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The three-day Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Championship was the last of the three Inter-Provincial formats to conclude in 2015, with the Leinster Lightning wrapping up victory to secure a treble after going into the final match, and indeed the final day of play with all three sides still in with a chance of winning the championship.
Early in the season it was the Warriors who looked the strongest of the three teams, although a combination of time lost to rain in their opening game and a solid final day display from the Knights the only things preventing them from picking two wins in their opening fixtures.

In the opening game, starting on a gloriously sunny May day in Clontarf, the Warriors took the initiative from the start with a half century from Marco Marais helping the Warriors to 260 in their first innings. Three wickets each for Craig Young (3-29) and Stuart Thompson (3-24) then reduced the Lightning to 101 all out, with John Anderson (37) and Max Sorensen (25 not out) the only pair to show any real resistance.

After a quick chat with team-mates Warriors skipper Andy McBrine enforced the follow-on with the Lightning opting to bat out the last couple of overs in the evening with Fintan McAllister and Max Sorensen at the crease.

The first day may have belonged to the Warriors, but the second day was certainly the Lightning’s, with Fintan McAllister (90) and Bill Coughlan, who made a brilliant 130 including four sixes, put on a mammoth 196-run partnership as the Lightning finished the day on 367-5, a lead of just over 200.

Unfortunately overnight and morning rain meant no play would be possible until late and the day, and the game ended in stalemate, with the Warriors coming out on top thanks to collecting more bonus points in the first innings.

It was a similar story in the second match of the series as the Warriors got themselves into a strong position against the Knights, Stuart Thompson making a brilliant 113 to guide the Warriors to 272 all out before bowling out the Knights for 164, Shane Getkate providing an entertaining 78 to keep the Knights in the game after eight Knights batters failed to make double figures.

Kyllin Vardhan ensured the Warriors didn’t cede control of the game this time, making 137 not out as the Warriors declared on 286-5, a lead of almost 400. Having almost a full day to bowl at the Knights the Warriors were hopeful of picking up a win, but despite picking up the wicket of Chris Dougherty in the first over, Rassie van der Dussen (61), James Shannon (66) and skipper Andrew White (59 not out) all made half centuries as the Knights resisted and finished on 257-5, the Warriors again taking a slightly bigger share of the points thanks to their first innings performance.

Rain was the only winner in the Warriors’ third game of the season as they took the Knights on once again, with no play at all on the first day and further delays on the second meaning neither ever looked like winning, although the Warriors needed a 158-run ninth wicket partnership between Andy McBrine (76) and Graeme McCarter (72) as James Cameron-Dow ripped through the Warriors batting line-up taking a magnificent 8-98 in the first innings.

As with the other formats in the Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Series, the Championship took a month long break during the ICC World T20 Qualifiers, with the sides getting back to the action in mid-August with the Warriors still top of the pile, but with one game remaining, the Knights in second place with two games left, and the Lightning with less than half the points of the Knights on the bottom, but crucially, with three games left to play.

The first of those matches, against the Knights at Stormont was affected by the rain, with the first day in-particular suffering. The Lightning, batting first, set themselves up well with both John Anderson (60) and Simmi Singh (55) getting half centuries as they reached 139-2, but as the side tried to accelerate the scoring to account for the lost time wickets tumbles and the Lightning were all out for 205, with Cameron-Dow (3-35), Getkate (3-41) and Robert McKinley (3-78) getting three wickets each.

The Knights then seemed to be comfortable batting before Max Sorensen returned for a second spell and picked up four wickets to leave the Knights in real danger. Luckily the experienced James Shannon stood firm with Jordan McClurkin and the pair saw out the last hour of the day.

Returning on the third day the Lightning knew they would need three quick wickets and a tempting declaration to get the win, and that seemed like it might come to fruition when McClurkin was dismissed early on, but Shannon stood firm, and with the help of Cameron-Dow the pair put the game beyond the Lightning, batting most of the morning and getting their side within 12 runs of the Lightning, with both men falling almost simultaneously with Shannon making 68 (196 balls) and Cameron-Dow 21 (83 balls) with Max Sorensen finishing with the impressive figures of 6-34.

The Lightning, knowing the victory was beyond them at this stage went out and batted with confidence, Fintan McAllister falling just short of his maiden Inter-Provincial century for the second time as he made 92, supported well by a fluent John Mooney who made 67 as the Lightning made 209-4 before the match was called a draw.

The penultimate match of the year saw the Lightning take on the Warriors in what could have been a title decided clash, with a victory for the Warriors enough to seal the championship, but they never got the opportunity, with all three days of the game abandoned due to weather, meaning both sides took just three points from the game, but all three sides still in with a chance of winning the title heading into the final game.

When the Knights arrived at Rathmines for the final game of the season the situation was clear, a win for either the Knights or the Lightning would see them win the title, in the case of a draw, the title would most likely head to the Warriors unless the Knights scored maximum bonus points.

Batting first, the Lightning were put under immediate pressure from Knights bowlers and found themselves 56-4 in the morning session before John Mooney and Max Sorensen added some impetus to the innings.

The pair added 149 in just over 30 overs before Sorensen fell for 78, with Mooney continuing on to make a brilliant hundred, eventually falling for 125, prompting a declaration with the Lightning 337-9, and just under an hour left of the first day.

Another brilliant bowling display from the Lightning saw the Knights, who were without skipper Lee Nelson after he was withdrawn from the match injured on the first morning, were bowled out for 174, and despite the follow-on being available, the Lightning chose to bat again.

Batting with intent from the start, Lightning debutant Jack Tector hit three sixes on his way to 57, before it was third time lucky for Fintan McAllister, who after being out twice in the 90’s earlier in the season, smashed his was to 105 not out in just 95 balls before the Lightning declared on 191-1 before the close of the second day, leaving the Knights needing an imposing 355 to win the game.

On the morning of the final day, with bonus points allocated a draw would have seen the Warriors win the title, with either the Lightning or the Knights taking the title with a win. A real testament to the competitiveness of all three teams that after a whole summer of cricket it came down to the final day.

In the end the result was sorted before lunch, with the introduction of George Dockrell (2-35) and Yaqoob Ali getting the Knights batters in a spin, with Ali tearing through the lower order with Dockrell to finish with figures of 5-51, figures that don’t do his performance justice, as they were tarnished by Robert McKinley’s defiant 36-ball 56 that boosted the Knights total to 202 by adding 67 for the last wicket.

The win meant the Lightning were presented with the Hanely IPC trophy to add to the two they had already received for the Hanley IP20 and Hanley IP50.

Most Runs: Fintan McAllister – 316
Highest Score: Kyllin Vardhan – 137*
Most Wickets: James Cameron-Dow – 16
Best Bowling: James Cameron-Dow – 8-98

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