Scorecard

Forfarshire 2nd XI v Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians 1st XI on Sat 13 May 2017 at 13.00
Gordonians Cricket Club Won by 7 wickets

Match report With misty drizzly conditions all the way down to McDonalds, Gordonians ate well, knowing that the day could be a write off in cricketing terms. Arriving at Forthill, they found the outfield on the slidy side of damp and moisture lurking in the air, but the umpires got the covers off and were keen to go.
A minutes silence was held before the match in memory of recent SPCU President Ian Cran, who had passed away at the end of the week after a long illness.
Arora won the toss yet again, and asked Forfs to bat. Opener Garden has always caused Gordonians problems and offered up a rare chance off the 3rd ball from Forbes. A mistimed pull went straight to Debo at square leg, and would have been comfortably caught if somebody had left Oor Wullies bucket lying around for him to stand on. As it was, he got one hand in the right place above his head, but could only palm it for 4.
Hogarth had a different approach to Garden, and was looking to scamper singles in to gaps. Having taken the score to 22, Hogarth set off on a single wide of the follow through from Himanshu, and paid the penalty as Himanshu swooped to the side and threw down the stumps at his end with Hogarth a yard short. A gift for Gordonians in the 6th over, but it brought Rennie to the crease and he found the middle of the bat from the start, taking 2 fours off Chris, who was getting nothing to happen other than bounce and carry to the keeper.
Chris was replaced by Hamza, but Rennie was equally severe taking 10 off his first over. The combination of a good pitch, fast outfield, and quality batting, meant it was pressure on to bowl dot balls, and Gordonians would have settled for the score at 59 for 1 in the 14th over, although 59 for 2 was even better as Garden snicked behind to Sree who took a stunning diving catch to send the opener back to the pavilion, a deserved wicket for Himanshu.
The surprise introduction of Miles to bowl spin brought a bonus wicket as McConnachie and Rennie made a real mess of a run, and Miles retrieved an equally scrappy bit of fielding to throw down the stumps from 5 yards, the umpire doing well to give Rennie out as his bat bounced when he tried to slide it in. With Rennie gone for 33 the scoring was going to slow down and Arora brought himself on with instant success, having Carnegie caught behind for 2. Ross played a shot at almost everything, but the wily Rane pinned him in front for 15, the total 104 for 5. Wallace relished the chance to have a bat and added 24 with McConnachie before snicking behind off Rane. 2 balls later and Arora demolished the stumps of McConnachie, Sargeant suffering the same fate 2 overs later, and then 2 overs later, Sim offered up a regulation catch to Himanshu at mid off, the total slumping to 137 for 9 in the 37th over. Robinson and Watson did well to nearly bat out the overs, but another misjudged run, saw Robinson high and dry, his 6 runs coming off 35 balls, the total a well below par 152. Arora was the only bowler to get anything sideways to happen with the ball, his 9 overs producing 4 for 18.
After an excellent tea, it was Debo and Aman to face Watson and Wallace, and it was a slow start as both bowlers cranked up the pace. Both openers were good in defence, although Debo offered up hope with the odd swish and miss, but Arora then took successive boundaries off Watson as he drifted off line. The score was on 19 when Debo snicked behind to the tidy hands of Ross. Watson followed up this wicket taking over by going for 14 off his next, Abrar and Aman prospering as Watson strayed off line again. Abrar then crashed Wallace down the ground for a classic boundary, only to be undone by a shorter delivery as he edged behind for 11.
Hamza was straight in to textbook defence as both bowlers kept it tight. Arora had looked in ominous form but fell LBW to Wallace for 24, the score now 52 for 3. Any nerves that Himanshu may have had were settled by a loose over from Watson, allowing him to middle a couple of boundaries, and then Hamza joined the party, dispatching Wallace high over point for what was to be the only 6 of the match.
Both batsmen were now totally in charge, playing each ball on merit and equally happy to accumulate singles or to watch the ball rattle to the boundary. Hamza bisected a close offside field for a 4 driven all along the ground, a flawless shot, and probably shot of the day. Garden has so often ripped the heart out of a Gordonians innings, but he wasn't finding the right length as Hamza tucked in to 3 boundaries off an over to take him to 46. With no individual scores on the scorebox, Himanshu hadn't read the script, and proceeded to latch on to a loose over from Hogarth, winning the match by hitting 3 boundaries to close on 47 not out, neither able to get the 50 they so richly deserved. They had added 102 in marginally over 15 overs, and who knows what the score may have been if they had kept going.
This was the best performance of the season from Gordonians but they still have a lot left in the tank on all fronts.

Forfarshire 2nd XI Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
4w 5b 2lb 
for 10 wickets
11
152 (44.1 overs)		     
G Garden ct  Saraswat 21 59 43 3 48.84
J Hogarth Run out  8 22 10 80.0
R Rennie Run out  33 60 42 6 78.57
C McConnachie b  Arora 30 78 68 3 44.12
G Carnegie ct  Arora 2 9 9 22.22
F Ross lbw  Rane 15 26 19 2 78.95
A Wallace ct  Rane 8 15 13 1 61.54
M Sargeant b  Arora 5 8 6 1 83.33
L Robinson Run out  6 30 35 1 17.14
J Sim ct  Arora 4 3 4 1 100
M Watson Not Out  9 19 16 1 56.25

Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Chris A R Forbes6.112400.003.89
Himanshu Saraswat9.0223123.002.56
Hamza Arshad7.003200.004.57
Gareth Miles5.002100.004.20
Aman Arora9.031844.502.00
Swapnil Rane8.0127213.503.38

Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
12w 5b 4lb 
for 3 wickets
21
154		        
Debojyoti Barman ct  Watson 5 17 19 26.32
Aman Arora lbw  Wallace 24 52 36 4 66.67
Abrar (AB) Ahmed ct  Wallace 11 12 9 2 122.22
Hamza Arshad Not Out  46 81 64 6 1 71.88
Himanshu Saraswat Not Out  47 58 46 7 102.17 1 1
Swapnil Rane  
Praful Pant  
Mayank S Bhandari  
Gareth Miles   2
Chris A R Forbes  
Sree Devadas   3

Forfarshire 2nd XI Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
M Watson8.0044144.005.50
A Wallace9.0029214.503.22
C McConnachie3.001300.004.33
G Garden5.013200.006.40
J Hogarth3.502700.007.04

  • Umpire :
    Roy Pearson And Andy McAulay
  • Scorer :
    PAUL GREY