Senior Challenge Cup exit as Lisburn fall to Waringstown

The 187 run defeat came after Adam Berry asked Waringstown to bat first on a firm wicket and good overhead conditions and after initial success when they reduced their opponents to 72 for 3 the Waringstown middle order insured that they amassed an imposing total of 266 at the end of their 50 overs.

Lisburn did have early success when Callum Atkinson clean bowled James McCollum in the 2nd over but opener James Hall and Andrew Dennison added 58 for the 2nd wicket in good time before Dennison was caught by Simon Olphert behind the wicket off Stevie Lazars for 24 as the visitors reached 54 for 2 in the 17th over.

Hall also lost Lee Nelson four overs later, caught by Cody Chetty off Davey Simpson reducing Waringstown to 72 for 3 and giving Lisburn a great chance of containing their opponents to a manageable score.

This improved when Hall was also caught by the Lisburn professional off Richard McConkey for a useful 42 with the score at 96.

However, Waringstown number five, ex Lisburn player Greg Thompson gained a solid partner in David Dawson and the pair quickly began to take the game away from Lisburn.

They seemed to have little problem with the varied Lisburn bowling attack adding 83 vital runs in 13 overs and when Dawson was lbw to Mark Berry for 26, Waringstown had lifted their tally to a dangerous 179 for 5.

Thompson was surprisingly out in the 40th over for 55 well caught by Mark Berry at square leg but again the depth of the Waringstown batting came into its own as the vastly experienced Kyle McCallan and Gary Kidd pushed their team’s score to an imposing level.

They added a further 57 for the 7th wicket in quick time before Kidd was caught by Adam Berry off Davey Simpson for a useful 22 and even when McCallan was eventually bowled by Davey Simpson, Waringstown had reached the more than average score of 266 in their completed 50 overs.

Best bowing for Lisburn in a mixed bowling effort was Davey Simpson with 3 for 39 off his 10 overs while Mark Berry had 1 for 37, Callum Atkinson, 1 for 48.

The spin of Stevie Lazars gave him 2 for 48 and Richard McConkey was the other wicket taker with 1 for 37. Neil Doak on his return to Premier cricket bowled 5 overs for 42 runs.

Lisburn’s reply to the Waringstown challenge was to turn out to be a poor effort as they never got to grips with the situation and were skittled out for a paltry 79 in just 28 overs.

The opening stand did not predict such a collapse as Richard Simpson and Robert Rankin added 30 in 7 overs and looked to be in reasonable comfort.

However, when Rankin was first out lbw to Nelson and Simpson quickly followed clean bowled by the same bowler, Lisburn were in early trouble.

With Lisburn batting depending so much on professional Cody Chetty and Stevie Lazars, their failure for a pair of ‘ducks’ was disastrous, both were caught off miss timed shots with the score on 37 and suddenly Lisburn were facing some humiliation as they had collapsed to 37 for 5 in the 17th over and almost all hope of a place in the next round of the cup out of sight.

Davey Simpson and the experience of Neil Doak did settle the Lisburn slump for a number of overs as they added 31 for the 6th wicket but when Doak was given out lbw off the spin off Gary Kidd, the Lisburn challenge was over. Simon Olphert also suffered a ‘duck’ before Davey Simpson,who had top scored with 19 was caught behind the wicket by McClean off Carson and the last three Lisburn wickets capitulated to left arm spinner Gary Kidd.

He wrapped up the innings with the remarkable figures of 6 for 12 in 9 overs giving him the deserved man of the match award as his team completed a massive 187 run victory.

With the Senior Cup again out of Lisburn’s grasp, they must now concentrate on their Premier League position.

Having won just one game their match against Instonians at Shaws Bridge becomes another vital game for a struggling side.

Somehow they must gather some determination and batting discipline if they are to threaten a strong Instonians team on Saturday.