THE inclination was to think of what might have been on Saturday as Waringstown recorded their second Premier League victory in the space of two days at Upritchard Park.
The villagers, with Ireland internationals Kyle McCallan, James Hall and Gary Kidd all playing, defeated hosts Bangor by 26 runs.
If all three had been available for most league matches this season, few would dispute that Waringstown would now be challenging North Down and Civil Service North for the title.
Simon Harrison’s side batted first and produced a solid performance to finish on 202 for four on a difficult batting track.
Openers Hall and Lee Nelson added 57 for the first wicket before the latter was dismissed for 21, and Hall (56) then joined Pakistan professional in a composed 70-run partnership for the second wicket.
Run scoring was never easy, but all the Waringstown batsmen applied themselves well, with Ahmed making 53 and Kyle McCallan contributing an unbeaten 34.
Bangor never really looked like reaching that target. Dave Cheater, the New Zealand born seamer, continued his fine debut season by claiming two wickets with the new ball to put the home side on the back foot.
The main resistance came from home captain Mark Hutchinson, who batted solidly for a patient 73, but Bangor had few answers to Waringstown’s spin attack, with McCallan conceding just 13 runs from his 10 overs.
Hall collected the best figures however, following up his four wickets against Cliftonville with a superb burst of six for 42.
Bangor were eventually dismissed in the last over for 176, leaving Waringstown comfortable winners.
WARINGSTOWN saw off the challenge of relegation-haunted Cliftonville with some ease at The Lawn last Friday.
The villagers, who were back to something approaching full strength, never looked in danger of losing against a Cliftonville team that has won just twice in the Ulster Bank Premier League all season.
Cliftonville won the toss and batted first in a 38-over match and they got off to a decent start with Ireland batsman Paul Stirling looking in fine touch.
He hit several impressive boundaries and with Waringstown serving up a number of wides, the visitors raced to 30 for 0 in just six overs.
But in the 10th over with the score at 42 the momentum swung decisively toward s Waringstown as Stirling probably connected too well as he clipped Stuart Kidd off his legs and Keith Morrison took an excellent catch above his head at deep square leg.
Stirling was gone for 20 from 32 balls, including two boundaries, but as impressive a cameo as it was, this was a day when Cliftonville required a huge score.
Gareth McKee will have been bitterly disappointed with the manner of his dismissal as he hit Gary Kidd’s second delivery to Kyle McCallan at cover before he had scored. Soon after, Ricky Stirling became the first of four dismissals for wicketkeeper Jonathan Bushe as he edged Gary Kidd behind.
The only respite for Cliftonville came during a 29-run stand for the fourth wicket between Neil Cahill, the opening batsman, and South African professional Nigel Bouwers.
A t 92 for three in the 28th over, Cliftonville had realistic aspirati ons of reaching something in the region of 170 but what followed was an all too familiar collapse as they lost their last seven wickets for just 23 runs in the space of nine overs.
Bouwers, frustrated after grinding his way to 13, was stumped off McCallan (3-18), and then Cahill, after hitting three fours and a six in his 37 from 88 balls, finally lost patience and was caught on the deep square leg boundary, one of four victims for James Hall.
A final total of 115 in a 38-over match was never likely to test Waringstown, especially with Lee Nelson fresh from his remarkable unbeaten 190 in the Colts Cup final the previous evening.
The Ireland under-17 captain, sporting a new jet black haircut, started in much the same attacking vein, countering the early introduction of left-arm spinner Stephen McChesney by immediately launching him back over his head for six.
Nelson scored 34 o f Waringstown’s first 50 runs, and eased his way to 45 from just 31 balls, hitting three fours and two sixes, and it was a big surprise when he pulled a short delivery from Philip Mulholland to deep mid-wicket.
By that stage Cliftonville had long since given up the ghost and a 42-run partnership between Andrew Cousins and Keith Morrison (20) took Waringstown to within one run of victory before the latter was caught off Bouwers.
McCallan then departed for a duck but Cousins remained unbeaten on 30 from 57 balls, hitting three fours, as Waringstown cantered home with more than eight overs to spare.
WARINGSTOWN lost their second Challenge Cup final in successive years last Friday after an agonising four-run defeat to Civil Service North at Downpatrick.
When the defeat came, from the last ball of the 48th over of Waringstown’s ultimately unsuccessful run chase, it could barely have been harder to take.
With last pair Stuart Kidd and Simon Stokes at the wicket, the villagers required just five runs for victory with 13 balls left, and Regan West, the New Zealand left arm spinner, was bowling his final delivery.
Kidd was facing and if he had negotiated the ball safely, then the villagers would have fancied their chances of getting the runs required from the remaining two overs, which were to be bowled by Civil Service North’s part-time bowlers.
Kidd did everything asked of him, playing forward and watching th e ball spin a good foot past his outside edge. However, there was a noise of bat brushing against pad and umpire Mark Hawthorne mistakenly raised in finger in response to a huge appeal for caught behind.
Kidd was crestfallen, sinking to his knees in misery while at the other end a furious Stokes stormed off to the pavilion.
It was a bitterly disappointing way to lose but that Waringstown were even in a position to get so close to CSN’s modest 150 for nine was remarkable, because they had seemed a well beaten side a little over an hour earlier.
At 83 for seven, the villagers had batted for the most part horribly, and it took a superb partnership of 59 between Peter Hanna and Dave Cheater, the opening bowler, to get them back in the contest.
Cheater was the man who led the way, first smashing Colin Andrews into the car park for a huge six and taking the aggressive lead in making a top score o f 27 from 31 balls.
At the other end Hanna was more circumspect but gradually they turned a dire position into one where Waringstown were strong favourites.
However, panic set in with CSN looking a beaten side and Waringstown requiring just nine to win from more than three overs.
Hanna made the initial mistake, calling Cheater for a risky single to backward point and unfortunately the eighth wicket pair ended up at the same end and CSN were able to complete an easy run out.
From the next ball the match had turned completely on its head as Cheater crashed medium pacer Wayne Horwood in the air to long off where he was taken about five yards inside the boundary.
Even then Waringstown could still have won it as Kidd and Stokes held their nerve under mounting press ure to accumulate four more runs, but unfortunately the match ended in controversy.
Simon Harrison’s side were right to feel aggrieved but they also have to study flaws in their own performance. Kyle McCallan and James Hall, their best two batsmen, both got starts but gifted their wickets to Horwood, primarily an opening batsman who bowls occasional medium pace.
McCallan pulled a long hop to mid-on after looking in superb touch while Hall, after surviving an easy missed chance to point, was taken brilliantly by a substitute fielder at long-of, but he shouldn’t have been hitting the ball in the air in the first place.
Harrison himself and Jonathan Bushe both struggled too, but it would be unfair to lay the blame solely at the feet of the batsmen.
Earlier in the day, after winning the toss and bowling first in helpful conditions, the villagers had CSN on their knees at 37 for four with key men West and=2 0Gary Wilson both back in the pavilion relatively cheaply.
Harrison bowled his 10 overs straight through for just seven runs and with Nigel Jones, the CSN captain, scoring just five runs from his first 49 deliveries, the villagers were right on top.
It’s no exaggeration to say the batting side didn’t know where their next run was coming from while Harrison was bowling but Waringstown crucially didn’t keep the pressure on.
McCallan, the best spinner in Ireland, mistakenly started with three men on the leg side boundary, and this enabled Jones, who was struggling badly, to get some crucial singles and relieve the pressure, and together he added decisive partnerships with Rob Arthur and youngster Michael Heaney.
Waringstown will argue that they=2 0had Jones caught behind when he was just 17. It appeared that he edged Harrison through to wicketkeeper Bushe but this time umpire Hawthorne was unmoved in the face of highly confident appeal.
Even in spite of this fortunate let-off, CSN should not have reached 100. Gary Kidd, the Ireland spinner, will be disappointed with his first spell and again Waringstown, so profligate with the ball all season, needlessly conceded 20 wides, which were absolutely vital in the final analysis.
This was a final Waringstown could have and should have won. Luck was against them all day yes, but on the other hand the critics will question why just four players practiced the night before the final, the only dry evening of an otherwise wet week.
The contrast with the third and fourth elevens, who were at The Lawn en masse the same evening ahead of their scheduled Minor Cup final on Saturday, couldn’t have been greater.
WARINGSTOWN’S miserable sequence of results against old rivals North Down continued on Saturday they were heavily beaten by eight wickets at The Lawn.
The villagers, who were sent into bat on a surprisingly green wicket, never recovered after they were reduced to 65 for five.
Opener James Hall was back in the pavilion as early as the first over, bowled by the excellent Taimur Khan, and after surviving a tricky examination from Khan and Luke Parsons, Simon Harrison followed after edging behind.
Batting was difficult during those first 18 overs but there was still no excuse for some of the disappointing dismissals.
Ijaz Ahmed, whose body language was poor after he was rapped on the knuckles early on, hit a half volley from Parsons (2-37) to Jo Montgomery at short cover in what was probably the most dismal dismissal of the lot.
Jonathan Bushe briefly flurried, making a quickfire 17 before he dragged a half volley from Marty Moreland (3-41) onto his stumps and after Peter Hanna was dismissed by the same bowler, the villagers were deep in trouble.
Lee Nelson, fresh from a century for the under-17s the previous night, at least showed plenty of courage, and he added 46 for the sixth wicket with Andrew Cousins.
However, by now the pitch was flattening out and after doing the hard work, Nelson was stumped for 38 as he tried to accelerate the scoring rate against the part-time slow bowling of Ryan Haire.
Cousins, in only his second game back in the side after a protracted spell in the seconds, batted beautifully, hitting the spinners strongly down the ground and through the on side, but support from the lower order was sadly lacking once again.
Cousins was eventually last man out from the final ball of the 48th over for 66, after facing 82 balls and hitting eight fours and a six.
A total of 185 all out represented a recovery from the home side but by now the pitch had dried out and the villagers were probably 100 short of a competitive total.
Waringstown required a flurry of early wickets and they should have had a breakthrough in the first over when Ryan Haire edge a fine ball from Dave Cheater, but wicketkeeper Bushe dropped a one-handed opportunity to20his left.
It was the last sniff of a chance as Waringstown largely wasted the new ball and Haire cut loose.
Waringstown did dismiss Jo Montgomery, easily caught at mid-off, and after playing and missing repeatedly against Simon Stokes, Australian Andrew Sutherland edged behind.
Haire then found an ally in Khan and the Pakistan all-rounder, after a poor spell with the bat, made an unbeaten half century, which he owed partly to his countryman Ijaz who dropped him embarrassingly.
Haire finished unbeaten on 90 from 114 balls, and he was rarely troubled after that early scare.
WARINGSTOWN’S worst Premier League campaign this century got even worse on Sunday when they were defeated by 18 runs Bangor at Upritchard Park.
To sum up the villagers’ woes, they took to the field without eight players as the absence of Ireland internationals Kyle McCallan and Gary Kidd, and the non-Sunday players continued to take its toll.
Waringstown probably shouldn’t have been playing the game the day after a tough fixture against North Down but at least their performance in the field didn't warrant severe criticism.
However, dropped chances were crucial with Yasis Tillakaratne, Bangor’s Sri Lankan professional, missed several times on his way to a priceless half century.
Ryan Bell, a dangerous lower order batsman, was also dropped early on and his late assault in making 20 took Bangor to a total just shy of 200.
Stuart Kidd, who bowled towards the end of the innings, impressed by taking three for 26, while spinners Lee Nelson and Ijaz Ahmed were again economical.
The total shouldn’t have been a difficult chase for Waringstown but too many batsmen are badly out of form, including James Hall and Ahmed.
The former departed for a duck, slashing at a wide delivery outside off stump, while Ahmed failed for the second successive day.
With Simon Harrison again falling cheaply in a new opener’s role, it was left to Lee Nelson and Jonath an Bushe to repair the damage.
Nelson batted well for the second day in a row while Bushe has too often been waging a lone battle with the bat this season as others have disappointed around him.
The fourth wicket pair added 45 before Nelson fell for 45 to leave Waringstown on 97 for four.
At least Bushe found some assistance with Keith Morrison (16) and as they took Waringstown to 134 for four, the game seemed to be going the visitors’ way.
However, after Morrison fell it was back on familiar territory for Waringstown as the lower order collapsed in an all too familiar heap despite run rate not being a problem.
Bushe was eventually dismissed for 52 and with him went the last remaining hopes of victory.
A BRILLIANT century from Ijaz Ahmed eased Waringstown to a comfortable 79-run victory over Lisburn at Wallace Park on Saturday.
The Pakistan batsman made 115 from exactly 115 balls, hitting eight fours and two sixes as the villagers posted 232 for five batting first.
That was a sizeable score that had looked very unlikely during the first half of the innings when Waringstown struggled to score fluently.
James Hall went early, bowled by a slower ball from David Simpson, and Andrew Cousins and Lee Nelson found life difficult on a wicket that helped the bowlers and a slow outfield also hindered quick scoring.
Nelson eventually went, bowled by Richard McConkey for four, and Waringstown wer e just 63 for two after 25 overs.
Cousins, making his return to the senior side after showing admiration dedication in the seconds, battled to reach 30 but when he was caught behind for 30, the villagers were 87 for three.
That brought Jonathan Bushe to the crease to join Ahmed and together they produced a superb partnership of 128 for the fourth wicket.
Bushe made an enterprising 40 from 51 balls, hitting two fours and provided Ahmed with some great support as runs came quickly in the last ten overs.
Waringstown would still have been wary of Lisburn’s threat with Gerry Strydom, their prolific South African professional, opening the innings.
The left-hander set off with a flurry of boundaries but Simon Stokes produced a brilliant delivery which took the outside edge o n its way through to Bushe behind the stumps.
With Strydom went Lisburn’s hopes of victory, although David Simpson did hold up Waringstown for a while with a top score of 47.
All the Waringstown bowlers contributed in a fine all-round bowling performance. Stokes, the hero with that early wicket of Strydom, also dismissed the dangerous Greg Thompson for a duck on his way to claiming two for 22.
Nelson took two for 15 and there were also wickets for Hall, Gary Kidd and Stuart Kidd as Lisburn were bowled out for just 153 in the 43rd over.
WARINGSTOWN snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Sunday as they stunned Carrick by 54 runs at Middle Road.
The villagers, who were well below strength with a number of players missing, looked be down and out as Carrick cruised towards their modest target of 185.
First Barry Cooper and Andrew Cowden added 69 for the first wicket, with Waringstown only making a belated breakthrough thanks to the run out of Cooper for 33.
But that provided only temporary respite for the visitors as Cowden and South African professional Colin Birch put on 34 for the second wicket without breaking sweat.
At 103 for one, a Carrick victory looked to be a formality but suddenly the game turned on its head.
Simon Harrison brought himself back into the attack to remove Cowden lbw for 36 and then Jonathan Bushe completed a remarkable piece of wicketkeeping to dismiss Birch.
Harrison bowled the ball down the leg side and Bushe somehow anticipated the delivery and whipped off the bails with Birch out of his ground and on his way back to the pavilion for 23.
From there Carrick collapsed in quite amazing fashion. Nazir Khan fell cheaply to Lee Nelson and after captain Ryan Eagleson was trapped lbw by the impressive Stuart Kidd, the home side were starting to falter.
In the end the statistics made for remarkable reading. They collapsed completely with the last nine wickets falling for just 27 runs to leave them all out for 130 and Waringstown winners by 54 runs.
Harrison finished with excellent figures of two for 21, likewise Stuart Kidd claimed three for 20 and Nelson two for 26.
Despite claiming a win that assures Waringstown of their Premier League status for next season, captain Simon Harrison will be concerned about some elements of the batting performance.
They were below strength, with Kyle McCallan and Peter Hanna unavailable, but there was still no excuse with the way Waringstown collapsed from 152 for three to 185 all out, with the last seven wickets fall for just 33 runs.
It all looked so promising when James Hall and Harrison himself compiled a 77-run partnership for the first wicket in good time.
Hall was the first to go, caught and bowled for 41, and a mix-up with Harrison saw Nelson run out cheaply a short while later.
Both Harrison and Ijaz Ahmed will be annoyed that they got out in disappointing fashion when well set, with Harrison fall to the medium pace of Cowden for 42, a mistake also made by Ahmed who made 43.
Bushe continued his consistent form with 26 but wickets were falling around the former captain with Keith Morrison and Kidd, both usually competent batsmen, experiencing a continuation in their poor batting form.
James Matthews, who produced a brilliant fielding performance, Alan Waite and Jason Stokes, couldn't quite contribute down the order but at least they accepted the offer of promotion from the seconds and helped Waringstown to a welcome win.
WARINGSTOWN cruised to a routine victory over struggling Derriaghy at Queensway on Monday.
The villagers, who have struggled to get their Ulster Bank Premier League campaign into full flow because of the absence of their three Irish internationals for prolonged periods, always looked in control after the home side batted first.
Derriaghy, who are in danger of relegation back to Section Two, played and missed repeatedly early on and a lot hinged on their Indian professional Kaushik Aphale and captain Andrew Kenny.
Gary Kidd, the Ireland left-arm spinner, removed both players, bowling the dangerous Aphale for 21 and then having Kenny caught by Dave Cheater for 15.
Craig Lewis provided some resistance for Derriaghy, as he battled to a top score 34, but after he was dismissed by Kyle McCallan the innings soon went into freefall.
Stuart Kidd was introduced to the attack and took two quick wickets, including that of former Downpatrick wicketkeeper Derek McCann, and then Cheater returned to dismiss the last two batsmen without scoring.
Derriaghy were finally all out in the 43rd over for just 144. Gary Kidd finished with three for 28, McCallan had two for 25, Stuart Kidd two for 11 and Cheater two for 21.
In the absence of Lee Nelson, who was captaining the Ireland under-17 side in the European Championships, captain Simon Harrison promoted himself to open the batting.
However, the move didn’t really pay off as Harrison, usually very effective and much more comfortable in the middle order, could only contribute seven from an opening stand of 61 with James Hall before he was a victim of Aphale.
Ijaz Ahmed was surprisingly bowled by Aphale a short time later for another low score but even at 70 for two Waringstown were not in any serious trouble.
Hall and McCallan, the Ireland pair, then produced an unbroken 77-run partnership for the third wicket with Hall unbeaten on 68 and McCallan on 39.
The winning runs were hit at the end of the 24th over, meaning Waringstown were eight-wicket winners with fully 26 overs to spare.
The villagers travel to Lisburn and Carrickfergus on Saturday and Sunday as their long sequence of away matches continues
Waringstown beaten in dramatic Irish Cup finish
WARINGSTOWN’S Irish Cup ambitions ended in the most dramatic fashion at Donemana on Saturday as they slumped to a two-run defeat.
When Gary Kidd hit the fourth and fifth deliveries of the penultimate over of the match to the boundary at The Holm, the villagers seemed to be on the brink of victory.
With seven deliveries left, they required just seven runs to overhaul Donemana’s 191.
But Kidd failed to score from Azhar Shafique’s final delivery, and between them the Ireland international and Peter Hanna could only scramble three singles from the first three deliveries of the final over bowled by James McBrine.
With four needed from three, Kidd was stumped by Richard Dougherty and from the next delivery Dave Cheater could only slice his first ball to third man where Jordan McGonigle took a fine diving catch.
At least the batsmen managed to cross however and Hanna, after a typically fighting half-century that had hauled Waringstown back into the match, faced the final ball knowing that a boundary would still win the game.
But Hanna could only crash the ball along the ground to Stephen Dunn at long-off, and a single left the visitors agonisingly two runs short.
Waringstown didn’t lose the match in those dramatic final few moments though. In a match reduced to 35 overs per side following a delayed start, they were satisfied to limit the home side to 191, an innings anchored by 89 not by Graham Boyd.
But Waringstown’s top four of James Hall, Lee Nelson, Ijaz Ahmed and Kyle McCallan left the middle and lower orders with far too much to do.
Hall, in his first match back after injury, made just two before hitting Dunn to mid-on where Dwayne McGerrigle took a fine one-handed catch on the run.
Nelson edged James McBrine’s first delivery to slip and McCallan, after struggling against Junior McBrine, lofted to cover where the left-arm spinner’s son Ritchie took the first of two outstanding catches.
Ahmed, who was dropped on six by Dale Olphert at square left, raced to 31 before carelessly hitting a long-hop from Boyd to the leg side boundary where Olphert gratefully atoned for his earlier mistake.
At 64 for four, Waringstown’s backs were firmly against the wall and Junior McBrine made their task seemingly impossible by bowling his seven overs for just 10 runs as Hanna and Jonathan Bushe gradually rebuilt the innings.
At the 20-over mark the fifth-wicket pair seemed a long way off the pace on 73 for four with 119 needed from 15 overs, but it wasn’t long before the boundaries began to flow in a 69-run partnership.
They required virtually ten runs an over for final nine and the pressure eventually told in the 31st when Bushe, after making 46 from 51 balls, including three fours and two sixes, was caught on the boundary.
If anyone didn’t deserve to be on the losing side it was Hanna, and after hitting four sixes and two fours in an unbeaten 59, he trudged off disconsolate at the end.
Earlier, after an erratic opening from Waringstown’s seamers and some slack fielding, the spinners turned the screw on everyone bar Boyd, with Shafique the first of three victims for McCallan, who bowled beautifully in his seven overs to claim three for 20.
Boyd reached his 50 in the 23rd over from 65 balls, but at the other end wickets continued to fall and when James McBrine was bowled by Ijaz to make it 113 for five, the home side were faltering.
Crucially, 70 runs came from the final five six overs, with 23 alone in the 30th bowled by the otherwise excellent Kidd, and Boyd added first 36 with Ritchie McBrine (18) and then 43 at the end with the unorthodox Dougherty.
The Donemana wicketkeeper made 26 from only 14 balls, including two sixes and two fours, including 15 from the final over from Cheater which proved priceless in the final analysis.
Boyd carried his bat with 89 from 105 balls, including seven fours and four sixes.
A BRILLIANT partnership between Kyle McCallan and Jonathan Bushe, and five wickets from captain Simon Harrison, has secured Waringstown’s place in the TCH Challenge Cup final for the third successive season.
The villagers wrapped up an 81-run victory over CIYMS at Belmont on Monday night after rain prevented the match’s conclusion on Saturday.
Resuming on 79 for two chasing the villagers’ 247 for three, CIYMS were never really in the hunt after losing not out batsman Michael Hingston to Lee Nelson after he had added only five to his overnight 24.
Simon Flanagan briefly threatened to make it interesting, hitting boundaries from his first two deliveries, and making 16 from nine balls before he was bowled by Harrison.
Richard Lucas, the other overnight not out batsman, was the last remaining hope but when he was caught by Peter Hanna off Harrison, the game petered out into its inevitable conclusion.
Harrison was the pick of the Waringstown attack, finishing with five for 27, but it wasn’t enough to win him the man of the match award, with McCallan taking that honour for his unbeaten century on Saturday.
Bushe and McCallan added 189 for the third wicket to take the villagers to the comfort of 247 for three from 50 overs, with McCallan reaching his second Waringstown century from the final ball of the innings.
That Waringstown came within three runs of 250 was largely down to the way the two internationals pressed the foot firmly on the accelerator in the closing overs.
They smashed 95 from the last 10 overs, and 55 from the final five, as a Belmont wicket that offered plenty for the seamers early on flattened out as the day went on.
Bushe made his highest ever senior score of 86 from 103 balls, including six fours, before he was out late on.
McCallan needed two from the final delivery of the innings to reach three figures and he achieved the milestone with a shot through the extra cover region. He hit seven fours and one six and his century took exactly 100 balls.
CI captain Stephen Hughes had earlier won the toss and not surprisingly offered to give his bowlers first use of a green looking surface. Ian Morrison (18), opening in place of the injured James Hall, and Nelson (31) took the shine off the new ball and gave McCallan and Bushe a solid platform for their superb partnership.
Rain took a grip on proceedings as the afternoon wore on though and when CI eventually got their innings started much rested on Johnny Hewitt and Derek Heasley.
Neither got the big score the home side so badly needed. Hewitt departed early, bowled by the miserly Harrison, while Heasley hit a full toss from Gary Kidd into the safe hands of Keith Morrison.
WARINGSTOWN are effectively out of the Ulster Bank Premier League title race after suffering their third defeat of the campaign to Instonians at Shaw’s Bridge on Sunday.
A vastly under-strength team could only manage a miserable 114 all out batting first, with the excellent Eugene Moleon (3-17) and veteran Billy Dale (3-31) sharing six wickets as the villagers imploded.
Ian Morrison made 23 at the top of the order but he was one of only three Waringstown players to reach double figures.
Captain Simon Harrison, who arranged the fixture with Irish trio Kyle McCallan, James Hall and Gary Kidd all unavailable, also provided resistance with 29, but it was all too easy for an Instonians attack lacking Andrew White as the villagers were dismissed in just 38 overs.
None of the batsmen in the lower to middle order showed enough application, which was disappointing especially as Instonians, by their own admission, lack depth in their bowling.
Instonians’ batsmen didn’t find life easy either on a wicket used for a second eleven fixture on Saturday, and it took the home side almost 44 overs to record a five-wicket win.
Simon Stokes, who is back in fine form with the ball, dismissed John Stevenson with Ijaz, bowling a miserly spell of off spin, accounted for the dangerous Rory McCann.
Stuart Kidd struck with his first delivery, dismissing the professional Kabir, and James Shannon, the promising young Inst batman, fell to Ijaz for a duck.
Waringstown were in the hunt for an unlikely victory but Moleon, who is having a superb season, got his side home with an unbeaten 23.
Stokes (1-8) and Ijaz Ahmed (2-7) finished with Waringstown’s best bowling figures.
WARINGSTOWN are through to the last eight of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup after a hard-fought victory at Strabane on Saturday.
The final victory margin at Strabane Park was 28 runs, but the home side had realistic aspirations of chasing Waringstown’s 185 for six until former Ireland batsman Peter Gillespie was the eighth batsman out for 60 in the 44th over.
At that stage an absorbing game was right in the balance. Strabane needed 48 for victory at slightly below seven runs an over with Gillespie having been at the crease since the sixth over, leading his side from the perils of 24 for three and 64 for five.
The Strabane captain’s downfall came as he attempted to slog sweep former Ireland team-mate Kyle McCallan. Gillespie got a leading edge which was superbly caught running forward and low down by Peter Hanna at short third man.
In truth Strabane never really recovered from a searching new ball spell from Dave Cheater, Waringstown’s New Zealand born seamer.
Cheater, who produced his most impressive spell yet in Waringstown colours, removed Terence Patton, caught brilliantly at second slip by Ijaz Ahmed, in the first over, and after Simon Stokes bowled Rory Gallagher as he attempted an expansive drive, Cheater took the prize wicket of Jonathan Beukes, the South African overseas professional, with one that nipped back and comprehensively knocked over the left-hander’s middle stump.
Those vital early wickets paved the way for Waringstown’s much-vaunted spinners to turn the screw and only Peter Gillespie of the Strabane batting line-up had an answer. The captain added 37 for the fifth wicket with his older brother John and then 31 with wicketkeeper Paul McNamee, but between them McCallan (3-29) and Ahmed (2-31) had the final say on a surface conducive to spin bowling.
If Waringstown are going to go all the way in the Irish Cup they still require major improvements. The Strabane Park wicket wasn’t the easiest to bat on but the villagers were a bit overambitious at times.
Lee Nelson was an early victim of a highly impressive opening burst from Phil Eaglestone, the left-arm Ireland seamer who produced a first over to international team-mate James Hall that seemed appreciably quicker than anything he has bowled in Irish colours.
Hall, after one handsome on-drive for four in his 15, was the victim of a lack of concentration as he drove the miserly Ciaran Patton (2-21) to point, and Waringstown were again indebted to Ijaz, who dominated a 56-run partnership for the third wicket with McCallan.
The Pakistan batsman was at his elegant best, hitting the spinners strongly down the ground, and driving the seamers through the covers, but after making 58 from 91 balls, including seven fours, he lofted the gentle off spin of Tommy Barr to long on.
When McCallan departed an over later Waringstown were 101 for four and in danger of slumping in exactly the same manner as they had against Limavady in the Ulster Cup the previous weekend.
But Jonathan Bushe and Hanna (23) rebuilt the innings with a 68-run partnership that gave Waringstown real hope.
Bushe produced a workmanlike 32 not out from 50 balls, including just one boundary and many scampered singles, enabling Waringstown to have something creditable to defend.
The quarter-final draw will be made on Friday during Ireland under-19s’ match against the MCC at Carrickfergus. Waringstown will again be keeping their fingers crossed that the draw will be kind. They will seeking to avoid the likes of Limavady, and in particular Dublin duo North County and Rush.
Skipper injured as villagers crash out of Ulster Cup
WARINGSTOWN captain Simon Harrison suffered a sickening injury as the villagers crashed out of the Ulster Cup at Limavady on Sunday.
Harrison was struck just above the eye as he attempted to pull a short delivery from Limavady pace bowler Andrew Riddles at the John Hunter Grounds.
The 29-year-old, who wasn't wearing a helmet, retired hurt and tests in hospital suggest he could have suffered significant damage to his eye socket. Further examination by a consultant in Dundonald this week will reveal how serious the injury is.
The injury undoubtedly had an impact on his team-mates, but Waringstown were still hugely disappointing in slumping to a nine-wicket defeat.
Limavady were impressive and they showed why they are undoubtedly one of the leading club sides in Ireland with Waringstown following Brigade and Railway Union in losing at the John Hunter Grounds in recent weeks.
However, Waringstown included four full Ireland internationals, rising star Lee Nelson and one of the best overseas professionals in the country in Ijaz Ahmed and they should have competed more.
It didn’t help that some members of the team were held up in traffic before the game and Gary Kidd joined Michael Scott in an unfamiliar opening batting partnership.
The new pairing added 33 for the first wicket, with Kidd the dominant partner, and Waringstown were well poised at one stage on 77 for one, with James Hall and Kidd (36) looking promising.
However, four wickets fell for 27 runs in a spell that turned the game around. Hall was run out, Kidd caught behind off professional Agha Sabir, Ijaz got a leading edge to be caught and bowled by Decker Curry and then an out of touch Kyle McCallan was caught at mid-wicket.
At 104 for five, Waringstown were in freefall, and Jonathan Bushe (26) and Lee Nelson (22) rebuilt the innings by adding 41 for the sixth wicket.
However, the final total of 155 for seven in 40 overs was never likely to test a Limavady batting line-up that chased more than 300 in beating Glendermott the previous day.
The opening overs with the new ball from Dave Cheater and Stuart Kidd were too expensive and Limavady had a fast start that took any pressure off their strong top order.
Ijaz at least kept things tight by conceding just 19 runs in eight overs but Limavady were strolling at 108 for nought by the time Cheater returned to the attack to dismiss Ian McGregor for 39.
It was only a temporary respite for Waringstown and Limavady captain David Cooke (65 no) and Sabir (31) ensured the home side deservedly got home with five overs to spare.
Waringstown stroll into last four of Challenge Cup
WARINGSTOWN were strong favourites to progress to the TCH Challenge Cup semi-finals at the expense of Derriaghy at Queensway on Saturday.
But surely even the villagers didn’t expect their berth in the last four to be secured by 2.35pm.
Just of 37 overs of cricket were required for the 2006 winners to secure a nine-wicket victory over a Derriaghy side that looked devoid of confidence in the absence of Kaushik Aphale, the Indian professional who has batted so effectively during the early weeks of the season.
With no Aphale to bat around and with Andrew Kenny, the captain, making a rare failure, it was probably little surprise that Derriaghy struggled badly, but a total of 69 all out in 24.1 overs was surely well below their expectations.
Simon Harrison did most of the early damage, the Waringstown captain bowling his 10 overs straight through to take four for 24.
At the other end Dave Cheater was barely less effective, and his one wicket was scant reward for a spell that included several virtually unplayable deliveries.
Kyle McCallan (3-20) claimed the crucial wicket of Kenny and Gary Kidd, the left-arm spinner, claimed two wickets in his first over as the fall of wickets continued throughout the innings.
It was a commanding performance from the Waringstown attack but in truth Derriaghy, who are favourites for relegation back to Section Two, made it all too easy.
Chasing just 70 for victory, Waringstown rightly shuffled their batting order with Peter Hanna given an opportunity to open the batting alongside James Hall, with Lee Nelson dropping down the order.
Hall departed cheaply but Keith Morrison, promoted to number three after getting few opportunities with the bat so far this season, joined Hanna in a confident unbeaten partnership that took Waringstown home in just 13 overs.
|
