Captain Fantastic! Lewis leads Derriaghy to victory with super score

His innings of 181 spanned just 40 overs and included 15 maximums and nine fours, and is the highest in the league by any batsman this season to date.

Lewis came to the wicket with the score on 39 for 3 and remained there until 9th out when the total was 303.

Craig totally dominated all the batting partnerships he shared in particularly the ninth one of 73 with Mark Stinson whose contribution was 5.

Kaushik Aphale was next top scorer with 27 but the home total of 309 will long be remembered for the sublime talents and power hitting of Lewis.

The game was far from over at the interval as rain delays meant the visitors would be facing a reduced target under Duckworth Lewis.

After a lengthy stoppage 15 minutes into their reply, Lurgan were left requiring 193 in 27 overs.

They made a determined effort to chase down the runs required as no fewer than three batsmen got into their 30s and at the 20 over mark were almost up to the required run rate with just four wickets down.

However Lewis is proving to be an equally good bowler this season and with his return for 3 of the final 5 overs he quickly curtailed the run scoring and also picked up 2 wickets to finish with 2 for 18 from 6.

Wayne Hughes also put in a good spell to collect 2 for 37 of 6 while P Bell and C Moorhead got 1 each as the visitors fell 15 runs short in the end.

This was Derriaghy’s tenth successive league win and it leaves them eight points clear of their nearest challengers at the top of the table.

Unfortunately their scheduled game on Sunday against Muckamore fell victim to the weather so they move on this Saturday to face Downpatrick at the Meadow starting at 11am.

Derriaghy Seconds, following their mid week Intermediate cup exit to Downpatrick, bounced back well to trounce Lurgan by 10 wickets in the league.

Lurgan batted first and quickly slipped to 13 for 5 with Scott Hughes 3 for 15 and Simon Gilmore 2 for 14 the wicket takers.

Despite a few lusty blows in the later stages they were eventually dismissed for 85 with Josh Cardosi being the most successful bowler collecting 4 for 25.

Derriaghy openers Ross Bailey (40) and Dean Ferris (38) knocked off the runs without much difficulty to record back to back wins.

Next up for the Seconds are Downpatrick at home on Saturday.

The Fourths also travelled to Lurgan to face Victoria last weekend but could not match the senior teams’ performances as they ended up defeated by four wickets in a low scoring affair.