Scorecard

Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians 1st XI v Kelso on Sun 23 Jul 2017 at 13.00
Gordonians Cricket Club Won by 7 wickets

Match report Rarely has the weather forecast been checked as often as it was with the visit of Kelso. If Kelso had reached Aberdeen and the game had not been finished, then Gordonians would have faced a trip to Kelso, and with a weakened side. As torrential rain battered down at 8am, and with the Kelso bus due to leave at 8.30am, the pressure was on to make the call as to whether the game should be on or off. All the stress could have been avoided with one simple call to our resident expert on all matters metereological. Rane-raincast is free and 90% accurate, and duly predicted the rain would relent and we had nothing to be concerned about. Sure enough, the rain stopped and the outfield dried up, and play started a mere 15 minutes late.
The effects of a big night out in Kelso were evident as Greg Davidson appeared out of the Kelso minibus clutching a pillow, and looking every inch a tail ender for the day. He rather bravely opened with the more experienced and evidently healthier Dougie Wilson, with Wilson carving the first ball from Forbes wide of point for 4 to get Kelso off to a great start.
They continued to pick off quick singles and took the score to 31 before Himanshu bowled Wilson with the exact same ball that had deceived Ferguson of Perth the day before. The Kelso overseas amateurs were due in at 3 and 4, and McMahon proved to be a bit of a whippet between the stumps, aided by Davidson who was looking fitter by the minute. The score had moved on to 48 after 13 overs, and rather than bowl out Forbes and Saraswat, Arora elected for a double change to the bowling attack. This brought an instant reward as Chamila induced an edge from McMahon which was expertly gobbled up by Himanshu at slip. The next over from Chamila delivered the next breakthrough as Davidson got a thin tickle behind to Mayank, Davidson making it easy for the umpire as he tucked his bat under his arm and headed off to complete his recovery.
Not to be outdone, Rane brought Himanshu in to action again, this time superbly grabbing on to a full blooded edge from Eckard at slip. 53 for 4 in the 16th over, and Gordonians totally in control. A bit of rebuilding was required, and Grindell and Roberts took Kelso through the drinks break, Roberts feeling refreshed enough to whack Rane for a 6.
With the score on 74, Chamila speared a beauty through the defences of Grindell, hitting the off bail with such precision that it had to be retrieved from close to the boundary. 74 for 5 soon became 74 for 7 and 77 for 9, as Rane proved too good for the Kelso lower order. Baird took a liking to an over from Abrar, cracking him for a 6, but the flurry of activity didn't last long as Misha had Baird caught behind with his 4th ball, and Kelso were all out for 90 in the 31st over.
The rather rapid end to the innings meant all the hot food was far from hot, so it was a leisurely tea break, and a chance for the Kelso boys to take some liquids onboard.
Kelso opened the bowling with the spin of Eckard, and the Gordonians openers gave him the respect he deserved. Having opened the batting, Davidson got out his long run up and opened the bowling, and if he strayed in length, Hamza was quick to punish it. 4 delicious boundaries from Hamza showed he was in the mood, but a slight bit of mistiming and he offered up a simple catch to Baird, gone for 18. With no pressure to chase a big score, Richards gave another exhibition of how to play the forward defensive shot, Arora unable to match him as he managed to give Eckard a return catch with the score on 26. Himanshu made a steady start, but with drizzle in the air, calculator apps on phones appeared, and the batsmen had to be careful that they didn't fall behind the run rate, and have victory snatched from them by the rules of competition.
Callum Davidson opened his spell of spin bowling with a maiden, but Himanshu got the long handle out and smashed him for a 6 to add some impetus to proceedings. Having safely got ahead of the required rate, it was steady accumulation again, although a rare mistake from Richards saw him caught off Baird for a solid 18. Debo joined Himanshu, and 7 overs later they had brought up the necessary 91 to win, Himanshu adding a flurry of boundaries to end unbeaten on 32.
The other semi final between Strathmore and Irvine was rained off, so Gordonians will have to wait to see who they will face at Uddingston on the 13th August, as they look to go for a hat trick of victories in the CS Challenge Cup.

Kelso Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
13w 6lb 
for 10 wickets
19
90 (30.4 overs)		     
D Wilson b  Saraswat 11 1
G Davidson ct  Perera 19
S McMahon ct  Perera 9
M Eckard ct  Rane 2
B Grindell b  Perera 4
T Roberts ct  Rane 13 1
C Davidson b  Rane 0
L Baird ct  Singh 11 1
M Mason st  Rane 1
R Cooke b  Rane 0
P Lwalor Not Out  1

Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Chris A R Forbes7.003400.004.86
Himanshu Saraswat6.0011111.001.83
Chamila N Perera8.04632.000.75
Swapnil Rane8.022254.402.75
Abrar (AB) Ahmed1.001000.0010.00
Misha Singh0.40111.001.50

Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
6w 2lb 
for 3 wickets
8
91		        
Hamza Arshad ct  G Davidson 18 22 21 4 85.71
Aman Arora ct  Eckard 5 34 32 15.62
Sandy Richards ct  Baird 18 59 46 1 39.13
Himanshu Saraswat Not Out  32 72 46 3 1 69.57 2
Debojyoti Barman Not Out  10 24 31 32.26
Abrar (AB) Ahmed  
Mayank S Bhandari   2 1
Chamila N Perera  
Misha Singh   1
Swapnil Rane  
Chris A R Forbes  

Kelso Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
M Eckard8.04818.001.00
G Davidson8.0027127.003.38
C Davidson7.213100.004.23
B Grindell1.00700.007.00
L Baird5.0111111.002.20
T Roberts1.00500.005.00

  • Umpire :
    Steve Scott and willie fergusun
  • Scorer :
    Paul grey