As the Dec Rebels sat out in Week 6, there were wins for the Legends, St Ronald, GPoR, Knightriders, Aberdeen University, ATSSC and Grammar 98. Coming at the end of Aberdeen’s heat wave, it started a bit chilly and overcast, but soon cleared to an evening of bright sunshine.

ATSSC beat Ellon by 5 wickets at the Shed in a high scoring match that produced more than 330 runs on the night, a result that keeps ATSSC at the top of the table by way of a better margin. Batting first, Ellon posted a total of 165-7. In reply, ATSSC made 167-5.

Local spinster Miss Deboat, at number 33, was horrified when she saw the latest visiting team wandering down to Allan Park Stadium to face the Legends. She remembered the crescendo of noise that threatened her windows when the Knightriders visited and nervously bit her lower lip. Skipper Balsillie duly lost the toss yet again for a Legends team who no longer had any faith in his tossing capabilities and the visiting Dare Devils Captain decided to bat on a very firm batting wicket. Miss Deboat need not have worried as the Legends bowling attack pulverised the shell-shocked Dare Devils into silence as they raced to 15 runs for the loss of 8 wickets after 10 overs. Skipper Balsillie led the way with figures of 5 for 4 and was ably assisted by Forbes, Keith and B Milne who all chipped in. The Legends were considering a 7.30 finish but then the Dare Devils tail wagged allowing them to reach a total of 78 all out after 18 overs with X Tras being the top scorer on 23. Rahul chipped in with a sensible 22 before a rather volatile Anderson removed his middle stump with an absolute pearler. Miss Deboat bit her lip again as she saw Anderson’s anger and shuddered. In response the Legends opened slowly, with Sree bowling well for the Dare Devils who along with Gokul tied down the Legends opening bats. Gilly, G Milne and Morrison all fell cheaply but then order was restored and some massive hitting from S Milne (28) and Milroy (16) saw the Legends overhaul the target in 12 overs. Milne hit a huge 6 onto the golf course and very nearly won "nearest the pin" on the 13th and Milroy was warned about mistreating the ball as 2 massive 6's landed near to Torry, winning the game for the Legends by five wickets (83-5). The Dare Devils were gracious in defeat and confirmed to the visiting DeC Rebel spies hiding in the trees and surrounding scrubbage, that there was indeed life in the Legendary old dogs. Local spinster, Miss Deboat, remembering Anderson’s dominant rage, was left wondering where the "Hoff" had been these last two weeks?

The Knightriders beat Caledonian by 5 wickets in a closely fought and lively encounter at DP1. Caledonian batted first and scored 127-5 in 20 overs, with Thomson (30no), Himanshu (31no) and Hoult (26) doing the damage with the bat for Caley. Pick of the bowlers for the Knightriders were Ravi (2-19 off 4), Raja (1-20 off 4) and Sella (1-15 off 2). In reply, the Knightriders chased down the total with plenty of vocal encouragement from the sidelines, reaching 128-5 with 9 balls to spare. Siva (33no), Veerappan (30no) and Suman (26) top scored for the Knightriders. Pick of the bowlers for Caley were Hoult (1-13 off 4 Overs) and Sunni (2-6 off 1.3).

Grammar 98 secured their first win of the season, beating Dutchmill by 4 wickets at the Links. Dutchmill batted first and scored a healthy 147 for 4 in 20 overs.  Oli Wood got the Mill off to a flyer with a quick-fire 30.  Solid knocks from D. Bennett (21), R. Buchanan (29) and M. Shepherd (26no) saw them through to 147. Goval picked up 2-15 for G98 with his left arm chinaman! In reply, G98 reached 148 for 6 with an over to spare.  Contributors to the total were K. Findlay (31), Grant Jamieson (29), L. Goval (30) and S. Crichton (20no). Gavin Jamieson took 4-24 off his 4 overs for the Mill.

Aberdeen University remain undefeated on their home patch, beating MCC by 24 runs, a defeat that keeps MCC at the wrong end of the table. AUCC batted first and reached 140-3, with A McHoul and R Van Oorschot both undefeated on 30. In reply, MCC reached 116-5, with Vijay top scoring for MCC on 30no.

Inn at the Park’s slump in form has continued, suffering yet another defeat, this time at the hands of St Ronald at DP3. The Park won the toss and batted first. All was going very well at first, with the score sitting nicely on 36 with no wickets down. However, having lost their first wicket at the end of the previous over, Mush played forward to the first ball of the next from Vai, but the ball cut back and demolished the woodwork for 16.  WG stepped up and attempted to slog the next ball into the pond, but it went through the gate and he ended up with a duck on his swan-song.  Farooq unsportingly denied the bowler his hat trick by prodding the ball to mid on, however proceeded to run to the other end, where he was abruptly sent back to no man’s land.  So, 4 deliveries, 4 wickets and a shell shocked Park team. The Park batted on and finally made 117 all out in the 18th over, with J Mac (22), Mush (16) and Guru (15) scoring a few runs. Vai (4-26 off 4) and Davinder (2-14 off 4) were the pick of the bowlers for St Ronald. In reply, St Ronald reached 118-7 in the 18th over to record a 3 wicket victory. Vai rounded off a man of the match performance, scoring a ‘maximum’ with the bat (35no), assisted by Eddy (16) and a few mighty blows from Jagpal (14 no) to finish the game. Masud (2-20 off 4) and Guru (3-19 off 4) put up some stern resistance for the Park.

The Gentleman Players beat Chevron by 4 wickets in a close match at DP2. Chevron won the toss and elected to bat. J Skedge and T Donald made fine work as the opening batsmen, taking the score to 63 for 0 after the first 8 overs. Donald especially was hard hitting and both retired after scoring 30 and 31 respectively. Clever bowling and a general improvement in the field saw the gentlemen restrict Chevron to just 41 off the next 12 overs, setting a target of 104-5 to beat. Pick of the bowlers was veteran Simon Tomkins (1-6 off 4) and the slightly younger Barry Shepherd (1-10 off 4). In reply, Martyn Budd made a solid 23 before being bowled and new recruit Murray Bain made a telling 14 in his first game of cricket since primary school. The majority of batsmen chipped in and the Chevron total was surpassed in the 19th over (105-6). Chris Bell was the pick of the bowlers for Chevron having invested in a new set of spikes this year, finishing with 2-20 off his four overs. A very enjoyable game, especially with entertainment being supplied by the Knightriders on the adjacent DP1!