The day dawned grey and cheerless, Aberdeen seemingly twinned with Mordor for the day. Unfortunately the standard of cricket played by Grammar 2nd XI did little to raise the temperature, going down as they did by 6 wickets to a determined Portcullis team.
The win was all the more disappointing as the Grammar team was being heralded by many as the strongest they’d seen in recent years. The line-up included a number of current 1st XI players and read thus; Clelland (wk), Mantha, MacDonald, Mohanan, Whyte, Barker (vc), Campbell, S. Knudson, Stuart, Devendran (c) and Gopal.
Grammar batted first, with Clelland and Mantha at the top of the order. Both players opened their accounts with boundaries and looked to be playing well but unfortunately Clelland was teased into playing at a wide one and was well caught off the bowling of Mitchell for 8.
Mantha hung on until the 7th over but was out LBW to Farooq who was bowling well, varying his line and pace with great control.
MacDonald had entered the fray in place of Clelland and made it through to the 10th over before becoming Farooq’s second victim, caught behind for 6. To the crease came Whyte, the swashbuckling hero of so many Grammar innings, looking to steady the ship. He was bowled first ball by Farooq.
Vice-Captain Barker and Mohanan were now at the crease and after a 100 run partnership against Ellon a few weeks ago hope flamed anew. Unfortunately the steady approach of Barker, whilst enabling him to stay in for the next 5 overs, did not bring any runs to the partnership and he was out LBW to Mitchell for an extended duck.
Mohanan stayed around a bit longer and made 14, but was caught off the bowling of Raj in the 17th over, the score a dire 45 for 6.
The Portcullis players were naturally overjoyed by the turn of events and were on top of things in the field despite a clear reluctance to stop the ball with anything other than a foot. However, a dashing innings from Mike “Cream of Tomato” Campbell delayed the celebrations for a little while as he scored an assured 40 not out.
He was assisted by sterling cameos from Stuart (7) and Captain Devendran (12) who hit a big six over mid-on before being given out caught behind to Mitchell. Stuart was bowled by Qureshi along with Knudson who unfortunately joined Whyte and Barker in the duck parade whilst Gopal held on for a couple of overs before being bowled by Farooq for 1.
A look at the score board revealed that Grammar had fallen for 114, a score that would prove difficult to defend.
Undeterred and with fires blazing in their stomachs, not to mention a tidy amount of sandwiches, the Grammar team set an attacking field and went to work. Whyte marked his run-up, cruised up to the crease and unleashed a beautiful ball which uprooted which took the outside of opener Padmaraj’s bat and flew smoothly into a delighted Clelland’s gloves. The crowd went wild, 0 for 1!
With dangerman Farooq at the wicket, the Grammar lads piled on the pressure. Whyte and fellow opener Campbell were making the ball move and passing the bat, until… success, Whyte had Farooq pinned LBW in front of middle stump, 10 for 2. Game on!
Khan hit a couple of boundaries but Campbell (4-0-14-1) was finding his line and length and had him LBW before too long, 22 for 3. The Grammar high-5’s were gaining velocity and the team were becoming increasingly vocal.
Knowing that Mitchell was the only remaining batsmen with a big score this season the bowling became increasingly aggressive and after facing 5 balls from Knudson (3-0-23-0) which fizzed and spat he played tamely at the worst ball of the over which looped into the waiting hands of the fielder at mid-wicket, the players held their breath, dropped! Then, two more catching chances were given by him which were again dropped by Grammar.
However, Mitchell capitalised on this and went on to make 63 n.o. supported by Brown who made an unlikely looking 19 before being trapped LBW by Devendran (6-1-24-1). Stuart (3.1-0-13-0), Mohanan (2-0-13-0) and Gopal (1-0-10-0) tried their best but were unlucky with wickets. Best of the bowling came from Whyte 11-4-18-2.
With the exception of Campbell, Grammar’s batting really wasn’t up to par and despite a valiant attempt to defend a small total the fielding could have been improved with 3 catchable chances going down.
Man of the Match: Mike Campbell for his unbeaten 40 runs and a wicket
Champagne moment: Kieran Whyte’s 1st ball wicket