Wins for the 1sts and 2nds
There were wins at the weekend for both the 1sts and 2nd XI’s in league games.
At Donacloney, the 1sts continued on from where they left off mid-week against Cliftonville with a convincing 7 wicket win in their Section 1 league game.
Donacloney batted first and were soon in trouble. With the total on 9, Andrew Bingham claimed the first of 6 LBW’s to be awarded to the Lurgan bowlers with Warren dismissd for 2. Three more Donacloney batsmen soon joined him back in the pavilion as the villagers slumped to 15 for 4 with Bingham taking 3 wickets and Ollie McCollum also
getting into the act. The 11am start meant there was some early morning moisture still in the wicket and accurate bowling from the Lurgan bowlers capitalised on it. A fifth wicket partnership between Derby and Talbot gradually brought the home side back into the game, and at the 25 over drinks interval they had moved the total on to 65 for 4 wkts. However wickets soon started to tumble again as Callum Grieve dismissed Derby for 21 with the score still on 65 and two runs later AV Dandekar had Talbot caught out for 26. The last four Donacloney wickets could only add another 17 runs with further wickets for Ollie McCollum, Andrew Bingham and two for Peter Maxwell as the villagers were bowled out for 84. Another excellent performance from Andrew Bingham saw him take 4 wickets for 16 runs in his 10 overs, Ollie McCollum had 2 for just 9 runs in 6.2 overs., Peter Maxwell 2 for 6 off 3, AV Dandekar 1 for 18 off 7 and Callum Grieve 1 for 29 off 10.
The Lurgan innings started cautiously with AV Dandekar and Jack Harrison being wary on a batting strip that was difficult to score on. With only 4 on the board, Harrison played early to a short delivery from Allison and was bowled for 2. Stephen Chambers joined Dandekar in the middle and had taken the total to 33 when Chambers mis-judged a delivery from Allison that cut back off the seam to take his off stump, and he was out for 7. Callum Grieve quickly followed, adjudged LBW without scoring and when tea was taken at the end of the 16th over, Lurgan were sitting on 40 for 3 with still a lot of work to be done. A rain delay brought the Duckworth Lewis calculation into play and the visitor’s target was adjusted to 81 to win off 45 overs. When play resumed, Peter Maxwell and Dandekar gradually got on top of the Donacloney bowling and eased the visitors to victory in the 26th over and another 4 points.
Lurgan’s next match is against Bangor this Wednesday evening at Pollock Park in a 20 over league game.
There was also a league win for the 2nds on Saturday, beating Lisburn 3rds by 10 runs. Batting first, the town side accumulated 156 in their 25 overs. Top scorer was Jack Hutchinson with 46, while there were useful contributions from Ben Daly (29), Irfan (19) and Mark McShane.
Lisburn were always in with a chance but in the end finished on 146 for 9 wkts. Yasser Matloob was the most successful town bowler taking 4 for 27 while Derek Wilson claimed 3 for 24. The win leaves the seconds joint 4th in the league table on 5 wins.
