As the relatively decent weather continued it was FP 2nd’s batting which shone against Dunecht in a match played in good spirits and with excellent sportsmanship.
FPs made 267 before declaring at 42 overs giving Dunecht a target of 201 to get in order to avoid falling foul of the new 75% law. Despite a valiant knock of 86 from Derrett, Dunecht were unable to get the runs and found themselves stranded on 172-8 from their 48 overs, handing the victory to FPs by default.
Chris ‘Chalkie’ Clelland took all the plaudits for FPs with a near chanceless knock of 79 backed up with three catches and an excellent stumping (which wasn’t given) behind the sticks. Kieran Whyte was his usual efficient self with the ball in hand taking 3-27 including the vital wicket of Derrett.
FPs opened the batting with Clelland and Barker, the latter having rushed down from the clubhouse with 5 minutes to spare having watched the Lions throw away the second test against the Aussies.
Both players looked to bide their time early on however Barker was finding it difficult to deal with the bowling of Roberts, edging a number of chances to the slips. With Clelland looking secure at the other end Barker decided to chance his luck and opened up with a few heave-ho’s. Biffing his way to 35 (6×4), with a couple more dropped chances on the way, he was bowled by Derrett whilst looking to repeat the previous shot which had gone to the boundary.
MacDonald came in at 3 and demonstrated his new attacking attitude at the crease. Hitting shots around the ground he and Clelland put on 125 for the 2nd wicket. Featuring a number of boundaries including a maximum and some excellent running, MacDonald made 65 (7×4 & 1×6) before being bowled by Roberts.
With FPs on 189 for 2 the stage was set for the middle order to enjoy themselves. Clelland, clearly wanting to give the rest of his team a chance to bat, hit one to mid-off where he was caught from the bowling of Roberts. His knock of 79 featured eight boundaries and numerous well taken singles. He was solid in attack and defence, offering virtually no chances prior to his dismissal and formed the bedrock for the FP’s innings.
With Mohanan and Campbell at the crease the scoring rate went up a notch, Campbell in particular looking to make up for lost time, hitting two big sixes along with a few fours. He made 38 in the blink of an eye before the Dunecht keeper took a great catch, Campbell having nicked one from Roberts.
The score had been pushed along to a very healthy 243 for 4 and with two overs to go Whyte and Mohanan added the last few runs to the score with some well-timed boundaries. Mohanan was eventually caught and bowled by Curry with Whyte caught in the deep after hitting a shot into the lower stratosphere, the fielder grabbing it on his 2nd attempt.
Samani faced the last ball of the 42nd over, scoring 2 from it to make his strike rate 200% and the final FP’s score 267 for 6 (dec). Pick of the Dunecht bowlers was Roberts with 3-69.
With a big target to defend FP’s opted for a relatively attacking field to Whyte as he opened the bowling from the Rugby Stand End. Despite the best efforts of the batsmen to nick one through to the keeper no wicket fell until the 9th over. Whyte, clearly bored of repeatedly beating the bat on the outside, sent down a straight one which had Milne trapped LBW.
With the score 34-1 Derrett and Scott hung around for 11 overs but could only add 37 runs to the total. Scott eventually went for 12, well caught behind the stumps by Clelland from the bowling of Captain Devendran.
The incoming Donald pushed the score along with a brisk 20 before being caught behind by Clelland, this time from the bowling of Eagles with his usual deadly control and spin.
Merryweather (6) and Degabriele (9) came and went for Dunecht, Merryweather out LBW to a quicker one from Campbell and Degabriele clean bowled by Eagles. At 139-5 it was looking dire for the out of towners, still 62 runs short of losing by the 75% rule. Their ray of light was Derrett who was still hanging in and now proceeded to push their total into the 150’s.
Seeing the danger and with an inspired piece of Captaincy, Devendran brought back Whyte for his second spell. Cunningly, Whyte threw down a wide with his first ball, lulling Derrett into a false sense of security before drawing the edge with his next ball which sailed comfortably through to the welcoming gloves of Clelland. The crowd went mad, or it might have been a flock of seagulls, either way it was a cracking piece of bowling.
With 8 overs to go and dark clouds looming, FPs rushed through the rest of the innings, sprinting to their marks in a highly energetic manner. Despite the rapid over rate there was still time for two more wickets, first Nicol bowled by Whyte for 10, then Burns who made 3 before being caught from the bowling of Devendran. Roberts finished 9 n.o.
With Dunecht having used up all their overs without making 75% of FP’s score, the justly deserved victory went to the Rubislaw men. A very strong batting performance was backed up by expert fielding and some controlled bowling. Whyte finished on 3-27, Mohanan 0-32 (he deserved a wicket), Devendran 2-35, Eagles 2-45 and Campbell 1-30.
It was an excellent team performance and FPs will want to take this kind of form into their next game against league high-fliers Academy at Duthie Park.
MOM: Chris “Chalkie” Clelland
Champagne moment: Whyte taking the key wicket of Derrett.
