2XI Methlick vs 2XI Gordonians
Methlick 2nds hosted Gordonians on Sunday in the Reid Cup , the 2nd game of the weekend for Lairds, which was in remarkably good condition after a torrid spring. The ground was a credit to the grounds team, led by Neil Grant. Gordonians won the toss and opted to bat 1st on a firm pitch which would prove tricky as the game progressed. Fraser Grant opened from the river end, but was a bit wayward in conceding a six over the short boundary and a few wides, he settled down in subsequent overs. In 20:20 every boundary can be crucial so it was good to see skipper Lewis Crutchfield open from the scorehut end tightly. Methlick were struggling to contain Gordonians openers, an experienced pair, until Lewis made the breakthrough in his 3rd over as Deni Sarafimofski, keeping, took a catch as Kirodian could only sky an attempted pull shot straight up. Yarsani now joined Gollokola at the crease on 38 off the first 5 overs. Brian Carr replaced Fraser and with pace off the ball, a long boundary for right handers, and accurate line and length,, the scoring rate slowed and Methlick regained a degree of control. Grant Cordiner came on at the river end as Fraser bowled out his 4 overs allocation, and immediately made an impact, 4 off the 1st ball, clean bowled Yarsani for 7 ball 2. The next over saw Carr bowl Gollokola for 19 runs which would turn out to be the highest score of the day. Cordiner kept the momentum going by taking a lovely caught and bowled to remove Seenivasan for only 1, conceding only a single from the 10th over. Carr was restricting scoring opportunities too and trapped Chouksey for only 3. A maiden next up from Cordiner was keeping the pressure on the city men. Carr bowled out ending on 2 for 18 from his 4 overs, commendable effort. Cordiner also bowled out, but in an eventful final over conceded 10 runs, but bowling Durward for 3. Gordos were now on 75 for 6 off 15 overs and Methlick were looking to restrict the total to double figures.
Ross Moir was the next bowler used as Lewis rotated the attack to find the 5th 4 overs, unfortunately Ross was a bit loose and conceded 20 from his 2. David Low, the young tyro, came on at the scorehut end and bowled very tidily, trapping Hownsohn LBW for 8 in his 1st over and a caught and bowled in his 2nd. Lewis returned at the river end and in his final over bowled Mir for a useful 14 runs. Gordos finished on 111 for 9 off their 20 overs, probably 20 runs too much from the Methlick perspective. The 21 extras conceded could end up being important, as it would transpire.
After a quick break on a warm day, Cordiner and Alasdair Smith opened the reply with a fast start required. Smith took 6 Shaikh's first over with a four punched over mid on the early highlight. Methlick reached 21 before losing two wickets in the same over, Smith was bowled on 17 by Gollakota and Fraser Grant run out attempting a tight 2nd run. Deni was caught and bowled on 1, Lewis struggled to get going and was bowled for 1, Methlick were struggling to maintain the required run rate. Dod Duncan was the next man in, but even he struggled initially as ball wasn't coming onto the bat. Grant was bowled, leaving a ball which gripped the surface considerably to surprise of the batter who made 8. Carr joined Duncan and the pair tried to attack, but Brian was caught at short mid on for 2, Ross Moir completed a bad day at the office, caught 2 balls later for a duck. The Methlick cause was now lost as Ryan Lindsay joined Duncan and he lost his middle stump, bowled Chouksey for 2. Dave Chalmers tried to put pressure on the fielders but lost the race and was run out for a duck. David Low was last man in as Dod struck some lusty blows in hitting only the 2nd and 3rd boundaries of the Methlick innings. Low was bowled by Shaikh for a duck and the Methlick innings closed on only 51 runs, using only 17 overs.
It was a disappointing performance from the 2nds, not enough control with the ball early in the Gordos innings and never up with the run rate in their own innings as tight bowling really restricted scoring opportunities. Thanks must go to Phil Cox, ex-player, now occasional umpire for sponsoring the match ball.
By
Dave Chalmers