Blow for Coleraine as Silva get Sri Lanka call up

The all-rounder has been a major factor in the Champions’ season so far and his loss for an estimated four games comes at a crucial stage of the season for the club.Silva will miss the cup semi-final clash at home to Bready as well as a couple of crucial league matches; however the rules do at least allow for them to use a replacement during his absence.

That, though, could well be easier said than done, although it is believed that Coleraine are currently considering their options.

North West Warriors’ Head Coach, Ian McGregor is known to be a fan of Silva, especially in the longer format, and he will be hoping that the Sri Lankan will be available for the 3-day game against the Northern Knights starting on the 21st.

Meanwhile, a strong performance from Waringstown’s batsmen was enough to see them overcome the North West champions at the Lawn. An 82-run stand for the 2nd wicket between James Hall (65) and Cobus Pienaar (44) set the All-Ireland champions on their way while contributions from Greg Thompson (40) and Adam Dennison (21) helped towards a total of 237-7 in their 40 overs.

Gordon Cooke (2-33) and Scott Campbell (2-43) fared best with the ball for the visitors who were certainly on target in the early stages of their reply. Rishi Chopra (37), Roshen Silva (35) and Tim Chopra (24) had helped ease the Bannsiders to 106-2 at that point before the wheels began to come off.

The introduction of Thompson into the attack was the catalyst for the turnaround; the Northern Knights all-rounder claimed brilliant figures of 5-26 as Coleraine’s last seven batsmen scored just 19 between them. A final total of 151 meant an 86-run defeat in the final reckoning as the home team avenged their 2013 final defeat.