MUCKAMORE CRICKET
On Saturday Muckamore travelled to Shaw’s Bridge to play Instonians in their
vital bottom of the table league game. Captain Neil Gill won the toss and asked
the home team to bat first. They sent in N Smith and O Metcalfe to open their
innings against pace bowlers Gill and Aditya Adey and they steadily took the
score to 69 runs into the 17 th over before Metcalfe was caught by ‘gully’ fielder
Francis Collins off a Gill delivery after scoring 31 runs. Next man in was M
Commins and with Smith they quickly took control and despite Captain Gill
throwing all his bowlers into the attack they couldn’t stop the runs from flowing
and the score progressed to 194 runs into the 41 st over before the latter was
trapped lbw by a delivery from Fahad Iqubal to end his 83 run innings. J
Shannon joined Commins to score just two runs before he was caught and
bowled by Karthik Rajavelu in the very next over. A White was the new
batsman and with just 9 overs remaining the run rate dramatically reduced as
the Muckamore bowlers regained the initiative. White was forced to have a go
and scored 12 runs before he was bowled by Pavan Karthik in the 47 th over.
Then Rajavelu hurt his left hand diving to save a hard return shot from
Commins before he had him well caught by ‘backward point’ fielder Adey to
end his 91 run innings. R McKinley and J Manley were now the batsmen at the
wicket and they took the score to 236 runs into the last over before they were
both dismissed by deliveries from Rajavelu. McKinley was comfortably caught
on the long on boundary by Shane Henderson and Manley was smartly stumped
by wicketkeeper David Miller before the innings ended on 242 runs for 7
wickets with batsman D Rose hitting a might six off the very last delivery. Best
of the Muckamore bowlers was Karthik Rajavelu who took 4 wickets for 34
runs. Neil Gill is carrying a leg injury and out of necessity he struggled to bowl
his ten overs. David Miller and Jimmy Rodgers opened the Muckamore batting
against Instonians pace bowlers J Manley and J Magee and they slowly took the
score to 20 runs into the 10 th over. Then a ball fielded on the boundary was
returned to the wicketkeeper through a mid wicket player. Batsman Rodgers
assumed that the ball was ‘dead’ and stepped out of his crease to remove a loose
piece of soil from the wicket but the wicketkeeper whipped off the bails and
appealed for a run out. At first the umpire said no but after a persistent strong
appeal from the Instonians Captain and with him involved, the umpire consulted
his colleague and after a stoppage of about five minutes the decision was
changed and Rodgers was given out to end his premature 7 run innings. Aditya
Adey joined Miller and faced five deliveries but the unpleasantness in the
previous over obviously upset his concentration and he top edged a Manley
delivery to be caught by wicketkeeper Metcalfe without scoring. Fahad Iqbal
was Miller’s new partner and they took the score to 49 runs into the 17 th over
until the latter mistimed his shot off a McKinley delivery to be caught by ‘point’
fielder Rose after scoring 18 runs. Now on 49 runs for three wickets, Steve
Lazars was the new batsman but four overs later he edged a McKinley delivery
into wicketkeeper Metcalfe’s hands after scoring only three runs. Sam Gordon
was next in but he only faced one delivery before he was left stranded and run
out after a mix up with Iqbal. Neil Gill replaced him and was quickly back to
the pavilion when he played his very first delivery straight into bowler White’s
hands to leave Muckamore struggling on 53 runs for 6 wickets in the 22 nd over.
Francis Collins was Iqbal’s new partner and in the next 5 overs they took the
score to 63 runs before he was given out lbw to a Manley delivery for just six
runs. Shane Henderson was the new batsman but in the very next over Iqbal’s
mistimed his shot to lob the ball straight back into bowler Rose’s hands to end
his 18 run innings. Unfortunately the hand injury that Karthik Rajavelu received
earlier in the match left him unable to bat so Pavan Karthik was the last man to
the wicket to join Henderson and they took the score to 71 runs before the latter
was caught on the long on boundary by Manley off a delivery from Rose to
clinch this easy 165 run victory. Best of the Instonians bowlers were B Rose
who took 2 wickets for 6 runs, R McKinley who took 2 wickets for 16 runs and
J Manley who took 2 wickets for 19 runs. This week Muckamore return to
Shaw’s Bridge to play Instonians in the semi final of the Gallagher NCU Senior
Cup. If the injuries to their bowlers Neil Gill and Karthik Rajavelu have not
been cleared up by then it will be a much more difficult task to qualify for the
final for the first time since 1963.
Muckamore Seconds showing several enforced changes from the week before
entertained Instonians Seconds at Moylena on Saturday. Instonians batted first
and scored 138 runs for 9 wickets in their allocated 40 overs. Their top scorers
were J Peak who scored 28 runs and S McClarnon who scored 18 runs. Best of
the Muckamore bowlers were S Stephenson who took 3 wickets for 25 runs, M
Stephenson who took 3 wickets for 29 runs and R Keates who took 2 wickets
for 17 runs. Muckamore replied to score 140 runs to win the game by 4 wickets
with Andrew Hammond, the hero on the day winning the game with a big six
hit off the penultimate delivery of the match. Their top batsmen were David
Rainey who scored 41 runs and Richard Keates who scored 20 runs. Best of the
Instonians bowlers was J Lambert who took 3 wickets for 23 runs. This week
the Seconds travel to play Waringstown Seconds on Saturday and on Sunday
they travel to play CIYMS Seconds.
Muckamore Thirds travelled to Belfast on Saturday to play Cregagh Seconds in
a Junior League match and batting first were bowled out for 81 runs. Best of the
Cregagh bowlers were D McCormick who took 4 wickets for 17 runs, C
Shannon who took 2 wickets for 17 runs and M Shannon who took 2 wickets
for 19 runs. Cregagh replied to easily pass the Muckamore score with 7 wickets
to spare. Their top batsman was M Fleetham with 39 runs not out. Best of the
Muckamore bowlers was Jude Keates who took 2 wickets for 14 runs. This
Saturday the Thirds travel to play Laurelvale Seconds in their next league
match.
Muckamore Fifths had Donaghcloney Mill Fourths as the visitors to Moylena
on Saturday and batting first they scored 138 runs for the loss of 4 wickets in
their allocated overs. Their top scorers were A Cunningham with 37 runs, J
Rowantree with 34 runs and J Cunningham with 28 runs. Best of the
Muckamore bowlers were C Rane who took 1 wicket for 15 runs and J
Kirkpatrick who took 1 wicket for 22 runs. Muckamore replied to just lose the
game by 3 runs. Their top batsmen were P Pawar who scored 40 runs, M
Sharma who scored 23 runs and C Rane who scored 20 runs. Best of the
Donaghcloney Mill bowlers were D Alexander who took 2 wickets for 23 runs
and K Weir who took 1 wicket for 16 runs. This coming Sunday the Fourths are
back in action with a home game against Bangor Thirds and the Sixths are also
at home to Monaghan Seconds. The Midweek ‘A’ team travel to play
Carrickfergus this coming Wednesday evening
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