Scorecard

Inverurie v Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians 2nd XI on Sun 25 Aug 2019 at 13:00
Gordonians Cricket Club Lost by wicket margin

Match report Sunday 25th August was scheduled for SCIO ACA Grades’ marquee event - Aberdeenshire Cup Final at Mannofield! An experienced Inveruire CC was defending their title against a formidable Gordonians CC. It was a perfect set up for cricket with sun beating down and no forecasts for rain. One of the surfaces used for recently concluded International matches was provided for this game and it looked like a belter for Grades standard, to say the least.

Gordonians won the toss and elected to bat first. Abrar Ahmed AKA AB and Debo Barman opened the innings for Gordos and they got off to a quick start. 24 runs accumulated in the first 3 overs with AB doing bulk of that scoring, until he was adjudged caught behind off Gary Coutts bowling for a quickfire 21! Next man Aayush Das joined Debo in the middle to continue the early momentum but Gary Coutts was using all his experience and tricks to contain the scoring. He provided a second blow when Debo was caught at point while playing his favourtie cut shot! Next batsman Indy Pandit started off cautiously and both batsmen soaked up some of the pressure by playing balls on their merit. These two batsmen built a small but steady partnership of 36 runs until Aayush was bowled by a Murali-like off-break by George Hadden which would have got many of us out! Score read 65 for 3 after 18 and it soon became 65 for 4 at the end of 19 overs when Indy was trapped LBW by Jordan Thom in his very first over! Two new batsmen Mayank Bhandari and Jamil Shaikh had a job at their hand to rebuild the innings. But that didn’t go according to the plan as Mayank was also adjudged LBW, perhaps a bit unlucky as there was an inside edge involved! With half of Gordos batters back in the dressing room and still 19 overs to play for, it was looking a bit grim. The scene became even grimmer when Kamal Rana skied one and it was pouched at mid wicket and score read 80 for 6! Next man Amith Gowda struggled to get going and ended up running himself out in 28th over. Jamil was stuck at one end and was quickly running out of partners! His usual opening bowling partner and Captain of Gordonians, Chamila Perera walked in and this time they paired up to bat together and operate in a similar way when they bowl! They complimented each other by scoring at a good rate and running very well between the wickets, especially considering combined age between them is well over 80! Jamil’s valiant effort came to an end when he returned an easy catch back to the bowler, out for 23! Chamila continued his good work for further couple of overs till he was bowled by Allan Johnston for a brilliant 27! Last 2 batsmen Amar Mirashi and Jai Bhalani are not justified at no.10 and 11 but such was the batting line up of Gordos, fortunately! They batted brilliantly and added valuable runs towards the end of the innings. Gordos posted 145 in 40 overs, a fighting total for the final!

Mannofield provided an excellent tea as expected but it was England’s ongoing heroics in Ashes 2nd test was the talking point during the break! After the break Gordos went out to defend their total and opening bowling pair of Chamila and Jamil commenced the proceedings. They were both spot-on from the word ‘go’ as they have done it numerous times in the past. Scoring rate was right on check for first 10 overs during the opening spell which produced only 15 runs but Inverurie didn’t lose a wicket! That soon changed when young spin-wizard Aayush Das was introduced into the attack and he forced Inverurie opener Scott White to play a rash shot against the spin and he was caught at mid-wicket by Amith. Second change bowler Jai Bhalani started off a bit wayward but soon after first drinks break, he found his rhythm and bowled very well in tandem with Aayush. They bowled their full quota and bagged 4 crucial wickets between them. Score read 65 for 4 after 27 overs and Inverurie needed 80 off last 18! Gordos pressed further with introduction of Mayank who made run scoring difficult for free flowing Murison and Jordan Thom. However, Inverurie had to break the shackles and they did right after the second drinks break at 30th, when they accumulated 8 runs and looked to build up the momentum from there. But reintroduction of Jamil put a stopper in that as he disturbed the stumps of Jordan in 32nd over with score at 92 for 5! Couple of expensive overs from Mayank meant it was down to experienced duo of Chamila and Jamil to defend the remaining 19 runs against Fraser and Murison in the last 3 overs! Chamila impacted straighaway by bowling Murison in 38th over for a quick 26! The following over of Jamil saw 9 runs scored because of last moment panicky overthrows, a fatal mistake by Gordos! The very last over required 6 runs to win but there was still drama left in the game. Fraser played down to sweeper cover and tried to run 2, only to fall short of ground because of an accurate throw from the deep by Mayank! 5 off 4 balls required and new batsman George Hadden played one over the extra covers for easy couple of runs! 3 off 3 balls! A leg bye down the leg side and George scampered to the other end! 2 required of 2 balls to win and just 1 required to level the score, which would seal the game for Inverurie having lost lesser number of wickets. Allan Johnston made sure of that outcome as he nudged one past mid-wicket for yet another single! Scores level and essentially Inverurie was home. Chamila duly bowled the final dot of the game, but with scores level meant Inverurie winning and retaining the Aberdeenshire Cup!

It was an extremely close game but a fitting one for a final. Close games have been the norm this summer and Aberdeen crowd was lucky to witness one such encounter. However, Gordos were unlucky not to be on the right side of the result, did someone say “Ben Stokes”, but they can be very proud of their achievements in the first season back to the top flight. It has been a season full of ups and downs but that is what made it more interesting and worth writing about. Overall Gordos played a good brand of cricket throughout the season and hopefully they will return next season with same amount of enthusiasm but perhaps with more guile and wisdom! Until then let's all stay safe and enjoy the break during the colder months and get prepared to do it all over again! Go Gordos!

Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians 2nd XI Batting
Player Name RunsMB4s6sSRCtStRo
extras
TOTAL :
2nb 1w 1b 2lb 
for 9 wickets
6
145		        
Abrar (AB) Ahmed ct G Coutts 21 3
Debojyoti zz_Barman ct G Coutts 7
Aayush zz_Das b G Hadden 14
Indy Pandit lbw J Thom 19 2
Mayank S Bhandari lbw J Thom 5 1 1
Jamil Shaikh ct A Johnston 23 1
Kamal Rana ct G Hadden 3
Amith Gowda Run out  1 1
Chamila N Perera b A Johnston 27 3
Jay Bhalani Not Out  12
Amar Mirashi Not Out  7

Inverurie Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
S White8.014400.005.50
G Coutts5.03924.501.80
F Lawrance4.002000.005.00
G Hadden8.0223211.502.88
J Thom8.031326.501.62
A Johnston7.0033216.504.71

Inverurie Batting
Player name RMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
4w 4b 5lb 
for 7 wickets
13
145 (40.0 overs)		     
M Strachan b Aayush 23
S White ct Aayush 3
C Watson ct J Bhalani 16
T Norval b J Bhalani 14
J Thom b J Shaikh 18
S Murison b Chamila 26
F Lawrance run out Mayank/AB 26
A Johnston Not Out  3
G Hadden Not Out  2
G Coutts  
J Moore  

Gordonians Cricket Club Gordonians 2nd XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
Chamila N Perera8.0221121.002.63
Jamil Shaikh8.0225125.003.12
Aayush zz_Das8.0027213.503.38
Jay Bhalani8.0220210.002.50
Mayank S Bhandari6.013300.005.50
Indy Pandit2.00900.004.50