Big win for Forres St Lawrence against Fort Augustus

FULL points were collected by Forres St Lawrence on Saturday at Fort Augustus with the Saints making good use of the batting strip to score big runs after being put in to bat by the home side.

Openers Pal Dhami and Nigel Gerrard settled in against some tidy bowling from Ross Lavin and Nilesh Pote, which offered little in the way of threat.

It took only 10 overs for 50 to show on the scoreboard, with Gerrard taking on much of the initial attack, and the century was passed in the 16th over.

Shortly after, Gerrard fell for 21, a bail trimmer from Ronan Blakey breaking the partnership. Al Farr looked to repeat his fearsome hitting of last week: two boundaries showed promise but a mistimed shot saw him caught at short midwicket for 11.

New recruit, Tom Chalkley, gave a good showing of himself at number four. He played some nice shots around the field, supporting well as the score headed past 200, until he was caught on the boundary for 19.

A first ball LBW for Gus Farr brought David Durance to the crease. Another supporting innings as Dhami was steadily racking up the runs, moving into the next gear in the final 10 overs.

A tired shot in the penultimate over finally saw his downfall for a well-crafted 164. He really is an impressive batsman.

Forres closed their innings on 280 for 7. Special mention to Peers who had figures of 2 for 15.

The Forres bowlers struck in the second over with Ellwood removing the dangerous Anjum for only 2; a batsman who can score big, quickly, he fell to an impressive one handed catch by David Durance at mid off, hit so hard that Durance was rocked backwards with its impact.

Ellwood tidied up the next batsman too, Pote caught by Dhami on the boundary, looking for a big hit.

Opener Lavin found some stability with Luxton as they shared a 34-run partnership but on 58 Lavin hit the ball straight to Gus Farr backward of square to give Barron his first wicket.

Lavin top scored with 26. A brief appearance from Crasto who managed only 2 runs before he was caught at mid wicket off Durance.

Luxton was bowled by an inswinger from Will Murdoch for 18. The next pair, O’Meara and Peers, gave the Fort Augustus score some credibility. They built a 46-run partnership which was broken by a classy one-handed catch low down by keeper Ian Roberts off Chalkley, Peers falling for 25.

O’Meara tried to rally the tail but when he was out at 124 only another ten runs were added and the innings closed on 134 all out in the thirty third over. Ellwood took 3 for 22 of his seven overs.

There is fixture for the senior side this weekend, although the reserves are due to play Huntly at Grant Park on Sunday.