Fiachra Tucker : Player of the Round
In a day of pulsating action with many teams on the road, the Leinster teams still managed some excellent results against strong NCU opposition. As the dust settles we note that four out of six Leinster teams emerged successful in the North v South contest. In the two other matches Clontarf secured a hard fought win over The Hills and the remaining North West participant [Strabane] sneaked through to the next round with a one run win over Muckamore. But let us focus on where the main action was - Cricket Leinster v NCU.
The day did not get off to a good start when news started filtering down the M1 that YMCA - who had the unenviable task of taking on the current champions and tournament favourites Waringstown - has been pretty much blown away in the first session of the game. With Eaglestone [3/16] leading the way YMCA were reduced at one point to 20/6. A recovery of sorts brought them to 80 but the game was effectively over in the first session.
But just as Waringstown were demolishing YMCA, the boot was on the other foot across the way in Comber as North Down were being hit around the park by Pembroke. Concerns about Pembroke’s batting [based on form and in the absence of Andrew Balbirnie] were set aside as the Tucker brothers [Fiachra and Diarmaid] set about the North Down bowling. The first wicket fell on 207 when captain [Fiachra] fell for 116. Bragging rights must be hotly contested in the Tucker household as this only brought in a third Tucker [Lorcan] who made an undefeated 60 at a run a ball. The only disappointment was Diarmaid failing to record a century, falling on 93. I don’t have the records to prove this but I suspect this much be the most runs scored by a family in an ISC match. Perhaps the Harrison brothers some time in the past rivalled it. An understandably shell shocked North Down were then bundled out for 131 with Tucker [F] adding five wickets to an impressive match day contribution. The win by 216 runs.
Instonians are currently lying second in the NCU Premier League and having made 273/5 [century for Murray Cummins] they were in a good position at the halfway stage against Phoenix. But quick runs by Reinhardt Strydom [86] and Rory Anders [45] at the top of the order [Phoenix were 149/1 after 20 overs] set the platform for a five wicket win with three overs to spare. Given the strength of the Instonians bowling attack with Nikolai Smith and Shane Getkate on hand, this was an impressive effort by Phoenix.
Early wickets for Leinster in a rain effected game in Carrickfergus proved decisive. The home team subsequently recovered well to 174/6 but following more rain and DLS Leinster were left to score 116 in 20 overs. This they duly did thanks to a 50 from Gareth Delany [67]. The win came in the 19th over.
The final match for the travelling Leinster sides was at Stormont where CSNI proved to be too strong for Balbriggan. Batting first the visitors only managed 140 which were duly knocked off by CSNI for the loss of one wicket.
The last match [North v South] was the only one to be played in Dublin. Having just managed to make it through to the second round off the last ball away to Donemana, Merrion contrived to produce another last over finish, for the second time just defending a 250 plus total. And again it was Tyrone Kane who who made the telling contribution at the death.
The story of the match is of one dominated for most session by the visitors CIYMS. The first session was probably just about shaded by Merrion as they got to 50 for the loss of one wicket. But thereafter the inning stalled and by the start of the 40th over [there is an over by over blog of the match under Results on the Cricket Leinster website] Merrion were only 176/3, with only 43 runs scored in the previous ten overs. But the introduction David Langford Smith helped break the shackles and released Kane to power to a better than a run a ball 57. In the end 97 runs scored gave the last 10 over session to Merrion and a final total of 273/9. A good score but at best par on an easy batting surface with a fast outfield.
The first round of the second innings was probably scored about even. Ten over - 41/2 but Nigel Jones well set. And as long as he was at the wicket CIYMS were in charge. Hitting the ball with serious intent he unleashed a series of powerful drives down the ground. Anything short he pulled to equal effect. But Merrion just about held in and even as the 200 came upon the 40th over with five wickets down they still held their nerve [if not their catches]. Jones passed his hundred and with 33 needed off four overs it looked all over for Merrion. But Jones and his partner Mulder had been riding their luck and in short order gave repeat chances which were well duly held. Pressure was mounting - Kane had been reintroduced into the attack and he first stemmed the scoring and then struck to take Jones and Cameron Dow in successive balls. A return stop on the second last ball of the 49th over meant that he had to leave the field with a nasty split on his finger. CIYMS went into the final over needing 11 runs to win and two wickets remaining. The 9th wicket had managed 20 run over the previous two overs so everything was still to play for. But the first ball from Poonish Mehta was straight on the stumps and a swing and a miss proved fatal. The next ball a frantic run to the wicket keeper saw the bowler throw down the stumps at his end with the batsman well short of his ground. Merrion win by ten runs. How many more ‘get out of jail’ cards do they have in their pack.
In the final game Clontarf, bowling first, dominated from the start, but still made heavy weather of their win. With only Sean Terry [54] making a meaningful contribution from the top order it was left to Harry Archer [35] and Naseer Shout [23] to get The Hills to a score of 168. Shariful Islam did the damage with 5/34. Clontarf, and this has surely become their specialty, did just enough to win. Four scores in the 20s and 35 extras helped them struggle to 170/8 to win in the last over. Three wickets each for Albert van der Merwe [3/36] and Daya Singh [3/26] were the main wicket takers - but as usual pressure was exerted by Shoukat who bowled his full compliment of overs for 18 runs.
So an excellent round of ISC matches with a lot of tight finishes. A good day for the Leinster sides but crucially Waringstown are still there and will take some beating. The teams for the QFs are - Waringstown and CSNI [NCU], Strabne [NWCU] and Clontarf, Leinster, Merrion Pembroke and Phoenix [CL].