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Bill Coghlan was the star for Leinster Lightning with 130, as his side recovered from a disastrous first day to take control of their Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Championship match against the North-West Warriors.
Starting at 2-0 after being asked to follow-on at the end of the first day, Max Sorensen and Fintan McAllister strode out to the wicket still 157 runs behind the Warriors total of 260.

Sorensen moved the score forward quicker than McAllister, who was clearly intent on anchoring the innings. After seeing off opening spells from Craig Young and Graeme McCarter there seemed to be very little that would slow the scoring, especially when David Rankin put down a glorious opportunity at second slip from Sorensen.

In the end a change of pace brought a wicket, but it would not be fair to credit Andy McBrine with the wicket, which was a comical run out which saw both batters at the same end after McAllister had called yes, but then changed his mind, meaning Sorensen was out for 36.

Bill Coghlan then joined McAllister in the middle and showed his strength off the front foot, crashing sever fours through the covers. He also responded well to the short ball, smashing Stuart Thompson into the nearby gardens with a superb pull shot.

In an almost carbon copy of the Sorensen chance earlier in the day, Coghlan did give one opportunity to the Warriors, but Marco Marais was unable to hold onto the ball. Coghlan and McAllister then went about getting their side through to lunch, and brought up their fifty partnership just before the break, ending the session still 42 behind on 117-1.

The middle session also belonged firmly to Coghlan and McAllister who batted all the way through the session, Coghlan bringing up his hundred with a big six when he pounced on a short ball. The pair brought Leinster Lightning to tea with a lead of 78 after starting the day 157 behind.

After tea the pair eventually fell with Coghlan miss-timing one and giving wicket-keeper Ricky-Lee Dougherty an easy catch, eventually departing for a well-deserved 130 from 204 balls including 12 fours and 4 sixes.

When Coghlan eventually fell the pair were just four runs short of a 200 partnership, but they did set a new record for the Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Championship, beating the previous best of 192 from Craig Ervine and Andrew White for the Knights in 2014.

McAllister showed incredible patience and work-rate throughout his innings, anchoring the side throughout, eventually being caught by Dougherty behind the stumps for 90 after 83 overs at the crease.

John Anderson and Poynter move the score past 300 to give the Lightning a decent lead before Poynter fell for 16, but Anderson (47) remained and along with Tyrone Kane saw the Lightning to 357-4 before he was out caught behind with just two overs left in the day.

Kane was joined by John Mooney for the last two overs of the day, the pair ensuring Leinster Lightning ended the day on 367-5 a lead of 208.

The match will resume tomorrow at 11am, with free entry for all spectators.

Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Championship – Day 2 Close of Play
North West Warriors 260 (65.2 overs, M Marais 66, A McBrine 42, S Thompson 41; S Singh 3-18, T Kane 3-54)

Leinster Lightning 101 (32.4 overs, J Anderson 37; S Thompson 3-24, C Young 3-29) and 367-5 (107 overs, B Coghlan 130, F McAllister 90, J Anderson 47, M Sorensen 36; C Young 2-65).

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