1sts out of relegation zone
Lurgan experienced both ends of the cricket spectrum last week with an 8 wicket win over Saintfield followed up by an 8 wicket trouncing by Muckamore. The win did however lift them out of the Section 1 relegation zone with one win more than Ballymena and Saintfield and with a match in hand.
In the T20 game against Saintfield at Pollock Park, a good bowling and fielding display saw the Town side restrict Saintfield to 103 for 6 wickets in their 20 overs. There were 2 wickets for Paul Stafford and a wicket each for Callum Grieve and John Guy while there was a very economical bowling performance from Callum Gibson, his 4 overs conceding only 10 runs.
In reply, Lurgan got off to a flying start with Stephen Johnston taking 14 runs from the first over and the home side had 30 runs on the board going into the 4th over when Johnston mistimed a shot from the bowling of Sofley into the hands of Kerr for 19. Professional Niranjan Godbole joined Neil Anderson and both batsmen kept the Lurgan total well ahead of the 5 an over asking rate until the 11th over, when Anderson was caught by Owens off Telford for 32. Derek Wilson was next in and with no further wickets conceded, both he and Godbole eased past the Saintfield total with 2 overs to spare, Godbole finishing on 29no and Wilson 10no.
By contrast, an inept batting display by the Town side saw them crash to an 8 wkt defeat at home to Muckamore.
Batting first on a wicket that was helpful to the bowlers, the home side had no answer to the bowling of Gill (4 wkts for 9 runs off 10 overs) and Dandekar (4 for 15 off 6). Only Stephen Johnston (19) made it to double figures as Lurgan were skittled out for just 43 runs.
Callum Grieve struck early in the Muckamore reply, clean bowling Keates with the total on 5, but only one further success was to follow with Gill being caught by Connor Rankin off Niranjan Godbole for 12. Muckamore eased past the Lurgan total in the 14th over with Dandekar finishing on 25 not out.
With 5 more games still to play, Lurgan will still need a few more wins to retain their Section 1 status.
The ball used by Lurgan for the game against Saintfield was kindly sponsored by Ronnie Johnston, while the ball used against Muckamore was kindly sponsored by Alan Brown.
