M. Churchill. 148 Not Out. 4-19. Ellon defeated.

On a postage stamp of a pitch it was always possible that this Grade Match could produce some high scores.

Ellon 2nds won the toss and put Portcullis in to bat. And bat Portcullis did.

No Birthday celebrations for Bowser as he fell on 18, but this brought Mike Churchill to the crease and along with Andy Prentice they put together some destructive batting to take Portcullis from 37-1 to 143-2

Andy Prentice was the wicket to fall having made a very impressive half century. (54)

Dodsy came and went without scoring, while Ed Collins (23) and Grant Huitson (7) scored some quick runs to keep the score ticking over but mainly just to lend support to Mike.

Mike finished on a massive 148 Not Out as Portcullis declared at 42 overs with a handy looking score of 265-5.

Ellon 2nds lost a couple of early wickets with Grant bowling one before pulling up with injury and the other being the simplest of run outs when Adams fell leaving himself stranded.

To be fair to Ellon, at this point they could have shut up shop and tried to bat out but they were attempting to surmount the huge total until it was all but impossible.

Dodsy contributed with a caught and bowled, while Ed and Sean bowled well without reward. Ultimately Ellon fell short with some great tandem bowling from Bowser and that man Churchill picking up the wickets at regular intervals.

Ellon finished well short on 185 and Mike finished with bowling figures of 4-19 along with Bowser's 2-38.

Tuesday, 11 July, 2006