Lisburn bounce back to earn first win of the new season

Ballymena, with the threat of rain later in the afternoon, asked the visitors to bat first and although they struggled at times on the slow wicket, they managed to post 176 and from that point onward they were in control of the match.

Rain did intervene late in the afternoon but by that stage, Ballymena had lost 8 wickets for just 91 and the Duckworth/Lewis decided the result in Lisburn’s favour.

Glen Halliday, after his 70 for the Seconds last week, was given the chance to open with Robert Rankin but both batsmen were dismissed early leaving Lisburn at 16 for 2 in the 9th over.

Runs were at a premium for the next 24 overs as Craig Ervine and Richard Simpson dug in to cement the score and this they did to great effect with a stand of 93 with Ervine leading the scoring. He completed his 50 in 70 balls and was just about to launch an attack on Ballymena when he misjudged a drive and was caught in the covers for an excellent 64. His patience and careful shot selection had anchored the Lisburn innings and included four sixes and four boundaries in just 91 deliveries.

Following his century last Saturday, much was expected of Darryl Brown but he was very well caught for a ‘duck’ as Lisburn reached 119 for 4 in the 35th over.

Richard Simpson had battled for all that time and he must have been disappointed when he too was caught for a very valuable 43 in the 36th over with Lisburn’s score on 127 for 5.

Lisburn skipper Davey Simpson was joined by James Magowan and knowing they had only 15 overs to set their opponents a challenging score, the pair went about their batting with a purpose and added 43 for the 6th wicket taking Lisburn’s tally to 170 with less than 3 overs remaining. Both Simpson and Magowan contributed 24 priceless runs.

Unfortunately, the Lisburn lower order could not contribute much to the final score adding just a further 6 runs for the loss of 5 wickets and when the 50 overs were completed a final score of 176 left Ballymena a difficult target.

Ballymena, without their expected professional and ace batsman, David Kennedy, always struggled as Lisburn’s bowlers turned the screw in the early stage of their innings. Their openers laboured against Davey Simpson and Darryl Brown and when James Kennedy was lbw to Brown, the score was just 12 in the 8th over.

The Taylor brothers set about building the innings and were together for 16 overs adding 40 in the process but all the time the run rate was rising and when the next wicket fell Ballymena were already behind the clock at 52 for 2 in the 24th over.

When Michael Taylor was also out an over later at 54 for 3 the game had swung greatly towards Lisburn and even partnership of 28 between Montgomery and Lazars could not alter the course of the Ballymena innings. The ‘wheels came off’ completely when ex Ballymena player Carl Williams came into the Lisburn attack as he proceeded to grab 5 wickets for just 5 runs off his 6 overs as the home side slumped top 91 for 8 before the rain put an end to play for the day. After a short delay, the game was declared finished with Lisburn winning by 65 runs according to the Duckworth/ Lewis calculation and the first Premier League points were ‘in the bag’.

Carl Williams had recorded the remarkable figures of 5 for 5 to end Ballymena’s stuttering reply while Darryl Brown took 1 for 4, Craig Ervine, 2 for 22 and James Magowan, 1 for 31 as Lisburn got themselves the precious league points.

Next Saturday, Lisburn travel to Dublin for their first round Irish Cup match against Clontarf.

The game was to be played in Lisburn but due to the City Council’s occupation of the Park, the venue had to be conceded and it leaves Lisburn facing last year’s Irish Cup winners on their home ground; a distinct disadvantage.

The quality of the Dublin side cannot be questioned and Lisburn will have to play above themselves to gain an unlikely victory and a place in the second round of a trophy they seldom influence.