J Edington3.002200.007.33
C Clark7.011900.002.71