The Sherwin O’Riordan sponsored Leinster Lightning maintained their unbeaten run in the IP20 competition with a comprehensive win over the North West Warriors at Sydney Parade this afternoon.
North West Warriors 83 All Out off 18.4 overs (Gavin Hoey 3-14, Jai Moondra 3-17, Fionn Hand 2-13, John McNally 1-9, George Dockrell 1-17)
Leinster Lightning 86-1 off 8 overs (Lorcan Tucker 60*, Andrew Balbirnie 23*)
Leinster Lightning won by 9 wkts.
The NW won the toss and elected to bat first but were quickly reduced to 29-3 by the end of the sixth over (Jai Moondra on debut finishing with 3-17). By the end of the 11th over, Gavin Hoey had dismissed Jarred Wilson, Scott MacBeth and Andy McBrine to leave the Warriors in some bother at 46-6.
A mini-recovery for the Warriors led by Cameron Melly and David O’Sullivan as they added 24 for the seventh wicket before Melly was caught in the deep by Hand off Dockrell to reduce the Warriors further to 71-7 off 15 overs.
Fionn Hand then returned from the Wilfield Road end to dismiss O’Sullivan caught behind – Warriors were now 72-8 with 4 overs remaining. The innings eventually petered out in the 19th over with Craig Young bowled by John McNally to leave the Warriors 83 all out with 8 balls unused.
In reply, the Leinster Lightning got off to a shaky start with the in-form Tim Tector dismissed second ball without scoring. Lorcan Tucker then dominated a rapid unbeaten second wicket partnership of 85 off just 44 balls with Andrew Balbirnie – the standout performance from Tucker who finished unbeaten on 60* off just 24 balls.
Leinster Lightning have one remaining IP20 fixture which is scheduled for Tuesday 10th September at home in Oak Hill after which they will be officially presented with the trophy as IP20 Champions for 2024 (having secured the title for an 8th time in 12 years when they defeated Munster Reds a couple of weeks ago in The Mardyke).
INTERPROVINCIAL T20 TABLE (AS AT 28.8.2024) | ||||||||
# | TEAM | PLYD | WON | LOST | NO RESULT | ABAND | BONUS | TOTAL |
1 | Leinster Lightning | 8 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 34 |
2 | Northern Knights | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 21 |
3 | North West Warriors | 8 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 |
4 | Munster Reds | 8 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 |
The two sides meet again tomorrow in the 50-over format with play scheduled to start at 10.45am.