After the previous week’s woeful batting performance against Kemnay Kintore (41 a.o.), Grenades offered up a similarly lamentable performance against bottom of the table Crathie at Rubislaw on Saturday.
Grenades lined up M Barker (c), J Eagles, B Frizzell, M Garratt, V Khandari, B Manogna, S Mountain, D Russell (w), K Whyte, M Blues and S Ismail.
Winning the toss, Barker chose to bat first, hoping to give his team some time in the middle to recover their form, against an attack who had failed to bowl the opposition out this season.
Despite looking relatively comfortable early on, wickets began to tumble and 42 for 3 became 63 all out, the final 6 batsmen averaging 1, as Bestwick (6 for 18) rifled through the middle and lower order, ably assisted by Slee (4 for 17).
Barker (19) and Whyte (18) were the Grenade’s top scorers, but both will be disappointed not to have made more.
After tea, the Grenades attempted to defend their small total with the knowledge that Crathie have been bowled out for less this term.
Despite a slippery astro surface, the bowlers kept their feet well and bowled accurately and with pace. The Crathie openers, Cunningham and Bell, looked far from comfortable, but without the need to push hard for runs they dug in and blocked, scoring at just above 1 an over for much of the innings.
Eventually the scoring rate upped a little and a few wickets fell too, Whyte picking up a couple for figures of 2 for 8. Ultimately though, Crathie were able to bring home a win by six wickets and condemn the Grenades to a place in the bottom three of Grade 2.
