DUBLIN – In latest cricket news, The North West Warriors finished the first Inter-Provincial T20 event on top of the table on Sunday at Pembroke Cricket Club.
The North West Warriors won the toss and decided to bowl first – and seemed the more determined side in the contest, right from the outset. Kevin O’Brien perished early for the third game in a row, before Simi Singh (13) and Andrew Balbirnie (24) looked to stabilise the innings and build a total. The duo put up 33 runs off 21 balls, before they both got dismissed with the score on 40 – with Craig Young getting the better of his international captain, bowling him through the gate.
The season’s in-form batsman George Dockrell then showcased his class with a quick 44 off 32 balls, and Lorcan Tucker notched up a counter attack with 51 from 27 balls – his knock bedecked with 4 giant sixes and a brace of boundaries.
The Lightning then added some late runs to finish 182-7 from their 20 overs, despite losing three late wickets.
For the Warriors, Craig Young starred with the ball once more claiming 3-24 from his four overs. Young bowled with speed and an attacking line, dismissing the dangermen O’Brien and Balbirnie early to give his team the momentum early.
Despite losing the wicket of Stephen Doheny (6) early, the Warriors run chase got off to a flying start with William Porterfield hitting 52 from 23 balls – when he holed out the North West team were sitting comfortably at 74-2 in the 7th over.
Shane Getkate then smashed three huge sixes in a 19-ball knock of 37. The wicket of Getkate, however, shifted the momentum of the match dramatically – from a position of the Warriors sailing to a victory, the Lightning kept things tight and built pressure on the new batsmen. Five wickets perished for 22 runs, and the run rate dropped off leaving the lower order batsmen a mounting required run rate.
At 151-8 in the beginning of the 18th over, Graham Hume and Craig Young faced a tough task with 32 needed from the final 18 deliveries. What unfolded over the next ten minutes scripted for a dramatic end. Nine runs came off the 18th over with Hume and Young just concentrating on getting bat on ball, leaving almost two runs a ball required off the final two overs. The Lightning were the side on the drivers seat.
However, three boundaries were smashed off the next four deliveries, and suddenly the tides turned in the favour of the Warriors. All up, 15 runs came from the 19th over and the game had come down to the final over with the North West side requiring 8 for victory with two wickets remaining.
Barry McCarthy then bowled a string of full balls which – while denying big hitting shots – witnessed Hume and Young get the ball away for ones and two's. On the fourth delivery of the over, Hume was run out rushing for a risky second, leaving 2 to win from 2 balls with one wicket in hand. The next ball, McCarthy again pitched the ball up full and Young smashed through the arc hitting the ball to long off. The batsmen set off wanting to push for two, and in a close scramble Young beat the throw and the Warriors registered a win 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
