Portcullis prosper after early scare.

Saturday May 30th saw Portcullis enter at the quarter final stage of the 2015 Johnston Rosebowl.

The draw for the 2015 Johnstone Rosebowl saw them face a tricky tie away to Stonehaven 2nds. On paper it would possibly be fair to make Portcullis favourites for the tie but Stonehaven had enjoyed a 5 wicket victory over Turriff earlier in the season. A result like that meant that Stonehaven could not be treated with anything but the utmost respect.

With regular Skipper Dave Mitchell unavailable for duty it was left to Vice Captain Ronnie Falconer to lead the Green Caps out for this one. His first task was to lose the toss to his Stonehaven counterpart D. Long Snr and hit came as no surprise to find that Portcullis were to be batting first. Had Falconer won the toss, he too would have put his opponents in.

With the return of Jesse Walmsley to the eleven, Falconer took the option of dropping himself down the order. This meant that Dave Forbes would open with Walmsley.

To open the bowling for Stonehaven 2nds, Stonehaven called on the formidable pairing of R. Subramanian and Nigel King. These opening exchanges would indeed be interesting.

The early jousts went in the favour of Stonehaven. Subramanian struck first when he surprisingly bowled Walmsley for his first ever duck for Portcullis. King then joined in on taking the fight to Portcullis with a quick double salvo. First up he bowled Duncan Scutt and then he followed that up when he took out Farooq for a quick-fire four.

Before they knew it Portcullis were reeling at 12-3!

Richard Collinson came to the crease to join Dave Forbes. The pair took the score to 22 which included a fantastic six from Collinson, a pull over midwicket for the maximum.

Just as a groggy Portcullis had appeared to be coming round, King supplied another knockdown blow. A good sustained bowling spell saw him remove the dogged Forbes when he had him trapped lbw.

Forbes had done a fine spell of softening up the opening partnership and his unselfish determination would be invaluable to the remainder of the Portcullis batting line-up.

Next man in was Skipper Falconer to join Collinson. At this point the following partnerships would be crucial if Portcullis were to make a contest of this tie.

At this point King and Subramanian were rested and H. Wilson and D. Long Snr entered the fray. The pair, although accurate, were not as potent as the opening pair. This was welcome as it gave Portcullis a better chance to regroup and take the match back to the Stonehaven side.

Both Collinson and Falconer dug in and took the match back to the Stonehaven side. Collinson, being the aggressor of the pair whilst Falconer dug in as the anchor man. The pair took the score onto 84 before Falconer was bowled by the returning Subramanian.

Portcullis 84-5. A fine 62 partnership was enjoyed by the Portcullis stalwarts as Falconer went for a dogged 15.

Collinson was joined by Shovon Mostofa. Mostofa looked to be in positive mood. A couple of early boundaries included a scintillating six over deep mid-on. Alas Collinson could not stay with him too long as he fell lbw to the bowling of Law.

Collinson had made a fantastic and truly vital 34 that included 3 fours and one fantastic six! The knock was as crucial as it was impressive and came just at the right time for the City Centre Green Caps. It took Portcullis from the potential of an early collapse with no substance to having a base to build from a solid total that they could take the match away from their dangerous opponents.

Portcullis 102-6.

Next up was Keeper Simon Winstanley. Joining Mostofa at the crease the pair soon accelerated the score along. Mostofa hit his second six, replica of his first whilst Winstanley hit a boundary of his own. / Winstanley made a quick-fire 8 before he was out caught for an unselfish 8. Mundin came and went, trapped lbw by the returning King for his 4th wicket of the day before Mostofa went for an excellent 26, adding two fours to those two spectacular sixes.

This brought the last pair, Bob Adie and Robbie Collinson to the crease. Adie played out King’s last over, the 38th of the innings, mindful that the last two overs would be the ones that Portcullis could plunder most.

Having done that, both Collinson and Adie plundered 17 runs from the last two overs to close Portcullis’s innings at 151-9.

This had been a fantastic score, especially when they were 12-3 and 22-4 at one point. Richard Collinson had top scored with 34 whilst Shovon Mostofa made 26. Skipper Falconer pitched in with 15 whilst Robbie Collinson made a dashing 11 not out. In all though it had been a good all-round batting performance.

For Stonehaven 2nds Nigel King finished with 4-17 whilst R. Subramanian returned figures of 3-44.

After a pleasant tea it was time for Portcullis to take to the field. Falconer obviously opened the bowling with Mo Farooq. He plumped on Aaron Mundin to open from the other end.

Prior to the start of the match it had been found that the old set of Wicket Keeper Gloves had been packed instead of the new ones. Keeper Simon Winstanley, being the complete cricketer and team player, brushed off this faux pas and got on with the task in hand.

Well he didn’t. He moaned and whinged. What is it they about bad workmen…

Well if the old gloves were meant to hinder him they didn’t. In fact those of you old enough will remember from the ‘Tiger’ and “Roy of the Rovers” comics a story called “Billy’s Boots”. For those of you who don’t it went like this. Billy Dane, the central character, owned an old pair of boots once owned by a player from a bygone age. When Billy put them on he changed from being a poor player into a wonderful one.

Well the older gloves seemed to transform Winstanley. Just like the boots did for Billy Dane!

In the meantime the match got underway. In response to Portcullis opening the bowling with Farooq and Mundin, Stonehaven 2nds opened the batting with the ever reliable Louw and D. Long Snr.

It was Portcullis who struck first. Farooq, bowling with the express pace of the Grampian game previously, got one to rise and brush the gloves of Long Snr. Winstanley, armed with Dead Shot’s gloves dived down leg side to take a fantastic catch!

Shortly after that Winstanley excelled as he made a superb leg-side stop from a Farooq whizz-bang that was simply spectacular!

Stonehaven 2nds 5-1.

Aaron Mundin in the meantime was bowling well at the other end, complimenting Farooq’s express pace. His varying pace on an uneven pitch causing trouble with the bounce. His bowling causing, in particular Louw concern.

It was ironic that Mundin’s first victim would be his partner Plunges, the batsman who came in to replace Long Snr. Mundin , bowling on a good line getting the ball to come back and hit the top of off stump.

Stonehaven 13-2.

Subramanian came in to join Louw at the crease. Subramanian made his intentions known early doors when he struck a sweet four. Mundin, to his credit stuck to his plan of bowling line and length and was rewarded when Subramanian missed one and was bowled.

Stonehaven 19-3.

With the arrival of a younger player, H. Wilson, to the crease Falconer took it upon himself to replace Farooq with the wily off-spin of Walmsley. The change brought instant results. Walmsley immediately settled into a good line and length, causing problems for each batsman.

Two overs later it was the turn of Mundin to be rested as Falconer turned to the raw talent of Mostofa.

With the new pairing into the bowling attack wickets began to fall at regular intervals. Walmsley struck first, bowling the young Wilson. Walmsley soon followed that up by getting the prize wicket of opener Louw. He got one of his off spinners to spit up at Louw which took off and hit the top off his bat leaving Falconer to take an easy catch at short gully, albeit with a “Jazz Hands” gesture not out of place in “Chicago – The Musical”.

Walmsley took two more wickets. First he trapped A. Wilson with a plumb lbw and then followed that up by having young Law caught at mid-on thanks to an excellent catch by Richard Collinson.

Mostofa, bowling up to a nice pace, soon got into the act. First he got Stonehaven’s chief bowling tormentor, Nigel King to glance one towards Winstanley. Winstanley managed to parry it into the air long enough to keep enough self-awareness to take an excellent catch at the second attempt.

Mostofa then finished the innings when he bowled Finn to complete a sound victory for Portcullis as Stonehaven 2nds finished 64 all out.

For Portcullis, Walmsley took the bowling honours, finishing with figures of 4 -17. Mundin finished with 2-15 whilst Mostofa took 2-16. Farooq, somewhat underused finished with 1-9 from 5 overs.

Despite the margin of victory, Stonehaven 2nds did make a hell of a fight of this. It was perhaps to Portcullis’s benefit that Stonehaven 2nds were as much, if not more concerned with the development of their younger players as they were with winning this match. Portcullis to their credit, dug in when things got tough and made a creditable score. It bodes well for the rest of their season.

PORTCULLIS MAN OF THE MATCH

Although a strong challenge from Walmsley nearly took it, RICHARD COLLINSON takes the honours. His knock of 34 could not have been timelier and he took a fine catch to boot. Shovon Mostofa with his knock of 26 and two wickets merited a mention also.

PORTCULLIS MOMENT OF THE MATCH

The stop down leg-side from Simon Winstanley from Farooq’s whizz-bang takes it .

STONEHAVEN 2nds MAN OF THE MATCH

NIGEL KING with bowling figures of 4-17 takes it.

Wednesday, 10 June, 2015