The lengthy journey to Perth did nothing to dull the skills of our first team as they bowled well enough to restrict a careless Perth batting line-up to a total of 139. The home batsmen showed little patience and resolve, opting too often for expansive shots which brought about their downfall. Without being overstretched, our bowlers performed well enough for the task in hand. The wickets were shared out, with Nathan Elliott taking three, while Luke Bain, Lenny Bester, and Manu Saraswat each took two. It was particularly encouraging to see Manu back in the side, and Lewis Munro will doubtless be glad to have given the young off-spinner a ten-over spell on his re-entry to competitive cricket following exams.

Spare a thought for the unfortunate Lenny Bester who, while impressing during his own spell of off-break bowling, suffered a recurrent hip injury while fielding a ball. The extent of the damage is as yet unknown, but the disappointed Lenny may miss a few matches in the coming weeks.

So, Aberdeenshire were set a modest target of 140 runs to win. The home opening attack of Safyaan Sharif and Homayon Gujeral bowled well enough to remove both ‘Shire openers with only 25 runs on the board. Time for level heads to ensure that no crisis arose. A successful third-wicket partnership of 77 between skipper Munro and young Manu was enough to see us steer clear of danger. Lewis is always an entertaining stroke-player and his 43 runs off just 25 deliveries included eight boundaries. Meanwhile, Manu again proved he has the patience and skills to play the anchor role, scoring at a more modest rate, but remaining not out on 48 as he and Rutwick Hegde saw us through to victory.

This was a highly satisfactory result, marred only by the injury to Bester, and it sets us up well for our local derby at Mannofield against Stoneywood-Dyce.

Our new part-time groundsman, Noah Kelly, showed that he is a very able batsman as he crafted a stylish innings of 63 runs, opening for the seconds at home against Aberdeen Grammar's second team. There followed a mini-collapse in the home batting; six wickets fell for 48 runs. These batsmen, not to be named, will certainly feel they missed out, as batting at number nine, Abid Ali proceeded to smash the ball around freely, notching up 12 boundaries and two maximums in a score of 73 runs. This stirring innings was enough to see Mannofield hoist a total of 280 for 9. This, to me, seemed close to par for a dry Mannofield on a sunny day.

Our opponents did not start well and slumped to 74 for 6, with Ashfaq and Akhlaq Bashir, as well as Andrew Hastie, each taking a couple of wickets. There was then a late rally, built around the innings of Muhammad Nasseri and Avash Upadhyaya, as the visitors managed to amass a total of 206 for 9, but this was of course not enough to prevent a deserved home win.

Next week’s fixture looks to be a very challenging one, as Chandu’s side travel to meet the undefeated Grampian.

On Sunday, our third eleven were at Countesswells to face Gordonians. Two of the more mature players on show, Rene Van Oorschot (on paper) and Lokesh Saraswat, both scored half-centuries that formed the basis of an encouraging total of 245 for 5. They were well supported by Vikaash Saravanan and Oscar Vila in building this respectable total.

The only Gordonian to threaten that total was Dhuvra Bhari with 47 runs; the others fell to our attack, spearheaded by Ranga Bandara and Callum Pratt, both of whom claimed three wickets. At the tail end of this match, both Vikaash and Oscar showed their all-round qualities as they polished off the later home batsmen, taking two wickets each.

Next Sunday, Phil Wood’s side are hosts to Stoneywood-Dyce.

Also on Sunday, Mannofield hosted the visit of Fraserburgh’s reserve side, playing against our newly set-up fourth eleven. The visitors made a productive start; the opening partnership between Michael Watson and Izharullah Salihi passed the hundred mark before Aarav Sinha struck three times to break through the visitors’ middle order. He was well supported by Shravan Aravind, who removed Watson and a couple of others. To their credit, the Buchan side managed a total of 225 for 6, and this was to prove just too much for our fourths. Despite a useful contribution of 36 by Shravan, our lads managed just 183 for 6.

This was a creditable effort from this recently formed team. As with the thirds a few years ago, this side is likely to find the early weeks challenging, but I feel sure that they will grow together successfully as a team and take their place in the club’s growing, ever-improving cricket section.

Next Sunday they go to Harlaw to face Bon Accord 2s in a fixture that is sure to be just one more challenge for our new side.