MUCKAMORE CRICKET
The dry sunny but cold weekend saw a full programme of matches for Muckamore Cricket Club and both their games against Waringstown Firsts and Seconds brought tension and excitement in the last few overs that would satisfy any cricket lover. Disappointingly Muckamore ended up on the wrong side of both results; losing the Firsts game to a controversial lbw decision given against Neil Gill with just three runs needed to win off the last seven deliveries and the Seconds unusually tying their game unable to get that winning run in the last over. Muckamore travelled to the Lawn to take on Waringstown with a strong squad that included several new players. The home team won the toss and their batsmen A Dennison and J Hall faced Muckamore’s fast bowlers Neil Gill and Pavan Karthik. Unfortunately the Muckamore bowling wasn’t accurate enough and Fahad Iqbal replaced Karthik after seven overs with the score on 45 runs and Marcus O’Riordan took over from Gill in the 11th over. The score progressed to 87 runs into the 15th over before O’Riordan bowled the aggressive Hall after he had scored 45 runs. The new batsman was L Nelson and with Dennison they saw off bowlers O’Riordan and Iqbal taking the score to 138 runs into the 27th over before new bowler Aditya Adey had Dennison well caught by deep mid on fielder Luke Allen for a solid 63 runs. D Dawson joined Nelson and with Steve Lazars bowling with Adey, the run rate finally slowed and only 10 more runs were added in the next four overs before Dawson was trapped lbw by an Adey delivery to be dismissed for only 8 runs. G Thompson was the next man in and the next three overs only produced nine runs before he was bowled by Lazars in the 34th over. M McClean was Nelson’s new partner but he only survived for two overs before he was caught by mid wicket fielder Iqbal of a Lazar delivery. Now 164 runs for 5 wickets, Muckamore were back in the game. Batsman Kyle McCallan followed and with Nelson they took the score to 183 runs into the 43rd over before he was well caught on the long on boundary by O’Riordan off an Iqbal delivery. With only seven overs remaining G Kidd came to the wicket and in the next three overs he scored a quick 12 runs before he was caught and bowled by Karthik Rajavelu who had replace Lazar in the 40th over. With the score now on 201 runs for 7 wickets in the 46th over, Nelson’s new partner was J Mitchell and they had a go adding 21 runs at expense of Iqbal taking their total to 227 runs into the last over before the former was well caught by deep mid on fielder Sam Gordon off a Rajavelu delivery for a hard earned 50 runs. Mitchell was also excellently caught by Gordon two deliveries later and the innings eventually closed on 232 runs for 8 wickets. Best of the Muckamore bowlers were Karthik Rajavelu who took 3 wickets for 27 runs, Aditya Adey who took 2 wickets for 19 runs and S Lazars who took 2 wickets for 38 runs. David Miller and Aditya Adey opened the batting for Muckamore and aggressively attacked Waringstown’s pace bowlers P Eaglestone and J Mitchell. The score quickly raced to 36 runs into the 5th over before Adey was given out lbw to a delivery from Eaglestone after he had scored 12 runs. Marcus O’Riordan joined Miller and they steadily and easily took the score to 78 runs into the 16th over before O’Riordan inexplicably called for a quick run off a McCallan delivery but the accurate return throw from Dennison left Miller a yard short of the crease to end his promising innings on 41 runs. Fahad Iqbal who had just arrived from India on Friday was O’Riordan’s new partner and they confidently took the score to 136 runs into the 31st over before he was caught behind by wicketkeeper McClean off a Daly delivery for 17 runs. Next man in was Jamie Rodgers and with O’Riordan they pushed the score forward to 176 runs into the 37th over before the latter mistimed his shot to give bowler Daly an easy return catch to end his 63 run debut Muckamore innings. Steve Lazars was Rodgers next partner but not for long as he was given out lbw to a McCallan delivery in the very next over. With the score now on 170 runs for 5 wickets in the 38th over Sam Gordon was the new batsman and with Rodgers they added 27 runs in the next 6 overs before the latter was given out lbw to another McCallan delivery. Karthik Rajavelu came to the wicket but he only survived for 2 overs before he was bowled by Nelson to leave the score on 208 runs for 7 wickets with just 5 overs remaining. Teenager Luke Allen was Gordon’s next partner and needing just 25 runs to win they reduced that to 8 runs with the help of a mighty six hit from Luke before he was bowled by Dennison off the penultimate delivery of the 48th over. Neil Gill was batsman number 10 and he hit a single off his first delivery. From the first ball of Nelson’s next over a moment of madness when Gill called Gordon for what was an impossible single and the latter was easily run out with his score on 25 runs. Pavan Karthik was the last man in and he hit a single off his first delivery leaving Gill on strike who then hit two more runs to take the score to 229 runs just 3 runs short of victory off the eight remaining deliveries. Nelson’s next delivery hit Gill on the pads and after loud appeals the umpire gave him out lbw to give Waringstown the narrow three run victory. The shocked Muckamore Captain was so convinced that the ball came off his bat on to his pads that he stood in disbelief at this unbelievable decision and it was a couple of minutes before he could compose himself to walk back from the wicket to the pavilion a very disappointed man. Best of the Waringstown bowlers were L Nelson who took 2 wickets for 20 runs, M Daly who took 2 wickets for 28 runs and K McCallan who took 2 wickets for 32 runs. This week Muckamore travel to Wallace Park to play newly promoted Lisburn in their next league match.
Muckamore Second entertained Waringstown Second at Moylena in their first Junior 1 League match of the season. The visitors batted first and scored 152 runs for 7 wickets in their allocated 40 overs. Their top scorers were R Dennison with 44 runs, S Topping with 23 runs and R Waite with17 runs. Best of the Muckamore bowlers were Arnold Oduvelil who took 3 wickets for 43 runs, David Steen who took 2 wickets for 22 runs and Shane Henderson who took 1 wicket for 37 runs. Muckamore replied to score 152 runs all out to tie the match and share the points. They were 152 for 8 wickets at the start of the last over needing just 1 run to win with Bradley Hodge and David Steen at the wicket. Teenager Hodge was bowled and the last man in was Aaron Gill. But with five deliveries remaining they went for a quick single and Gill was run out to leave the score tied. The Top Muckamore batsmen were S Henderson with 47 runs, F Collins with 46 runs, L Allen with 20 runs and A Oduvelil with 14 runs. Best of the Waringstown bowlers were S Burke who took 2 wickets for 11 runs, M Purse who took 2 wickets for 17 runs, A Harrison who took 2 wickets for 35 runs and J Hunter who took 2 wickets for 36 runs. The Seconds have no game this week. The Thirds first game of the season is away to Templepatrick Seconds on Saturday.
Muckamore Fourths won their second league match of the season when they defeated Lisburn Thirds at Moylena. The visitors batted first and scored 155 runs for 8 wickets in their allocated 30 overs. Their top batsmen were E Reddy who scored 67 runs and M Foster who scored 46 runs. Best of the Muckamore bowlers were G Talwekar who took 5 wickets for 9 runs and H Nariyanan who took 1 wicket for 18 runs. Muckamore replied to pass that total with 4 wickets to spare. Their top scorers were P Kumar with 61 runs, J Jackson with 22 runs and J Jose with 19 runs. Best of the Lisburn bowlers were B Moore who took 3 wickets for 50 runs and W Blair who took 2 wickets for 17 runs. This week the Fourths are at home to Donaghcloney Mill Thirds in their next league match.
Muckamore Fifths travelled to Stormont to play CSNI Fifths in their first league match. The home team batted first and scored 83 runs. Their top batsman was Y Pahuja who scored 43 runs. Best of the Muckamore bowlers were Jude Keates who took 2 wickets for 7 runs, Ethan Wilson who took 2 wickets for 11 runs, Martin Kane who took 2 wickets for 22 runs, Karl Gribben who took 1 wicket for 7 runs and Peter Kane who took 1 wicket for 16 runs. Muckamore replied to easily pass that score with 9 wickets to spare scoring the required runs in just 8 overs. Muckamore’s top scorers were C Rane who was not out on 39 runs and M Kane who scored 30 runs. The Fifths next league match is away to Dundrum Seconds on Saturday.
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