No joy for 1sts or 2nds
There were defeats for both the 1sts and 2nds at the weekend, the 1sts losing their first league match to Laurelvale in a high scoring game at Pollock Park and the 2nds losing with just 3 balls to go at Instonians.
At Pollock Park, Laurelvale posted a huge score of 279 for 3 in their 40 overs, with opener Malik hitting an undefeated 196. Although put down at least twice by the Lurgan fielders, Malik capitalised on his fortune and made the town side pay as he blasted 8 sixes and 24 fours in his massive innings.
Seven runs per over was the target rate required by Lurgan and they were well on course to hit that target by the half way mark with 135 on the board for 3 wickets with Stephen Johnston and Callum Gibson in the middle. Johnston was eventually bowled for an excellent 82, an innings that included 12 fours and a six, and Callum Gibson, having already hit 5 sixes, just failed with another attempt and holed out on the deep mid-on boundary for an excellent 77. Unfortunately the town side were unable to maintain the run rate and they were eventually bowled out for 237, 42 runs short of the visitors total.
The 2nd X1 lost by 8 wickets to Inst 4ths in a match that was a lot closer than the winning margin suggests. Batting first Lurgan set a total of 134 for 5 wkts with Mark McShane and Patrick Woods both hitting 29 and Neil Hinds 22 in their 20 overs.
The Inst innings went to the 3rd ball of the last over before the winning runs were hit. Matt Jess and Mark McShane took the only wickets to fall while Vaibhav Sawant conceded only 11 runs in his 4 overs.
For more photos of the game go to Maynard Collins Photography on Facebook
