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DUBLIN – Northern Knights’ legspinner Ben White claimed a maiden five-wicket haul, but the North West Warriors finished the first Inter-Provincial T20 Festival on top of the table today at Pembroke Cricket Club.
The North West Warriors won the toss in Game 1 and did not hesitate to bowl first – and right from the outset they seemed the more determined side in the encounter. For the third match in a row, Kevin O’Brien fell early before Simi Singh (13) and Andrew Balbirnie (24) looked to stabilise and build a total. The pair put on 33 runs in 21 balls, before they both fell with the score on 40 – with Craig Young getting the upper hand over his international skipper, bowling him through the gate.

The season’s in-form batter George Dockrell then demonstrated how he has earned that moniker, with a quickfire 44 from 32 balls, and Lorcan Tucker launched a counter-attacking innings of 51 from 27 balls – his knock punctuated by 4 massive sixes and a brace of fours.

The Lightning then eked out some late runs to finish 182-7 from their 20 overs, despite losing three late wickets.

For the Warriors, Craig Young once more starred with the ball claiming 3-24 from his four overs. Young bowled with pace and an attacking line, removing the dangermen O’Brien and Balbirnie early to give his side the momentum early.

That last ball… pic.twitter.com/slJdBbPgPd

— Cricket Ireland (@cricketireland) June 20, 2021

Despite losing Stephen Doheny (6) early, the Warriors run chase got off to a flyer with William Porterfield smashing 52 from 23 balls – when he holed out the North West side were sitting nicely at 74-2 in the 7th over.

Shane Getkate then took up the mantle and powered three big sixes in a 19-ball innings of 37. The dismissal of Getkate, however, swung the momentum of the game dramatically – from a position of the Warriors cruising to a win, the Lightning tightened the screws and built pressure on the new batters. Five wickets fell for 22 runs, and the run rate dropped off leaving the lower order batters a mounting run rate required.

At 151-8 at the start of the 18th over, Graham Hume and Craig Young faced an uphill battle of 32 needed from the final 18 balls. What ensued over the following ten minutes made for a dramatic conclusion. Nine runs came from the 18th over with Hume and Young just focusing on getting bat on ball, leaving almost two runs a ball needed from the final two overs. The Lightning were firmly in the drivers seat.

However, three boundaries were struck off the next four balls, and suddenly the pendulum swung more to the Warriors. All up, 15 runs came from the 19th over and the match had come down to the final over with the North West side needing 8 to win with two wickets in hand.

Barry McCarthy then bowled a series of full balls which – while denying boundary hitting shots – saw Hume and Young get the ball away for 1s and 2s. On the fourth ball of the over, Hume was run out pushing for a risky second, leaving 2 to win off 2 balls with one wicket remaining. The next ball, McCarthy again pitched the ball up full and Young swung through the arc hitting the ball to long off. The batters set off wanting to push for two, and in a tight scramble Young beat the throw and the Warriors saw victory off the penultimate ball.

MATCH SUMMARY

Leinster Lightning v North West Warriors, Inter-Provincial Trophy, Dublin, 20 June 2021

Lightning 182-7 (20 overs; L Tucker 51, G Dockrell 44; R Allen 3-19, C Young 3-24)
Warriors 183-9 (19.5 overs; W Porterfield 52, S Getkate 37; S Singh 3-31)

North West Warriors won by 1 wicket

• See full scorecard

In the second game of the day, the Munster Reds went into the last match of the weekend without their injured captain Tyrone Kane.

A wicket from the second ball set the tone for the innings, as the Northern Knights bowlers – led by legspinner Ben White – ensured a low target by restricting them to 137-9.

White, who plays club cricket for CSNI, bowled beautifully with flight and accuracy on what – after the first match of the day – looked like a batters wicket. He claimed 5-13 from his four over spell – the second best bowling figures in Inter-Provincial T20 Trophy history – and became the first spinner to bag the milestone (Shane Getkate’s 5-8 are the best figures in this format).

PJ Moor was the only Reds batter to get to grips with the bowling, hitting 49 from 24 balls. Aaron Cawley (19) and Josh Manley (23*) put on a 28-run stand for the ninth wicket to add some respectability, but at the change of innings the Knights were in firm control.

In response, the Northern Knights lost opener James McCollum in the second over, edging a ball through to PJ Moor off the paceman Aaron Cawley. But any hopes the Reds had off making early in-roads were snuffed out by Luke Georgeson. The NewZealander took the reins of the innings and played a chanceless knock of 51 from 41 balls, until he mistimed a cover drive and was caught at point. This was the fifth half-century of the weekend, although remarkably 54 is only the highest score achieved.

Ruhan Pretorius (14) and Harry Tector (18) added middle-order runs, but it wasn’t until Mark Adair (21 from 14 balls) and Neil Rock (26 from 14 balls) put the accelerator down that the game was put out of reach for the Reds. Rock brought up the winning runs with a bludgeoning pull shot for six, and the Knights move to second behind the North West Warriors on the T20 Trophy table.

All four teams return will now move to Bready for the second T20 Festival starting on Friday.

MATCH SUMMARY

Munster Reds v Northern Knights, Inter-Provincial Trophy, Dublin, 20 June 2021

Reds 137-9 (20 overs; PJ Moor 49; B White 5-13)
Knights 139-5 (18.3 overs; L Georgeson 51; A Cawley 2-15)

Northern Knights won by 5 wickets

• See full scorecard

Craig Easdown
Craig Young dives to make his ground to win the first match today
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