Huntly lose out in a close call of a match against Methlick
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And so it was to Huntly on Saturday for the fifth and toughest game of the season so far, writes corresepondent Mark Woodhouse.
With both sides unbeaten and topping Grade 3, for Methlick out wennt Murphy and Acton so not quite the strongest line-up.
With damp conditions around skipper Duffy chose to bowl first when winning the toss in the hope of conditions improving for a later bat.
Clark opened for Huntly and looked very solid in defence after miraculously surviving a first over run-out from the unsighted Huntly umpire, and Dawar at the other end looked more attacking albeit seeming to try and edge anything coming across the body.
The regular opening pair of Veersema and Duffy kept the first 10 overs extremely tight and Huntly only put on 24 runs.
The outfield, although looking slick, was actually holding onto the ball so boundaries were difficult to come by especially with the long boundary looking to be about 90 meters.
Veersema was the first to strike with Dawar, always threatening to nick-off, edging the ball to Woodhouse behind the stumps for an easy catch.
The youngster Petrie came out to the middle but although looking stylish found runs difficult to come by.
It was searching for runs that effected his downfall as the ever reliable Addison had him caught by Duffy for 3 in his opening over.
Jamie Jones looked to be struggling in his first two overs but hit back with a sharp catch at point to give Addison his second wicket with Morrison going for a duck.
It looked as though it was all down to Clark to give the home side a decent score.
Hordley replaced Jones and with his first ball swinging away and then cutting back sharply off the seam, Clark’s stumps were demolished as he was bowled for 24.
MCC could now smell blood and were in no mood to let up.
Reid and Leggatt did offer some resistance in the middle order but the return of Duffy saw the former bowled for 11 and Leggatt was victim to Cordiner’s second ball for 22.
Any victory hopes now seemed gone with the score at 73 for 6.
Duffy took two quick wickets, one bowled and Hordley snapping up a solid catch at mid-wicket.
Cordiner helped out Addison with another catch and the coup-de-grace was dealt by Cordiner as the last wicket went leg before to wrap up the home team innings on what looked a below par 89 all out.
Pick of the bowling was Duffy and Addison, both taking three wickets, but it was yet another excellent performance in the field from Methlick.
After a fine pie-fest for tea it was Methlick’s turn to bat, opening with Woodhouse and Smith, the latter having carried his bat in last week’s win.
The crowd, Acton and child, were looking forward to a comfortable victory.
Things couldn’t have got off to a worse start as Smith was bowled by the young girl, Henderson, for 1 playing a lazy shot to a sluggish ball.
No worries however as MCC had a strong batting line up and Veersema emphasised the point with some strong looking shots.
However, things never go as planned and Henderson struck again having the Aussie caught for 7.
Free scoring Hordley came out to the middle and started racking up the runs with a couple of nice boundaries.
The score was well above the asking rate with the batsmen cruising to 45 when Hordley missed a straight one and was bowled by Tandon for 20.
Jones came out needing a steadying hand to stay with Woodhouse but a huge swish at an over-pitched delivery saw him bowled for a second ball duck.
Alarm bells really started to ring as Addison also went runless, the third victim for the excellent Henderson.
The normally ultra-reliable Cordiner managed to run himself out for 5 and Methlick were suddenly staring down the barrel at 77 for 6.
Brian Anderson was extremely unfortunate to be caught with a ball smashed to mid-on; Dawar clinging on after a couple of fumbles but another duck was registered.
With 11 runs needed things were getting very tense in the middle as Woodhouse was running out of partners, but it was his steely grit and concentration, aided by the elderly but experienced Bremenesen, that got Methlick home with three overs to spare to take their place alone at the top of the league.
An edge-of-the seat finish but another great performance with the ball and in the field from the men from Lairds made the pints at the Ythan View taste even better.
