WEEKEND CRICKET
3 WINS FOR MEN’S TEAMS
There was Junior Cup success for the 1sts against Downpatrick on Saturday while there was double success for the 2nds with wins against Carrick 3rds on Friday evening and Instonians 4ths on Saturday morning.
A second successive century for Stephen Johnston paved the way for the 1sts to post a huge 386 for 6 in their 50 over Junior Cup quarter final against Downpatrick at Pollock Park on Saturday. Following on from his 133no last Saturday, Stephen’s innings of 179 included 25 fours and 2 sixes. With temperatures hovering around 80deg F for the second week running, it proved a good toss to win for the home side as they quickly moved to 77 in just 10 overs, though losing 2 wickets in the process, Jack Hutchinson for 1 and Stephen Chambers for 21. A superb third wicket stand of 194 between Johnston and Jack Maxwell (63) took the game away from Downpatrick and a quick 46 from Callum Gibson saw the home side’s total past the 350 mark. Derek Wilson (14no) and Scott Wilson (5no) saw the home side through to the 50th over and 387 to win looked an extremely tough call for the visitors.
It was Callum Gibson with 5 for 45 in his 10 overs who ripped through the top of the Downpatrick batting order but an undefeated century from Hutton (106) and a well-supported innings from Ferguson (70), in a 7th wicket partnership of 116, kept the home side out in the sun until Peter Maxwell bowled Ferguson with the total on 188. Peter went on to take two more wickets as the visitors were eventually bowled out for 264. In addition to Gibson’s 5 for 45, Maxwell finished on 3 wkts for 34 in 6.4 overs while Adam Johnson took 1 for 42 in 8.
For photos of the game go to Maynard Collins Photography at the following link
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1PRvIGQAT7dLzHKUQzxdgYZ2t9so_9lnb?usp=sharing
Lurgan will now play Laurelvale at Pollock Park next Saturday in the semi-final of the competition.
There were 2 emphatic wins for the 2nds at the weekend starting with a 10 wicket triumph over Carrick 3rds at Pollock Park on Friday evening. Batting first, Carrick set Lurgan a target of 147 to win after their 20 overs, losing only one wicket in the process. A second wicket partnership of 131 between Hutton (63no) and Murdoch (51ret’d) set the home side a challenging total. Peter Hutchinson claimed the only wicket to fall for 28 runs in his 4 overs while Vaibhav Sawant’s 4 overs cost only 19 runs.
In reply the 2nds were always ahead of the run rate with Marvin van Niekirk playing some classic shots in an innings of 88no, and Jack Hutchinson also in fine form being undefeated on 41 to see the town side claim a vital 4 points. On the Saturday morning it was almost a copy of the night before with Marvin van Niekirk continuing on from where he left off, this time hitting an unbeaten 61. John Woods was unlucky to be dismissed for an attacking 49 as the Lurgan opening partnership passed 100 for the second game in a row. Mark McShane (14no) helped the home side over the winning line with 8 balls remaining. Earlier Manav Tygani took 2 for 25 in 3 overs and Vaibhav Sawant 1 for 18 in 4 overs as the visitors scored 140 for 3 wkts in their 20 overs.
The two wins take the 2nds up to third place in the league with 24 points and 2 games.
