MUCKAMORE CRICKET
After the pleasant but disappointing distraction of the Senior Cup semi final last
week, Muckamore travelled to Stormont to play CSNI on Saturday seeking a
win to start their fight back to stay in the Premier League. The CSNI captain
James Kennedy won the toss and sent M Ellison and A Johnston in to open their
batting innings against Muckamore pace bowlers Neil Gill and Aditya Adey.
The tight bowling restricted the run scoring and it reached 39 runs into the 11 th
over before Johnston edged a Gill delivery to be smartly caught by
wicketkeeper David Miller after scoring 28 runs. While batsman A Malan
joined Ellison, Pavan Karthik took over from Adey to bowl 6 very tight overs
for only 9 runs. The batsmen were only able to add another 30 runs in the next
11 overs until spin bowler Steve Lazars was brought on to add more pressure
and it worked when Ellison edged a delivery in his second over to be well
caught by slip fielder Francis Collins to end his 20 run innings. J Kennedy was
the new batsman and with Malan they struggled in the next 6 overs to add just
12 more runs before the former was clean bowled by Adey for a duck in the 28 th
over. Now on 81 runs for 3 wickets P Beverland came to the wicket to partner
Malan and they slowly but surely steadied the CSNI innings and despite
Muckamore captain Gill rotating his bowlers they took the score to 150 runs
into the 41 st over before the former’s miss hit shot was caught by ‘mid off’
fielder Fahad Iqubal to end his valuable back up 14 run innings. With less than
9 overs remaining M Topping now partnered Malan and the run chase was on,
not only for the latter to score his century but to score as many more runs as
possible. Malan swept to his hundred runs with ease as they had a go at the
Muckamore bowlers taking the score to 202 runs into the 49 th over before he
was finally bowled by the returning Gill to end his 119 run innings. With just 7
deliveries remaining the next batsman was C Goodall but he survived for just
one of them before he was bowled by Karthik. B Adair was the new batsman to
score a single run but he could only watch as Topping was bowled by Karthik
off his next delivery. A Cowden followed to score a single run to end the CSNI
innings on 208 runs for 7 wickets in their allocated 50 overs. Best of the
Muckamore bowlers were Pavan Karthik who took 2 wickets for 36 runs, Steve
Lazars who took 2 wickets for 40 runs and Neil Gill who took 2 wickets for 47
runs. A change in batting order for Muckamore as David Miller and Karthik
Rajavelu were sent in to open the innings. Miller wasted no time in attacking
the CSNI bowling scoring 27 runs off just 20 deliveries before he edged a
delivery from Foster in wicket keeper Johnston’s gloves in the 8 th over. Jamie
Rodgers was the new batsman and they cautiously took the score to 94 runs into
the 24 th over until Rajavelu was out to a good diving catch by slip fielder Ellison
off a Cowden delivery to end his important 43 run innings. Fahad Iqbal joined
Rodgers and they carefully added another 29 runs in the next 5 overs before the
latter was caught by mid on fielder Ellison after he had scored 30 runs. Now on
123 runs for 3 wickets Aditya Adey was next in and with Iqbal growing in
confidence they advanced the score to 155 runs into the 37 th over until the out of
form Adey was trapped lbw by a Topping delivery after scoring only 8 runs.
Iqbal’s new partner was Sam Gordon and he added most of the runs in the next
four overs before his disappointing companion was bowled by Topping after
scoring only 6 runs. With the score on 177 runs for 5 wickets with just 9 overs
remaining Steve Lazars was in next and they added another 18 runs until Iqbal’s
square leg shot was caught on the boundary by Cowan off a Malan delivery to
bring his patient hard won 50 run innings to an end. With the score now at 195
runs for 6 wickets with just 21 delivers remaining to score the 14 runs needed to
win, Captain Neil Gill was the new batsman and with Lazars they took the score
to 207 runs before he fired an Ellison delivery over the boundary rope to clinch
this 4 wicket victory and hopefully start the Muckamore fight back. Best of the
CSNI bowlers was M Topping who took 3 wickets for 49 runs. This week
Muckamore entertain North Down in their next league match at Moylena.
Muckamore Seconds entertained CSNI Seconds at Moylena on Saturday in a
Junior League game and batting first scored 153 runs. Their top batsmen were
Richard Keates who scored 63 runs, David Rainey who scored 22 runs and
Johnny Gordon who scored 20 runs. Best of the CSNI bowlers were S Ross who
took 3 wickets for 31 runs, R Gondhia who took 2 wickets for 16 runs and J
Wilson who took 2 wickets for 22 runs. In a very tight finish Muckamore
bowled the visitors out for 148 runs to win the game by 5 runs. Their top
batsmen were P Park who scored 60 runs and R Willis who scored 22 runs. Best
of the Muckamore bowlers were Richard Keates who took 3 wickets for 31
runs, Leslie Allen who took 3 wickets for 35 runs, Arnold Oduvelil who took 2
wickets for 22 runs and David Steen who took 2 wickets for 28 runs. This
Sunday the Seconds are at home to CIYMS Seconds in their next league game.
Muckamore Thirds travelled to Eaton Park on Saturday to play Ballymena
Seconds in their next league match and batting first scored 166 runs for the loss
of 6 wickets in their allocated overs. Their top batsmen were David Gill who
scored 63 runs, Pavan Pawar who was not out with 32 runs and Chris Wilson
who was not out with 27 runs. Best of the Ballymena bowlers was S Watt who
took 2 wickets for 22 runs. Ballymena replied to score 168 runs for the loss of
only 2 wickets to win the game by 8 wickets. Their best batsmen were P Gregg
who was not out with 63 runs and S Watt who was not out with 54 runs. Best of
the Muckamore bowlers was S Stephenson who took 2 wickets for 25 runs. This
week the Thirds are at home to CSNI Thirds in their next league match.
Muckamore Fourths had CSNI Fourths at home on Saturday in a league match.
The visitors batted first and were bowled out for 194 runs. Their top scorers
were A Pattnaik with 60 runs, S Prattipatti with 34 runs and M Pollard with 21
runs. Best of the Muckamore bowlers were Manu Mohandas who took 4
wickets for 43 runs and Joby Jose who took 3 wickets for 14 runs. In what was a
very tight game Muckamore replied to pass the CSNI total in the last over with
one wicket to spare to clinch the one wicket victory. Their top batsmen were
Joby Jose who scored 43 runs and Benny George who scored 30 runs. Best of
the CSNI bowlers were M Smyth who took 4 wickets for 22 runs and A Meyer
who took 2 wickets for 42 runs. This Sunday the Fourths are at home to
Instonians Fourths in their next league match.
This Saturday the Fifths travel to Lurgan to play Victoria Seconds in their next
league match and on Sunday the Sixths travel to Belmont to play CIYMS Fifths
for their next league game. The Muckamore Bluebells travel to play Lurgan on
Sunday in their next league match.
The two Muckamore Midweek teams were in action last Tuesday evening as the
competition enters its final month of the season. The A team travelled to play
Carrick and batting first scored 73 runs for 7 wickets in their allocated 20 overs.
Best of the Carrick bowlers were B Crooks who took 2 wickets for 7 runs, J
Boggs who took 2 wickets for 9 runs and A Gardiner who took 2 wickets for 15
runs. The home team replied to score 75 runs for 5 wickets to win the game by 5
wickets. Their top batsmen were A Burton who scored 22 runs and J Burton
who scored 21 runs. Best of the Muckamore bowlers was Nikki Niblock who
took 3 wickets for 6 runs. This week the A team will play Instonians at home on
Tuesday evening and are away to Botanic on Wednesday evening to wind up
their league programme, hoping to notch up their first win of the season. The B
team travelled to Mallusk to play BISC and batting first scored 116 runs for 9
wickets in their allocated 20 overs. Their top batsman was Jimmy George who
was not out with 32 runs. Best of the BISC bowlers was A Hamza who took 5
wickets for 25 runs. In reply BISC were bowled out for 94 runs to give
Muckamore the 22 run victory. Best of the Muckamore bowlers were J George
who took 4 wickets for 24 runs and P Kumar who took 2 wickets for 7 runs.
Sitting joint top of the league the B team’s next match is away to CSNI this
coming Wednesday.
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