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The 2014 Newstalk 106-108fm Inter-Provincial series was completed last week with Leinster Lightning winning the Championship and IP50 Cup, while the North West Warriors took the T20 Trophy.
The 50 over Inter-Provincial Cup was the first to get underway in early May, and the last to finish in September, with home games for Leinster Lightning at either extreme of the season. Although two games were affected by the weather, the Lightning managed to complete and win all four of their fixtures to take the title with a game to spare.

Northern Knights and North West Warriors had one of their fixtures abandoned due to the weather, with the Knights winning the second match, meaning the Warriors ended the 50 over season without a win.

With the bat Andrew Balbirnie was the stand out performer in the 50 over tournament, scoring 73 more runs than his nearest rival. Balbirnie showed some real talent as he made 206 runs at an average of 68.67 over the four games.

Albert van der Merwe and Andrew White led the way in wickets with six each, although van der Merwe managed it in just three games. Tyrone Kane and Yaqoob Ali both managed five wickets each.

The Warriors had a far more enjoyable time in the T20 Trophy, coming out as overall winners after beating both the Lightning and the Knights over the course of the tournament. The Lightning may feel a little unlucky that their final two matches were abandoned without a ball being bowled, but that is cricket, and with the Warriors proving so strong in T20 this year, they would have been confident of taking another win in Dublin.

David Rankin led the way with T20 batting, scoring 157 runs over three games, with Stuart Thompson the only other player to pass 100. Peter Eakin and Rishi Chopra were the pick of the bowlers with Eakin just edging ahead with seven wickets to Chopra’s six.

The three day form of the game was again dominated by Leinster Lightning, who went unbeaten over the course of the summer, winning three and drawing one of their matches. North West Warriors finished the Championship without a win, losing out in their matches with the Northern Knights, who secured second place.

Craig Ervine was the leading runs scorer in the Championship with 222 runs at an average of 111, and he was closely followed by Fintan McAllister with 202 runs, the pair being the only players in 2014 to pass the two hundred run mark.

The race for leading wicket taker was a lot closer, with Max Sorensen finishing on 17 wickets, very closely followed by both John Mooney and Eddie Richardson who took 15 each. Craig Young, Shane Getkate and Albert van der Merwe all deserve a mention for getting past ten wickets this year.

Overall the Newstalk 106-108fm Inter-Provincial series has been a big success this year, and has proven itself to be a stepping stone into International cricket, with 9 members of the squad travelling to Australia and New Zealand this month all representing their province in the competition.

We are already looking forward to the 2015 series and would like to thank Newstalk 106-108fm, the host venues and importantly, all the supporters who have been a part of the series for helping to make it such a success.

Leinster Lightning celebrating
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