McCarthy On Fire as Lightning Roar Back into Championship Clash

A fiery, quick and threatening spell of bowling that yielded 5 for 20 at one stage after Lunch on Day 2 from Barry McCarthy, saw the Lightning come steaming back into an encounter the Warriors had looked to take away from them.

McCarthy bowled from the scoreboard end at North County for nine overs on the trot, as he slipped a gear and threatened both edges of the bat with a spell of truly quick bowling.

Three of his wickets required excellent catches by Andrew Balbirnie at first slip, while Aaron Gillespie and Graham Kennedy were trapped LBW. With five for 51 overnight, McCarthy will be hoping to surpass his First-Class best figures of 6-63 by taking the final wicket early on Wednesday morning.

Earlier on Tuesday, however, it had all looked so different. The Warriors took just 17 balls to mop up the Lightning tail and leave the home side all out for 131.

Then William Porterfield had 50 partnerships with both Ross Allen (27) and Aaron Gillespie (15) as the Warriors reached 99/1 at Lunch and passed 100 soon after.

That preceded a stunning spell from the Lightning as eight wickets fell for 57 runs in the 36 overs following Lunch.

While McCarthy was threatening from one end, Simi Singh (2-36) bowled 25 overs straight, tying down an end and chipping in with two crucial wickets of Davy Rankin and Craig Young.

Josh Little (1-7) had started the wicket ball rolling trapping Allen LBW, while Jack Tector was responsible for a smart piece of fielding to run out Will Smale.

All the while, one man stood firm for the Warriors. Opener William Porterfield remains unbeaten on 95 overnight. Only when number Ryan Macbeth came to the crease did Porterfield begin looking to hurry to his century.

Unfortunately, the Lightning’s ambition to cancel the first innings deficit, 37 now, after Tea on Day 2 were destroyed by a heavy shower that put paid to the rest of the day’s play. Instead, everyone will return at 11am on Wednesday to see how Day 3 plays out.

The final day of this Inter-Provincial Championship match gets underway at 11am at North County cricket club with free entry. There is also live ball-by-ball scoring here and updates on @cricketleinster and @lcu_lightning on Twitter.

InterProvincial Championship, Leinster Lightning v North West Warriors

August 12^th – August 14^th, Day 2, August 13^th

At North County Cricket Club;

Leinster Lightning 131 45.4 overs (S Singh 29, L Tucker 19; C Young 12-6-26-4, G Hume 14.4-3-34-3)

North West Warriors 168/9 66 overs (W Porterfield 95*, R Allen 27; B McCarthy 19-8-51-5, S Singh 25-11-36-2)