Deja vu for Dons at Lochlands

Aberdeenshire lost the toss at a sunny Lochlands Park, Arbroath and were asked to bowl first on a flat looking pitch with good grass covering. Local captain Petrie took advantage of two early drops to score 41 and in combination with overseas amateur Bartlett the pair were rattling along at 5 an over to take the hosts to 75 off 15 overs. The introduction of Adrian Neill pegged Arbroath back as he removed Petrie and F.Burnett in quick succession. More wickets could of followed however the Dons were guilty of dropping Bartlett twice as he continued to motor on past his fifty.

With Harsha Cooray bowling an economical spell from one end Tony McKenna came back for a second spell and struck to remove Bartlett and Peal to swing things back in Aberdeenshire's favour. McKenna was unlucky not to take a further big scalp when C.Burnett was spilled twice.

Arbroath finished their innings on 205-8 with wickets shared evenly, two a piece, for Tyler Buchan, Tony McKenna, Adrian Neill and Harsha Cooray.

In reply, Aberdeenshire and Calum Howard started brightly as the left hander unfurled some classy cover drives and cuts much to the annoyance of the home attack. Good spells from Parker and Burnett tied down the normally free flowing Venske and he fell to a catch in the covers trying to force one off the back foot.

Hayes van der Berg followed Venske back to the pavilion without troubling the scorers as he dabbed the off spinner straight into slips hands. Howard (56) and Cooray (39) formed a solid looking partnership to take the Dons towards their total as we began to take hold of the game.

However, when Howard cut one to backward point and Cooray was nicked off the Dons innings struggled to recover. Graeme Tomlinson (46*) was slowly rebuilding with the help of Callum Martin (23) however when the later was out LBW the Dons tail collapsed in a hurry as Ramsay's left arm spin accounted for the next five wickets to fall as the Dons were bundled out for 201, four short of their target and leaving Tomlinson stranded.

A disappointing result given the fightback shown with the ball, but eight dropped chances and a lack of a match winning partnership cost us dearly.