Karan Anand on his way to an unbeaten century
An unbeaten century from stand in skipper Karan Anand (129 not out) inspired FPs to victory against Gordonians by 97 runs on a bitterly cold day at Rubislaw. Having made 275 for 6 in their 45 overs, FPs were never in danger of losing despite a fairly lukewarm bowling effort aside from a 5 wicket blast from Connor McKinney (5/25). Anand batting at 6 took just 33 balls for his 50 and 70 balls for his century hitting 11 fours and 5 sixes in a destructive innings. He was well supported by Arul Sentil who made 47 after Alex Keith set the platform with 49. The Gordonians openers put on 61 for the 1st wicket but were never in touch during the chase.
FPs made 2 changes with Callum Herd and skipper Rob Swiergon dropping out to be replaced by Karan Anand and Mike Nattrass. FPs lost the toss and were asked to bat. Fraser Proud never looked settled and fell for a duck from12 balls, but Nattrass and Keith batted well to put on 46 to lift FPs to 64, when Keith was bowled against the run of play for 49 (8×4, 1×6). He batted very well, timing the ball superbly, and the six was a glorious strike over cover. McKinney came and went for 2 and then Nattrass was run out for 22 as FPs slipped to 90 for 4 in the 19th over. It brought Senthil and Anand together and both looked in good touch straight away.
Anand playing a couple of fine cuts to get underway before pumping a number down the ground. Senthil kept his shape well and played with real composure, choosing which balls to attack and those to defend. They added 142 in just 18 overs, regularly finding the boundary. Anand seemed to reach his 50 in no time but then had a let off as a routine square leg chance went down. He took full advantage by smashing the bowling to all parts before he finally lost Senthil for 47 (6×4), caught by Taj off Perera.
Morrison joined the skipper and saw him to his ton, but only made 2, splicing Shaikh to Taj. Mahesh Challa was at 8 and he aimed a few big hits but could not really connect as intended and finished on 7 not out, Karan Anand strolling off with an superb unbeaten 129 and FPs well placed at 275 for 6.
Gordonians needed a fast start, and despite the FP bowlers struggling to find a line and length, Gordonians were not able to take advantage and crawled to 61 for no wicket in 17 overs. For FPs the only real opening being a tough chance in the gully that Nattrass could not claim off Proud, while Proud thought he had a good LBW shout rejected moments later. It took the introduction of John Thomson to get the first wicket, Pandit, who had batted very well, slogging across the line against a straight ball that smashed into the off stump, the batsman out for stylish 28.
Hegde was showing stickability but was struggling to up the rate and he finally fell for 27 as new bowler Challa took a fine diving catch off his own bowling as Gordonians slipped to 89 for 2. His 2nd wicket was also impressive, a good ball clean bowling Shaikh for 23. Proud returned and was produced a quick delivery to account for Rana for 1 as Gordonians slipped to 120 for 4.
McKinney became the 7th bowler to be used and the 1st of his 5 victims was Perera, a big edge to Morrison at the wicket, the umpire sending him on his way for 9. In McKinney’s next over, Rehman lauched 2 big sixes over midwicket off the 1st 2 balls, but his attempts at a hat trick failed as he was castled for 12. Singh was soon McKinney’s 3rd wicket, Anand holding a sharp chance at slip head high, the batsman gone out for a solid 26.
Thomson returned and took a 2nd wicket, Suthanthiran chipping to Anand at midwicket for 4 as Gordonians slumped to 176 for 8. There was still time for McKinney to complete his 5 for, clean bowling Dalgarno for 2 and then yorking last man Mirashi for a duck to end up with 5 for 25.
For FPs the bowling figures were Prash 5-1-14-0, Proud 8-0-33-1, Anand 6-0-24-0, Mapplebeck 6-1-16-0, Thomson 7-1-15-2, Challa 5-0-31-2 and McKinney 5.2-0-25-5.
FPs were happy to run out comfortable winners but will look to improve on their bowling in future weeks, starting against Cresecent. It was however, a very cold day and it is never easy to bowl and field well in such conditions in what proved a long afternoon. Playing cricket in Aberdeen sadly means that there is going to be some cold days and both teams did their best to make it a good game, on the equivalent Saturday last year it was 19 degrees which just shows the vagaries of Scottish weather. With ground availability such as it is, the Scottish cricket season will always be housed between late April and late August and all that can be done is to hope that the cold days such as this are few and far between.
8848 Man of the Match
Despite his maiden 5 wicket haul, McKinney cant see off Karan Anand who’s brilliant unbeaten 129 set the game up perfectly for FPs.
8848 Champagne Moment
Alex Keith’s 6 over cover and Karan Anand’s 6 over cover were both strong contenders, but Connor McKinney’s Yorker to claim his 5 for just edges it.
Pictures from match
https://www.flickr.com/gp/gillesgardner/ERE6VP
