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A superb all-round display from Simi Singh wasn’t quite enough to get Leinster Lightning over the line on the final day of their Test Triangle Inter-Provincial Championship game with Northern Knights, with the game finishing drawn between the two sides.
Leinster Lightning resumed the final day on 159-3 and would have been looking for a solid start to the day. They weren’t to receive one as Josh Manley bowled very well in the opening part of the morning. He struck to dismiss McLoughlin-Gavin, after just adding four more runs to his overnight score of 82. He then rattled Kevin O’Brien’s stumps first ball via an inside edge to leave the Lightning on 164-5. When David Delany disturbed George Dockrell’s off stump a few overs later, the Leinster side appeared to be in trouble.

Tyrone Kane came to join Singh and they brought the Lightning back into the game, both of them batting quickly and counter-attacked the Knights bowling with great skill. Singh passed fifty at nearly a run a ball. Kane scored a very entertaining 28 before he was trapped LBW by Matthew Foster. Barry McCarthy joined Singh and these two were to put on quick runs for the eighth wicket. McCarthy provided a perfect foil for Singh, and he added a vital 44 to the Lightning cause, including a monster six over long-on. Just after lunch Singh brought up his hundred with a single to cover, and they quickly declared for 324-8, trailing by just eight runs.

HUNDRED for Simi Singh off 124 balls.

Barry McCarthy departs next ball for 44 and the Lightning will declare at that.

They have finished their innings on 324-8, trailing by 8. pic.twitter.com/UMRXFwIxY8

— Cricket Ireland (@Irelandcricket) August 1, 2019

To have any chance of forcing a result from the match, the Lightning had to take early wickets and they did so. Murray Commins fell in the first over LBW to McCarthy, while first innings hero Harry Tector fell the exact same way to Dockrell for 12. Gary Wilson and Mark Ellison built a commanding looking partnership that looked to be bringing the game to a certain draw, as they added 50 for the third wicket. But it was a minor hesitation which led to the dismissal of Ellison, and Simi Singh took his first wicket by bowling Wilson for 36 two balls later.

At this stage, the Knights’ batters were simply looking to survive, while the Lightning was bowling spin tandem to try and create pressure, which it did. Singh removed Getkate with a good delivery caught at slip, before removing Mark Adair swiftly after the tea break to leave the Knights 114-6. James McCollum, who had picked up an injury in the field, battled hard out in the middle but fell to Stephen Doheny, clean bowled by the Rush off-spinner. The time was running out for the Lightning though and despite Singh taking the wickets of Delany and Foster, and Dockrell clean bowling Manley, the Knights were bowled out for 131.

This left the Lightning needing 140 runs to win, but there were only eight overs left in the day, which was simply too few to have a proper crack at the run chase. Instead of going for the chase, both captains and coaches decided to shake hands and call it time, the game ending in a draw.

Despite another draw in this competition, this was a very good standard three days of Inter-Pro cricket, with the overs lost on the first day being the deciding factor between a result and a draw. However, both of these teams have the chance to force that result next week, when they face each other in this format again in Stormont.

>> Full scorecard here.

Andrew Blair White
The Knights teetered but held on to force a draw
No
Connaught