Champs turn on the style
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Forres St Lawrence started their defence of the North of Scotland Cricket Association league championship with an emphatic home victory against Nairn County at the Grant Park on Saturday,.
They won by nine wickets.
After winning the toss the Nairn skipper, Benny Brandsum decided to bat first with J. Hepburn Wright and P. Gerring taking their places at the crease. Fraser Merricks and Gus Farr opened the bowling, keeping a tight grip on the game.
In the fourth over, Farr got the ball to clip the off bail of Hepburn Wright’s stumps for five and, two overs later, a full straight ball flattened the middle stump of No 3, Alex Green.
Nairn were not allowed to settle, as Farr clipped Gerring’s off bail and they were 14 for three in the 10th over. A change of bowling brought Dave Durance and John Duff into the attack. I. McLeod and R. Gerring were the batting partners who made the biggest stand of the Nairn innings.
McLeod showed a willingness to stick in, eventually picking up a few runs here and there with assistance from Gerring before the latter slapped a delivery from Duff to Gus Farr at gully.
Skipper Brandsum came in to bat with the score on 35 for 4, but four overs and four runs later Mcleod was bowled by Durance for 12. Jason Brandsum joined his father at the crease but he lasted just a few balls before he too fell to Durance for 0. Nairn now had to rely on their more mature players to get some runs as Magnus Neill joined Brandsum, but the Nairn skipper fell when he hit out at a Durance delivery and found Gus Farr diving for the catch at mid wicket.
B. Stewart showed some attacking spiri,t but partners let him down as the innings closed at 67 all out in the 38th over. G. Farr finished with 3 for 8, D. Durance 3 for 24 and J. Duff 3 for 22.
The Forres batsmen were tasked with taking some time to see the ball and spend some time in the middle. P. Dhami stroked the first ball from A. Green through cover for four. But the batsmen went on to play sensibly and calmly, providing no risk cricket.
The only wicket to fall came when Merricks got too much bottom hand on the bat and scooped the ball to Gerring off the slower bowling of McLeod for 14. When G. Farr replaced Merricks, Dhami stepped up the pace with three successive fours off McLeod before Farr struck the last runs of the innings over long off for four. Dhami finished with a stylish 42 not out.
With a return to the straightforward home and away format for the league this season, this weekend, Forres travel to Inverness where they take on Highland.
