Ayyapan and Karthik put on an unflinching partnership of 70 runs for the last wicket to ensure a draw for 2nd KnightRiders in their Grade 2 match with Fraserburgh at Groats Road, which is the first drawn match for KnightRiders Cricket Club since its inception. The home side looked in danger of defeat when they were 51 for 8 and still 17 overs remaining.
 
KnightRiders began the day on high note as the opening bowlers Sabiel & Prabhu took 2 early wickets but Fraserburgh then rallied with a small partnership between P O'Neil and Ironside which took the score onto 49 when Ironside was trapped LBW by Bala who also dismissed
F Lawrence in the next over. Despite the loss of wickets, veteran P O'Neil hit a number of boundaries & a big six on his way to 83 but fell short of his ton , as he was clean bowled by Karthik. Visitor's lower order batting line-up came out and played their shots looking to push the score on. Helped along by scrappy fielding with dropped catches Fraserburgh's innings finished on 193-8 after 45 overs. The pick of KnightRiders bowlers were Bala 3-52 ,Sabiel 2-28 and Karthik 2-29.
 
Fraserburgh seemed to be confident with their score perhaps a misjudgment! Knightriders knew that the score was still achievable with their batting line up. But things turned upside down as opener Sony(4) was dismissed cheaply by F Lawrence who soon clean bowled Santosh (0) with his unplayable delivery and KnightRiders were 11 for 2. Next the experienced Balaji(3),Deepu(4),Vinodh(0) lost their wickets in a sequence, Prabhu (4) & skipper Bala(1) fell in quick succession as well. Even as wickets fell matchsticks on other end, Opener Sajeev played calm with a responsible innings before getting out on 24 and the team score was 51 for 8. Club’s newcomers Ayyapan 22 and Karthik 46 (3x4,2x6) raised their bars and showed their exceptional batting skills which frustrated Fraserburgh with a wonderful partnership that spanned 17 overs scoring record 70 runs for last wicket and the game ended in a draw.
 
Even though the draw was not the Knights intended outcome at the start but looked convincing at the end of the day.

A draw in the circumstances should hopefully prove to be a good result for KnightRiders as they picked up 16 points in the process. But they will have to improve in all aspects if they are to get a result away at against Stonehaven next week who will be looking for revenge for the game earlier in the season.

Knight of the Day : Karthik & Ayyapan