Saints swat aside County challenge

FORRES St Lawrence swept aside Ross County on Saturday at Grant Park as the home batsmen were ruthless in chasing the total set by the visitors.

Winning the toss the Ross skipper, Dave Smart, decided to bat first, opening the batting himself along with Harry Tolliday. In only the third over Smart gave a chance when he snicked the ball through to Steve Barron at gully but the ball bounced off his chest and fell to the ground without him being able to gather it. To rub salt into the wound Smart then took consecutive fours off bowler Hewson but the bowler struck in the next over when Tolliday, who was clearly struggling with the pace of Hewson, fended off a lifting delivery and presented the bowler with a caught and bowled. Then after a disjointed start to his bowling, Fraser Merricks managed to get one to swing in, straighten up and catch Smart pinned in front of the sticks and he was on his way for 10. Jonathan Crabtree and Jerry Bishop now occupied the crease, benefiting from some loose bowling from Hewson but soon after the 50 was posted Crabtree took on the bowler and lost. Crabtree tried to smack the ball out of the park but only succeeded in finding Connor Reed at deep mid off and Hewson claimed his second wicket of the match. Bishop was now partnered by Chris Blake who was obviously uncomfortable with the pace but he stuck around for several overs before Gus Farr, change bowler for Hewson, cramped him up as he played round the corner straight to Hewson at fine leg. Just two balls later Andrews had the leg stump uprooted by Farr, leaving Ross County on 65 for 5. Howard Tolliday was the next batsman but once again, he didn’t last long and was on his way back to the pavilion when Farr struck again, bowling him for 0. Bishop now found a partner to stick with him as Moxon came in. Bishop had faced some fierce bowling from Forres and lived to tell the tale, eventually managing to get bat on ball, taking the score past the hundred mark but finally the mistake came when the pair went for a run, taking on the arm of Reed who threw the wicket down with a direct throw and leaving Moxon out of his ground. The resistance was all but gone when Belli was caught by Al Farr at cover off Dhami, leaving Bishop on 48 to prod a leading edge to point where Merricks took the catch off Steve Barron who then took the last wicket of L Rae. Ross County were all out for 124 with Farr taking 3 for 26.

The Forres reply was straight forward. Pritpal Dhami and Connor Reed were just too good for the Ross bowlers although apart from Crabtree there was little to fear. Crabtree called on all his experience as a bowler but the Forres batsmen were not interested. Dhami worked the ball with his usual craft, Reed looked for the boundary. 55 was on the board after 10 overs, but this was just a signal to get a move on as the batsmen both stepped up a gear, Reed taking 4 sixes off Harry Tolliday in one over. The final four of the game was struck in the sixteenth over as Dhami hit through point off Belli and Forres had reached the total of 126 without loss. It isn’t often that Dhami is outscored but on this occasion he was as Reed struck an unbeaten 75 with Dhami 45 not out. A striking performance from the batsmen leaving the visitors battered.

Next Saturday Forres host Buckie at the Grant Park for the penultimate game of the season.