KINTORE welcomed Stonehaven to Castle Park with both teams looking for a morale boosting victory to move them up the Grade 1 table and away from any relegation worries.
Kintore made one change from the previous week's line up with Saoud Aslam com
ing in for Michael Singer.
On winning the toss Kintore asked Stonehaven to bat first on a green looking wicket where preparation had been hampered due to the recent weather and produced a surface with variable bounce.
The Kintore opening attack of Neil Jones and Saoud Aslam got both the Stonehaven openers out with Jones taking the wicket of hard hitting Alec Keith with the help of a catch from Phil Middleton.
This might go some way towards removing the demons the Kintore man had from a drop off the same batsman a number of years ago and Keith corner jibes can now be laid to rest.
The Stonehaven wickets continued to fall at regular intervals with only D Garden and B Milne providing any real resistance to the Kintore attack and the visiting side were reduced to 90 all out off 34.4 overs.
The Kintore bowlers doing the damage were "legend" Dougie Anderson with 4 for 17 which takes him up to 21 wickets for the season at an average of 5.6 runs per wicket and opening bowler Neil Jones chipped in with figures of 3 for 32. The standard of fielding also improved from the Kintore side with both Phil Middleton and Roy Walker picking up a couple of catches.
The teamtalk for the Kintore batsman prior to chasing down the 91 runs for victory highlighted the need to be play positively from the start and ensure rotation of the strike to avoid building pressure.
A change in the batting order saw Gareth Prosser opening the batting with Dave Grayson but Kintore were soon on the back foot with Grayson departing with the score on one after skying a full toss to the mid-wicket fielder.
In previous games the loss of early wickets has seen batsmen stop playing shots and ensure further wickets don't fall but on this occasion Prosser and Satya took the attack to Stonehaven and produced a 75 run partnership which all but secured victory for Kintore.
Gareth Prosser finished 42 not out which included three fours and one six and Satya fell for 32 runs including a rare couple of quick singles!
Kintore knocked off the 91 runs required for the loss of 2 wickets from 25.5 overs and leapfrogged Stonehaven in the Grade 1 table. The visitors look like a team short of confidence at the moment but they should have enough quality to ensure they won't be dragged into a relegation battle.
Next game is the local derby at home to Inverurie on Saturday (June 27) with a 1pm start.
Stonehaven 90 all out (34.4 overs). D Garden 23; B Milne 19 not out. D Anderson 4 for 17; N Jones 3 for 32.
Kintore 91 for 2 (25.5 overs). G Prosser 42 not out; Satya 32. A Long 1 for 14; A Wilson 1 for 12.
