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St AUSCC (126 for 6, S. Frankland 51*, V.Reddy 3/7) lost to Bon Accord (201 all out, N. Mirza 59, P. Jess 4/59) by 75 runs Despite the persistent overnight rain we got the semi final going in bright but very windy conditions. Bon Accord won the toss and batted, which produced an element of trepidation amongst the assembled company. Nevertheless, Angus and Uday opened the bowling in excellent style and after a couple of drops in the outfield, Angus made the first breakthrough. A steady start opened up into an aggressive second wicket partnership of 89 between the repeatedly fortunate Win and the six-hitting Mirza which looked like taking things away from us until Uday caught Win off Patrick, followed swiftly by Dhiman, LBW to Stan. The BA innings then wobbled severely as Mirza thumped a sky-er to Stan for 59, followed swiftly by two more wickets for Patrick, caught by debutant Andy Dick behind the stumps and Dave at short 3rd man (it had to happen eventually). At drinks, BA were 129 for 6 and played watchfully from then on with Stan controlling one end and Uday returning for a brisk second spell, duly rewarded by a double wicket maiden to finish with 9-3-23-2. From 157 for 8, Vijapurapu dominated the strike and hit out well to move onto 56 before perishing to a fine outfield catch by Andy off Baggers. Stan and Andy then switched places and combined to take the final wicket - Shafique charging half way down the track to be stumped by a country mile. Bon Accord were therefore bowled out for 201 in 42 overs. A fine achievement by a relatively makeshift attack and backed up with excellent fielding, notably by Joe and Tim who ran around in uncomplaining fashion and made a full contribution. BA were fairly surprised at being dismissed but their bowling attack proved well suited to the drying, green pitch and after a controlled start, began to crank up both pace and bounce. After a couple of early boundaries including a beauty from Uday, the scoring rate dried up as the ball whistled past ears and a close set field simply awaited the chances to go to hand. Uday perished trying to push the score along and despite some brave resistance, Andy went for 16 to the aggressive V. Reddy whose performance of 4-1-8-3 won't win any fair play awards but finished the game as a meaningful contest. BA henceforth bowled a mixture of spinners and trundlers in short spells, allowing Angus and Stan to move the score beyond 50. A long and enjoyable partnership between Stan and Richie more than doubled the score to 126 with Stan making a fine 51 not out and Richie a Club best 21. We did very well to get this far in the competition and in the face of a well organised Bon Accord side who are perennial competition favourites we can hold our heads up high. Bowling them out for 201 was a fine effort and a little bit of luck against the second half-centurion could have kept them down to an even more achievable total. Thanks to all who played in this year's Small Clubs Cup, I hope you all enjoyed it.
- Patrick Jess