Stonehaven Thistle C.C. 2nd XI 189 for 9
St. Ronald 2nd XI 92

Stonehaven’s second eleven were at home to St. Ronald last Saturday, and continued their successful season with another convincing win.

Captain Dave Long Sr. again showed confidence in his team by choosing to bat on a well-prepared wicket with plenty of bounce. Bruce Findlay and Steve Crozier opened the batting and started carefully against the opening bowlers. Nadim was particularly dangerous getting the ball to rise sharply with his extra pace.

Findlay was unlucky to be bowled by a ball which seamed in to his off stump with the score on 14, bringing David Crozier to join his father. Both batsmen continued to play sensibly against the quick bowlers, but after 12 overs a change of bowling signalled a dramatic change in the tempo of the game. With less pace and not much accuracy the new bowlers were hammered to all parts of the ground. David played some outstanding shots, including a massive six over the longest boundary. The next nine overs brought 66 runs and set up a great platform for the team. After a partnership of 75 runs David fell for 41 runs (off 42 balls) and his father went soon after for 35.

David Long Jr. then played an excellent innings and scored a valuable 18. Despite losing wickets at regular intervals there were enough contributions from the other batsmen to keep the score building at a good rate. In particular Paul Hay’s 17 off 15 (including some powerful shots over long off) and Brian Snelling’s 19 off 25 (including another trademark 6) pushed the score up to 157 for 8. Nigel King (16 not out) and Daniel Colvin (13) then produced a superb partnership of 32 to ensure maximum batting points. The combination of Nigel’s brutal boundary hitting and Daniel’s classy array of shots looked like it could have produced a much longer partnership, but after 42 overs the declaration was made with the score on 189.

David Long Jr. and Calum Findlay resumed their duties as opening bowlers and with great pace and accuracy soon had the opening batsmen under pressure. In the fourth over the pressure told as Findlay trapped Sunil LBW with the score on 6. St. Ronald’s captain then confidently set out for a single off the next ball, but a stunning direct hit from Long Jr. at mid-wicket made it 6 for 2. Long followed up by bowling the other opener Nadeem before both bowlers were rested.

If the batsmen were expecting a respite from pace they were soon disappointed as King and Snelling took over the attack. Both bowlers bowled with venom, making run scoring very difficult. The batsmen dug in and built St. Ronald’s highest partnership of 20 runs, but eventually the bowlers got their rewards as King trapped Vishnu and Snelling had Ahmed caught at mid-on by a skilful catch from Matthew Colvin. Matthew also ran out  Modi on his first ball faced and the score was 43 for 6.

Bailey and Nitin tried to play positively, but David Crozier’s leg-spin created some good chances and Nitin was soon out for 11, caught by Daniel Colvin at Mid-off. Daniel was then brought on to bowl and bowled out two batsmen in 3 balls in his second over, finishing with the outstanding figures of 2 for 7 off 4 overs.

The final partnership of Bailey and Gillilands was proving to be more stubborn than any of the higher order batsmen. David Long Jr. came back and was eventually joined by his father at the other end. The captain’s “mystery spin” did the trick as Gillilands lofted one to Long Jr. at mid-on and St. Ronald were all out for 92.

This victory was due to a strong team effort with each member playing his part well. The fielding was again superb and backed up a strong bowling attack, and the batting never looked to be in trouble.

The next game for the second XI will be away at Dunecht next Saturday in the Johnstone Cup Semi-Final. The match ball was sponsored by the Station Hotel.