Knight Riders became one of the few teams to win three consecutive Aberdeenshire Cup finals on Sunday when they held off the fierce challenge of Abercrombie Master Blasters in front of two sets of wildly excited supporters, making for a great atmosphere at Mannofield.
Siva Palaniappan the captain of Knight Riders won the toss and elected to bat and Master Blasters made an immediate breakthrough removing Somu Kumarasamy without scoring in the first over.
The 184 from 37.2 overs set by the Groats Road side did not look enough on a near perfect track and lightning outfield, but credit to the Master Blasters bowling attack who generally contained the Knight Riders top order, aided by some aggressive, slick fielding.
But due to a fine, studied knock of 62 from opener Madhan Kumar Mohan, the total proved to be a testing one, especially as middle order batsmen Kiran Balasubramanian weighed in with a sparkling 27, aided and abetted by an equally vital 29 from Pulkit Singh.
The pick of the Blasters bowlers were Jay Gayjjar with 2 for 30, and Prasanth Malireddy’s (an Aberdeenshire Cup winner with Gordonians in 2011) 1 for 26; both doing great containment jobs to keep their side in the hunt.
Any thoughts of the target of 184 being a formality were dashed when the Blasters slumped to five down for a mere 25, not helped by having five penalty runs for dissent added to the target, leaving the Knight Riders in sight of an early victory. But as is often the way in cup ties, a hero arrived in the shape of Chandrashekar Mallireddy who continued to defy the Riders on fire attack.
Only a magnificent catch in the deep by Somu Kumarasamy when Mallireddy was on 47, arresting his side’s attempt to rescue the game. Late flourishes failed to keep the pressure on, leaving them 47 short of the required target.
Knight Riders were best served by Kumarasamy with 2 wickets for 36, compensating for his failure to score when he batted. He had great support from Balasubramanian who did a superb containment job, taking 2 for 16.
Thus ended another engaging chapter in the 141 year old history of the North East’s most prestigious competition.
All that remained to do was for to raise the Aberdeenshire Cup on high, and for the umpires to announce the man of the match was Knight Riders’ opener Mohan for his vital knock of 62.
Siva Palaniappan the captain of the winning team, acknowledged the part the supporters had played. ”They made it a great occasion on a wonderful day of weather. The ‘hat trick” of wins was as much for our supporters as the team. I am delighted for them”.
Knight Riders can still land the league and cup double should they win their remaining game at home to Mannofield and leaders Bon Accord fail to pick up three points in their Grade 1 clash against Inverurie, being played at Kellands Park.
Among those gathered at one of the red letter days in the North East game were prominent figures from the local game, including David Jones, the former legendary secretary of ACA Grades whose knowledge of the rules kept the system right in his 40 years in the post before he handed over to the current secretary Paul Gray. NESC Chair Robin Taylor, now in his second term, presided over the presentation of one of the oldest cups in the history of Scottish sport.
Thanks are also due to the staff at Aberdeenshire for providing wonderful teas to sustain the players, umpires and one well fed ‘retired’ journalist.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF GILLES GARDNER
Knight Riders looking relaxed
All smiles from Master Blasters
North East Scotland SCIO Chair Robin Taylor with the player of the match, Mohan from Knight Riders
Jack Nixon presents the ”smaller” Aberdeenshire Cup to Knight Riders captain Siva
The perfect celebration!