After only one victory this season so far Banchory are sitting in the lower half of the table, a different story from finishing fourth last season.

This game was full of controversy but in the end Banchory couldn't force the victory and had to settle for a draw.

Batting first Banchory got off to a solid start with Donald and Potter putting on 59 for the first wicket before Donald was caught at deep mid on for 30.

Ali (0) didn't last long falling caught behind off his first ball, which brought Hasan to the crease.

He and Potter upped the tempo, looking to set over 200 runs as a target. Potter hit a patient 64 before being caught at mid on and with Redpath (0) and Gourlay (1) not troubling the scorers, it was left to Yadav to support Hasan in the closing stages.

Yadav with a 5 over cameo scored 29 not out and Hasan ended the innings on 72 not out.

With a target of 208, Banchory knew that on recent form Cults have been playing for the draw and any opportunities that came along had to be taken in order to take anything from this game.

Banchory made the breakthrough in the second over of the game with Starling catching Lee for 3. Cults were starting to open up and pushed the run rate up to almost 5 runs an over, before Asif (27) and Vicky
(14) were removed in successive overs.

With the score on 58 from 14 overs Cults effectively settled for the draw. With some questionable decisions in the middle, all sportsmanship went out the window, with some astonishing behaviour from a small number of players.
Banchory worked hard to try and dismiss the opposition.

With Millar brought back on to his favoured end he struck immediately with 3 wickets in 2 overs and with Starling's swing bowling from the pavilion end Banchory were turning the screw but in the end it proved to be one wicket too far.

Banchory bowled and fielded well although dropped catches are still all too common, they were not punished for these mistakes.

Pick of the bowling for Banchory was Starling taking 3 wickets for only 10 runs in 10 overs and Millar who almost changed the game in Banchorys favour taking 3 for 31 from his 12.

This was a much improved performance from the Deesiders but there is still much more room for improvement.

Still only one victory from 7 games results in Banchory still sitting in the lower half of the table in 6th place.

Next week sees Banchory take on high flyers Stonehaven who haven't beaten Banchory for two years.