http://backend.userland.com/rss092 http://www.portculliscc.co.uk/feeds/ Latest results from Portcullis Cricket Club, Aberdeen, Scotland Copyright: (C) Portcullis Cricket Club, Aberdeen, Scotland. See http://www.portculliscc.co.uk/feeds/conditions.php en-gb http://www.portculliscc.co.uk/images/portcullis.jpg http://www.portculliscc.co.uk 160 120 Portcullis Cricket Club, Aberdeen, Scotland Stephen Hall http://www.portculliscc.co.uk/showGame.php?gameID=183 There were no chants of "Stupid Boy!" around Duthie Park on Saturday as Portcullis resoundingly didn't panic and recorded their sixth win of their season. Recent recruit James Pike, opening the bowling, took his first wickets for the team as Huntly Highlanders were held to a modest score which was chased down with what turned out to be relative ease. The last game of the season had an anti climactic air for both teams as essentially it was a dead rubber. Nevertheless some players on both sides had points to prove and when the Huntly openers added 101 for the first wicket a large total seemed in prospect. That it was not to be was initially down to James Pike. After an indifferent first over he settled into a good line and length and beat the bat on occasion. It was not until a change of ends however that he snared his first wicket having the opener S Hayman caught sharply at cover by the skipper. Shortly after he cleaned up the Huntly top scorer M Hayman (44) with a beautiful yorker that knocked back middle and off. After that the Huntly scoring rate stagnated and Captain Nair, in a rare moment of inspired comedic genius, decided to give everybody in the team an over. Old Man Adie came on and picked up a quick wicket when the batsman came charging down the pitch to a floaty full toss only to under edge it back onto his stumps. As everyone looked away in disbelief it was hard to know if the bowler or the batsman was the more embarrassed. A comedy over from Davie Elrick followed which was by far the most entertaining of the day. Sadly it will mainly be remembered for keeper Collinson dropping an absolute dolly and earning the lasting enmity of the bowler who will probably never be trusted with the ball again and rightly so. Despite the joke bowling the Huntly boys couldn't cope with the lack of pace and ended on 164 for 5 off their 46. After a final burst from Mrs Falconers sandwich factory (outstanding all season it must be said)the reply got underway. Play positively was the instruction and openers Ronnie and Ranjan duly obliged with a flurry of early hitting to put the pressure on Huntly right from the start. Rajnan, who has batted well all season, hit 28 and the next several wickets all contributed well. Bob Adie, promoted to number three after he threatened to increase the match fee, displayed some true grit in hitting 17, the skipper hit 19 and Kannan top scored with 33. Ruari Collinson, desperate to make up for his earlier drop, hit a career best 19 to take Portcullis over the line. Conclusive proof that you don't need a backlift to score runs. Our last game next Saturday before the winter hibernation begins should be an entertaining friendly down in the unknowns of Dunfermline. Tickets available now. All together now "The wheels on the bus go round and round....." http://www.portculliscc.co.uk/showGame.php?gameID=189 http://www.portculliscc.co.uk/showGame.php?gameID=181 Portcullis let slip a golden chance to inflict a rare defeat on league leaders KnightRiders at Sheddocksley on Saturday. Despite an excellent bowling performance the batting came a cropper as the Knight Riders hit the turbo boost and blew the Cullis batting away with time to spare. Captain Kris continued his excellent form with the coin and put the Knight Riders into bat on a lovely day at the Shed. Even the bikers were absent at the start and with no engines revving to distract him Kris was soon into his stride uprooting opener Kannans stumps for 6. He also took out their number three soon after as Dobey, opening at the other end, was busy trying to figure out how to bowl into the wind. The cunning spin of Nitin replaced him and he went onto pick up 2 wickets. Bowling performance of the day went,narrowly,to Mohammad Bari. Returning for this fixture he bowled a mixture of swing and spin and picked up 4 for 19 as he mopped up the Knights lower order. Bowling the leaders our for 122 in 39 overs was a big achievement and at half time hopes were high of a shock result. Even the quick departure of last weeks top scorer Ranjan, for 5, did not appear too much of a concern. Slowly though wickets began to fall and things went awry when Kris was caught for 21. Nitin fought valiantly and hit five fours in his 27 not out but he got little support from the tail as the Cullis innings folded for 86. An unfortunate end to the day after such a bright start. Credit though should go to the bowlers who played well and the fielding. Dave Forbes lived up to his name and took a souper catch under the helmet off Nitin and Collinson Jnr (fielding in the outfield - hungover perhaps?) took an excellent sharp catch at midwicket. Next weeks game against Stoneywood now takes on greater importance. A maximum effort is needed troops!! Maidment!! Maidment!! Wherefore art thou Maidment??? http://www.portculliscc.co.uk/showGame.php?gameID=180 Portcullis, led by magnificent batting performance by Ranjan Sahoo (87*) managed a draw in a high scoring game in Shedoksley against a strong Manofield side.Captain Nair won the toss elected to field.Nair and Dobey opened the bowling for portcullis with Nair taking the first wicket of M.Zanre for 2.Opening spell was tight and was well supported by N Shetty the first change bowler who replaced Nair.Runs was hard to come by and Manofield were 38 for 1 in first 20 overs.But after the fall of second wicket Manofield Grade 1 player S.Rane came in and started playing his natural game and runs started to flow which was helped by some sloppy fielding from Portcullis side.Rane virutally took the momentum towards the Manofield side. Shetty grabbed the price wicket of Rane who was brilliantly caught at long on by K.Vijaykrishnan for 30 . Portcullis looked like coming back into the game after the wicket of Rane as they managed to tighten the bowling and score were 118 for 3 in 32 overs.But the last 14 overs gave away 88 runs, helped by the batting of Irfan (68) and A Gowda (55*). Manofield innings finally ended on 206 for7 in 46 overs.Nair and Shetty took 3 and 2 wickets for portcullis respectively. In reply portcullis start was shaky with loss of an early wicket .But Sahoo who kept his nerves displayed an innings of great maturity .He paced his innings nicely and played sensibility by taking only calculated risks.He had two 50 wicket partnerships with captain Nair (29) and later on K Vijaykrishnan (33*) which laid the foundation of Portcullis fight back.Protcullis innings finally ended on 177 for the loss of 4 wickets with Sahoo and Vijaykrishnan both remained unbeaten.Although the bowling was disappointing the batting performance has certainly lifted the morale of the team as team is approaching the end of season.