Scorecards here.
Turriff clinched a close game against Methlick on Saturday to secure a spot in the Johnson Rose Bowl final. After being re-instated to the competition following the withdrawal of an under-achieving Kemnay-Kintore from grade 4, Turriff had to win a home fixture against a Methlick side that had chased 205 against impressive grades newcomers Siyapa three weeks previous. In that game, Methlick batsmen Scott and Smith made 79 not out and 40, whilst their star seam bowler Choudry took 3-39. Turriff held onto the fact they had prevailed against Methlick in a league game just three weeks beforehand, and were playing at home with a strong side out. As such they went into the game brimming with enough confidence to ask Methlick to make first use of a wet wicket.
David Laing, after performances of 4-37 and 5-7 in his last two games, and probably on target for this years grade 4 bowling award, struck in just the third over of the game, clean bowling Fryer for just 3 runs. At the other end, Lings, was struggling to find his rhythm and length after two weeks of no cricket, and conceded an uncharacteristic 6 runs off his first over including two no balls. Capable all-rounder Grant Cordiner came to the crease and looked to navigate the tricky batting conditions and push the total along. After two singles and a two he fell to the last ball of the tenth over. Given just a bit of width to the off side, and attempting a Jayasuria-esque carve over point, he was caught by Dodd Duncan taking a stunning one handed catch above his head that Paul Collingwood or Jonty Rhodes would have been proud of. Lings was now finding his rhythm, regularly hitting a good length and this wicket, to peg the visitors to 17-2, encouraged his skipper to let him bowl his ten overs back to back. At the other end, strike bowler Blair Balment replaced David Laing who had bowled yet another outstanding, miserly, opening spell for Turra, taking 1-5 in five overs.
Methlick sent the in-form Scott in at number 4, who looked to be aggressive almost from the off, whilst Smith also began to open his shoulders and take on Balment, hitting the first boundary of the innings from his first over. Lings was now finding his line and length, but undeterred from playing and missing the impressive Scott soon connected the middle of his bat with an away swinger sending it over cow corner for six in the 14th over. Smart, showing its not just a name, immediately moved to a defensive leg side field, sending square leg, midwicket and mid-on into the deep. Lings responded first with with a well disguised slow off-break, which Smith refused to try and hit over the rope. Next up came the quicker, straighter full of length off-cutter which drew the desired response. Smith flashed his bat, missed, and the ball clipped his leg stump. This brought Rice to the crease, who struggle to cope Balment's extra pace and bounce, soon holing out to Dodd Duncan at midwicket for 3. Another 'Scott' replaced Rice in the middle and was dispatched in the 19th over for one when he failed to offer a shot at one of Lings's outswingers and was bowled around his legs, the ball clipping the leg-stump bail. All-rounder Choudry joined the dangerous-looking Smith at the crease and the Methlick counter-attack started. Smith hit sixes from Balment and Lings before Balment produced a ripsnorter of a length ball, beating him for pace and removing his off stump for 32 before he could take the game from Turriff.
Lings bowled his ten overs, taking 3-33 and Methlick might have hoped for some respite. Unfortunately, Turriff's fastest bowler, Immanuel Doss was about to produce a Glen McGrath-like display of accurate fast bowling in the channel outside off stump. The Methlick batsmen weren't good enough to even find the edge of the bat, and when number 8 Jones finally did, Chalmers uncharacteristically shelled the chance for a caught behind. Doss's breakthough came when Chalmers made up for things, managing to stump Jones, who was left standing a couple of inches out of his crease after a futile attempt to take Doss for runs. David Laing mopped up another two Methlick batsmen, at the other end. First removing Choudry for 12, caught at mid off by the ultra-safe hands of Callum Duncan, then Allan for 1, caught brilliantly by Fraser Smart at square leg. Laing finished his ten overs with a haul of 3-19 to top the home side's bowling sheet yet again. Smart turned to Callum Duncan to finish Methlick off and he delivered for his skipper in just 3 balls, removing Day for 3, caught at mid off by David Laing to wrap Methlick's innings up for just 89 runs. Balment finished with 2-24, removing two key batsmen, while Doss, most his deliveries being almost unplayable at this level and on this pitch, went for just nine runs from eight overs. Turriff's seamers had given the home side a chance of making the final and now as many players as possible would need to contribute with the bat on a wet pitch offering a lot of assistance to the bowlers.
Smart decided to re-jig the batting order for this win or lose 40 overs a side game, and open the batting with Lings, looking to try and score aggressively from the start and build a strong platform to the run chase before the pitch inevitably claimed ten victims. Methlick made the surprise, and some would say attacking move, of opening the bowling with promising junior Kennedy. With the field set back a bit catching, slow, accurate bowling can be a real handful to actually score off on such pitches. Choudry opened at the other end, a quicker orthadox away swing bowler who would look to capitalise on the humid conditions, especially against left-hander Lings where he could attack the stumps with late inswing in the humid conditions. In the first over the batsmen rotated the strike, hitting a single each before Smart flayed a leg side delivery for six. Four singles off the second over meant Turriff had got the start they wanted, 13 runs off two overs. Smart capitalised on another leg side delivery in the third over, hitting a second six over deep backward square leg. Lings ended up facing Choudry in the fourth over, and with no scoreboard pressure, blocked and left a maiden aiming to hone his eye, get to know the bowler and think about the best way to find the rope. Kennedy bowled one more over, finding a good line and length, full and on or just outside off stump for most of it and only conceding three runs to a defensive field. He was replaced by Day, who's first ball Smart punched over the leg side rope for four. In the 8th over, after watching Choudry a bit more, Lings launched into a full delivery with a straight drive back over the bowlers head for four, to move into double figures. The breakthrough came in the ninth over. Smart took a single off the first ball to give Lings the strike, Day then blundered with a leg side wide to the left-hander which Lings foolishly chased and tried to sweep fine, only to chip a wide ball to Kennedy at fine leg and give his wicket away for 10. Nevertheless, with the score on 37-1, and Smart looking in good touch Turriff were on target for a win.
Dodd Duncan, promoted to three to try and keep the run rate up, joined Smart at the crease and played well, playing some fine strokes in a stand of 17 for the next wicket, before being caught off the bowling of Grant Cordiner. At 54-2, Turriff needed just 36 with 8 wickets in hand to book a place in the final. Blair Balment batted at number 4 and took a circumspect approach, playing immaculate front foot defence and getting to know the pitch and the bowling. But as Smart looked to push onto his half century, Turriff suffered a setback as Grant Cordiner landed a major blow for the away team, bowling him for 39. Usual opener, David Chalmers now joined Balment with the score on 55-3. Cordiner and Rice bowled in tandem, giving little away. Balment and Chalmers took their time to get set and steady the ship before trying any risky shots on the sticky wicket, before Rice found a way through Chalmers defenses to bowl the keeper-batsman for one. With the score on 60-4, and Smart gone, Methlick were looking a lot chirpier in the field as Doss joined the watchful, but well batted-in Balment at the crease. Then disaster struck for Turriff. Guiding his first delivery straight to the man at deep gully, Doss took off, calling Balment through for a suicide single. The fielder made no mistake and Balment was run out for 2. More importantly for Methlick, they had two new batsmen at the crease as Callum Duncan strode out the middle. Duncan, looking to get off the mark then glanced the last ball of the over to the man in an unorthadox kind of leg slip position. With the score on 60-6, Methlick thought they had it in the bag as David Laing walked to the crease. Turriff knew that both men, both with grade 3 half centuries to their names, were capable of seeing them home. But on this soaking wet pitch, with some accurate and experienced seam bowling to contend with, it would not be easy.
Several nervy overs followed, where the scoreboard hardly moved and the twenty something runs Turriff needed, or just half a dozen good shots, seemed too far out of reach. Luckily for Turriff they had two experienced cricketers at the crease, who took their time to get set, consolidated, then went for the kill quickly and cleanly. Both players launched at the Methlick bowlers, running ones and twos, before Doss, arguably Turriff's most talented player, struck a flat six over long on off the bowling of Rice in an over yielding 12 runs. With Turriff now 10 away from victory, they pressed onto 86-7, when Rice bowled David Laing for six. Given the playing conditions and context of the game, it will probably turn out to be the most important and memorable six runs he will ever make. Club veteran Craig Peters joined Doss in the middle and immediately stuck a single to move the score to 87 and keep the strike. Doss responded, striking another single to give Peters the strike and the chance to hit the winning runs. But Rice bowled a wide to level the scores and Peters left a dot ball to give Doss the well-deserved honours. Doss duly dispatched the recalled Choudry's first delivery into the midwicket region to make a matching-winning 18 not out and see Turriff into the Johnston Rose Bowl final. This will be a tough game, to be played against grade newcomers Grampian, who have beaten Turriff twice in the league this season, on 1st August at a venue to be announced. But if Turriff field their strongest team, and play their best cricket, they could yet see some silverware this season.
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