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Hard-fought draw in opener
FRASERBURGH Cricket Club opened their 2010 account on Saturday with a hard fought draw against Aberdeen side Anchorians. Broch captain, M.Watson won the toss and elected to field first.
The Anchorians openers, Forbes and Venkat got off to a bright start, finding the gaps and punishing anything loose. The Broch openers, Clark and Lawrence were soon replaced by Amin and Rennie, a move which paid dividends almost immediately when Rennie bowled Venkat for 16.
Wicket number two fell shortly afterwards with the Anchorians number three batsman, Lambley (1) falling victim to a strong LBW appeal.
While wickets fell at the other end, Anchorians' opener Forbes held up his end well, playing an array of well-timed strokes. However, he eventually succumbed to the pace of Amin and was bowled for 58. This was quickly followed by the wicket of Kodar (5) caught by C.Bowie off the bowling of Oldam.
At this point in the match it looked as though Anchorians might be bowled out for under 100 and victory would become merely a formality for the Broch. Unfortunately, the Broch failed to capitalise on their early success and through a mixture of good batting by the remaining Anchorians batsmen, loose bowling and some poor fielding the Broch allowed Anchorians to rack up a total of 217 for the loss of 8 wickets from 46 overs.
After tea, Anchorians took to the field with with an understandable air of confidence, comfortable in their belief that they had every chance of victory. The Broch got off to the worst possible start, losing Watson (1) in the first over.
Oldam (0), L.Bowie (0) and Flowerdew (0) all fell in quick succession without troubling the scorers.
With the top of the Broch scorecard resembling binary code something was desperately needed to steady the ship. Enter Mike Rothwell, former Fraserburgh CC captain and back playing his first game for the Broch after an eight-year break from cricket.
With victory about as likely as election victory for the Monster Raving Loony Party, Rothwell and the only survivor from the earlier carnage, C.Bowie aimed to dig in and play for the draw. C. Bowie (8) saw off a few more overs but was controversially given out LBW off the bowling of Sharma.
With no recognised batsmen left Anchorians sensed an easy victory. However, try as they may they simply could not remove the limpet-like Rothwell.
Despite Rothwell's defiance another wicket fell at the other end when Amin (15) lost his wicket after going for one shot too many, caught off the bowling of Malireddy. J.Clark (21) came to the crease and he and Rothwell (27) saw out the remainder of the game to give the Broch a well-earned draw.
Although perhaps not the best advertisement for cricket the match was played in excellent spirit and an enjoyable day was had by all.
Fraserburgh CC would like to thank all who helped out with teas etc on the day and cordially invite anyone interested in taking up cricket to join us at practice on Mondays and Fridays from 5.30pm.
Anchorians
C. Forbes 58; P. Malireddy 56; A.Rennie 5-77; S.Amin 2-55
Fraserburgh: M.Rothwell 27; J.Clark 26; C. Forbes 2-24; P. Malireddy 2-20
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Weather for Fraserburgh
Thursday 24 May 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: 11 C to 15 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny spells
Temperature: 10 C to 16 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: East
