Methlick 2nds vs Stoneywood Dyce 29_06_2024
Methlick 2nds were at Lairds on Saturday, hosting Stoneywood Dyce. A last minute scramble to get a full team out, plus last minute call offs meant Deni Sarafimoski as skipper wasn't sure what team would be out. In the end Methlick had 9 men on the field.
Losing the toss, Methlick were invited to field 1st. Without any 1st choice bowlers, Deni decided to open the bowling himself alongside Bryan Carr. Both bowlers started tidily, and in only the 3rd over of the day Robertson was caught by Bryan at mid-on off Deni’s wider ball! Methlick consolidated the good start in the next over as Bryan saw his bowl cut to point where Dod Duncan took a stunning one-handed catch, diving to his right. Two overs later Bryan trapped Lambley LBW for only 1, to make Dyce 13 for 3 off 8 overs, Methlick had made a great start. Bryan and Deni bowled well in tandem and kept the scoring low. Murad with 3 from 11 balls was clean bowled by Bryan as he looked to hit out.
Dauth, who turned out to be MoM by a distance, started to hit regular boundaries aĺl around the ground off both the opening bowlers. This saw Ross Moir replace Deni from the pavilion end and Dod Duncan running in at the river end, both bowling tidily, even slowing Dauth down. In his 3rd over Dod saw the youngster Fraser caught behind the stumps as a slower ball was miss-timed and the ball looping gently into Dave Chalmers’ gloves. Dauth was looking to hit out now and got a big nick off Dod’s bowling which was past wicketkeeper's ear and would have been an easy take if a 1st slip had been in place, with only 9 players on the field it wasn't an option. Sarda had joined Dauth and after a circumspect start he took a liking to Gavin Hunter's loopy off spin.
Sam French, making his first Methlick appearance for a while, replaced Dod, at the river end. He immediately found a good line and length with good pace. In his 3rd over he got the wicket of dangerman Dauth, immediately after being struck for 4 through mid-wicket, he tempted Dauth again, but this time gained a faint nick, Dave took a simple chance behind the stumps. Dauth made 58 off only 60 balls and this ended up being the critical innings of the game. Brophy was next in and he took to Gavin's bowling, seeing him removed from the attack replaced by Brian Anderson. He was the next batter to succumb to Sam, who had him caught by Brian at mid-on. Swan and Sarda were now at the crease for Stoneywood and Sam and Brian gained a degree of control. Sarda was run out for 26 as he failed to make his ground, Deni’s quick thinking and throw from mid-off beating him. Deni came back on to bowl, replacing Brian and immediately got the wicket of Kesireddy, a sharp caught and bowled. Sam bowled the 40th over to close the innings on 163 for 9. Methlick’s bowlers put in a great performance, backed up well in the field, and some excellent catches taken.
In reply, Dave Chalmers and Ross Moir, opening together for the 1st time this season, started cautiously, only 2 runs coming off the bat in the 1st 5 overs. Dave got his first boundary via a pull past deep square leg, but in attempting to repeat the stroke was caught on the mid-wicket boundary by Dauth for 9. Dod Duncan joined Ross in the 11th over and immediately sought to increase the run rate. In similar fashion to Dave, after striking one boundary, found a fielder in the deep next ball, caught out for 6. Sam French replaced Dod at the crease, with Ross looking to make a lengthy stay at the crease, without troubling the scorer greatly, the onus was on the other batters to maintain the required run-rate. Sam was clean bowled by Sinha, bringing the skipper to the crease, Deni immediately getting into his stride with a flurry of boundaries, with Ross now hitting some boundaries too, the target was possible. Bruce Davidson, the Stoneywood skipper, came on to replace Fraser, the youngster having bowled very well, to steady the run rate. With Dauth now bowling from the river end, scoring opportunities dried up and after a few overs of few runs Deni felt he had to strike out, he only succeeded in being caught at mid-on by Kesireddy off the bowling of Dauth for 21 at a decent strike rate of 67.7. Bryan Carr was next joining Ross at the crease, the win now beyond Methlick, maximising batting points was the focus. They took the game into the 37th over before Ross finally succumbed, clean bowled by Swan, for 20 runs, facing 118 balls and so nearly carrying his bat throughout the Methlick innings, a fantastic effort. Brian Anderson, got off the mark with a single, but was adjudged LBW, soon afterwards for only one run. Bryan Carr was still batting aggressively until he was caught Dauth off the bowling of Davidson for 18 runs. Nick Hyde made his way, slowly to the crease to face the last ball of the innings only to be clean bowled by Bruce Davidson, a worthy effort by Nick.
Methlick made 113 for 8, which was all out as it was a nine man team, it was a good effort all around by the diminished side. Sam was a great find, hopefully he can make more appearances, Ross put in a monumental shift in batting for so long and generally it was a good team performance. If we can field a full team we can compete and gain more points and even a win.
By Dave Chalmers