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Muckamore 1st XI v Bangor 1st XI
A full strength Muckamore team travelled to Uprichard Park to play promotion rivals and the yet unbeaten Bangor team in their most important League match of the season. A heavy drizzle delayed the start for 30 minutes and under rain threatening skies, Muckamore Captain Andy McCulloch won the toss and asked the home team to bat first, reasoning that if there were any stoppages for rain the Duckworth/Lewis system would favour the team batting second.
Rushe and Hewitt were the Bangor batsmen who opened against Muckamore bowlers, Neill Gill and Craig Drummond and it was Gill who struck first when he had Rushe caught behind by wicketkeeper Brian Dunlop off the 5th delivery of his very first over. Hutchinson joined Hewitt and these pair saw off both opening bowlers and Wayne Horwood who had replaced Drummond from the Groomsport End.
Indrajeet Kamtekar replaced Gill from the Road End and in the 15th over when the score had reached 65 runs Hewitt was run out when a good return throw from Brian Baguley left him stranded after a late refusal of a second run by Hutchinson. The new batsman was Andrew Nixon but two deliveries later he gave Kamtekar a sharp return catch and he had to walk his duck back to the pavilion. Hutchinson’s new partner was Mark Nixon and struggling to get 6 runs off Kamtekar and Caldwell in 4 overs, the latter’s patience broke and he swung and missed a Kamtekar delivery and was promptly stumped by Dunlop to leave Bangor on 71 runs for 4 wickets.
McKeown joined Hutchinson and they took the score to 95 runs until the 25 over break for drinks. Gill replaced Cardwell from the Groomsport End and as sometimes happens on the resumption of play, it was batsman McKeown who casually steered his third delivery just backward of square where it was well caught in Drummond’s safe hands. Next in was Kelve and he survived the rest of the over to face a few deliveries off new bowler Ralph Coetzee from the Road End before he gave him a hard return catch to leave Bangor on 100 runs for 6 wickets after 27 overs.
McLarnon was Hutchinson’s new partner and they took the score to 124 runs before the latter played new bowler Trevor Neill’s delivery to mid on fielder Horwood and set off for a run. In one movement, the pickup and return throw hit the wicket to leave McLarnon stranded and Bangor’s 7th wicket to fall in the 39th over. Bell now came to the wicket and in 4 overs 24 runs were added to the total before the tiring Hutchinson was caught on the mid off boundary by Drummond off a Neill delivery after top scoring with 70 runs for Bangor. Adair was the new batsman and 10 more runs were added before he was sharply stumped by Dunlop off a Coetzee floater in the 46th over. Anderson was last man in and he was just a spectator as Bell thumped another 32 runs off the remaining three overs before the former was run out off the last ball of this 190 run innings.
Muckamore’s best bowling figures were - Indrajeet Kamtekar (2 wkts for 10 runs), Neil Gill (2 wickets for 21 runs) and Ralph Coetzee (2 wkts for 46 runs).
Rain delayed the restart of the game for over an hour forcing a calculation on the Duckworth/ Lewis system to leave Muckamore to score 142 runs in only 29 overs. Wayne Horwood and Indrajeet Kamtekar opened the batting for Muckamore and needing a run rate of almost 5 runs per over they started off at a tremendous rate. With Horwood to the fore with some powerful hitting, it took only 8 overs to take the total to the 50 run mark and just three more for Wayne to reach his personal half century of runs. The score raced to 76 runs into the 12th over before a subdued Kamtekar was caught and bowled by the jubilant Adair after scoring only 12 runs. Jason Van Der Merwe was the new batsman and 12 more runs were added before he was victim to a very unlucky dismissal. Backing up to a strong Horwood straight drive, the bowler managed to get his hand to the ball before it struck Van Der Merwe’s stumps as he stepped out of his crease anticipating a quick run.
Now 88 runs for 2 wickets in the 15th over Bryan Baguley joined Horwood and in only 9 more overs they hammered the very poor Bangor bowling all round the ground. With Horwood on 95 runs, Baguley hit a boundary to take his score to 23 runs leaving Muckamore just 3 runs short of victory. Horwood edged the first ball of the next over for two runs to bring him to 97 runs to level the score, and to everyone’s pleasure Wayne smashed the next delivery for a four to win the match for Muckamore and to deservedly earn his first unbeaten century of the season.
Wayne had batted for 95 minutes, faced 80 deliveries, hit 13x4s and 3x6s in his 101 run, not out innings. This 8 wicket win leaves Muckamore and Bangor as joint leaders of the League, both with 10 wins and 1 defeat.
Muckamore have another busy week ahead when they play Instonians on Tuesday evening in the semi final of the 20/20 Technology Cup in Belfast; Away to Holywood on Saturday in a League match and away to Ardmore on Sunday in the semi final of the Ulster Shield.
Muckamore 2nd XI v Bangor 2nd XI
The Seconds also travelled to Bangor on Sunday to play Bangor Seconds in Ward Park in a very vital Junior 1 League match. Bangor batted first and scored 120 runs. D McCusker (20 runs) and N Finlay (25 runs) were their top scorers. Moonsun Stephenson was Muckamore’s best bowler taking 3 wkts for 24 runs. Rain interrupted this match and the Duckworth/ Lewis recalculation meant that Muckamore needed just 100 runs to win. Jordan Mairs with 21 runs and Richard Van Der Mere with 30 runs not out were their top scorers as they passed the required total with 3 wickets to spare. D Hamilton with 3 wkts for 19 runs and R Wilson with 3 wkts for 21 runs were Bangor’s best bowlers. Muckamore who need at least three more wins to be sure of avoiding relegation have no game this week.
Muckamore 4th XI v Holywood 4th XI
The Fourths met Holywood Fourths at Parkhall College on Saturday hoping for a win to keep them in the race for promotion. Captain Raj Sharma won the toss and in the damp conditions asked the visitors to bat first. What a good decision that turned out to be as Holywood were skittled out for only 31 runs. Campbell Weir and Chas Rane took 3 wickets each, Amit Jayaprakash took 2 wickets and young Callum Weir also got a wicket. Muckamore eventually won by 5 wickets after a bit of a struggle. Aiden Howe with 14 runs not out and Chas Rane with 14 runs top scored for Muckamore. Holywood’s best bowlers were K Nicholl with 2 wkts for 13 runs and Y Mallet with 2 wkts for 12 runs. This week the Fourths are at home to Templepatrick on Sunday.
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