Weather puts paid to hopes of result for cricketers

Persistent showers eventually caused the abandonment of Ballymena’s 1st XI’s game at Waringstown on Saturday. However Ballymena will take some encouragement from their performance for they had fought their way back into the game after the Waringstown opening pair had dominated the first twenty overs.
Ballymena Cricket Clubs James Kennedy collects an Ulster Bank award on behalf of team-mate 
team-mate Steve Lazars who won it for his 6-29 against Lisburn early
in the season.  Also in the picture are Sean Murphy of
Ulster Bank and Billy Boyd, President of the Northern Cricket Union. Picture: Press Eye.Ballymena Cricket Clubs James Kennedy collects an Ulster Bank award on behalf of team-mate 
team-mate Steve Lazars who won it for his 6-29 against Lisburn early
in the season.  Also in the picture are Sean Murphy of
Ulster Bank and Billy Boyd, President of the Northern Cricket Union. Picture: Press Eye.
Ballymena Cricket Clubs James Kennedy collects an Ulster Bank award on behalf of team-mate team-mate Steve Lazars who won it for his 6-29 against Lisburn early in the season. Also in the picture are Sean Murphy of Ulster Bank and Billy Boyd, President of the Northern Cricket Union. Picture: Press Eye.

Ballymena captain Simon McDowell opted to bowl first, hoping for early wickets. Instead the home team’s openers James Hall (67) and Kyle McCallan (48) batted very positively to put 102 in little more than 20 overs.

Given that Ballymena were without front-line bowlers Michael Glass and Steve Lazars, there looked to be every chance they would be on the receiving end of a huge total. However accurate bowling and top-class catching pulled a spirited Ballymena side back into the game.

The star performer with the ball was Michael Taylor whose excellent control earned him a thoroughly deserved 4 wickets for 36 in 10 overs. He was well supported by good spells from Robert McKinley (2 for 44), Fergus Taylor (1 for 28) and Yogesh Takawale ( 1 for 52).

In some respects, even more impressive was Ballymena’s catching, which had been disappointing in recent games. James Kennedy set the tone with a fine diving catch to dismiss McCallan and this was followed by three spectacular diving catches by Takawale and three excellent running catches from Fergus Taylor, Jack Gibson and Simon McDowell.

All this meant that Waringstown had been restricted to 231 for 8 in 48 overs when heavy rain delayed play for almost three hours. The Duckworth/ Lewis calculation then came into play and meant that Ballymena’s adjusted target score was a very demanding 159 in 22 overs.

Ballymena got off to a poor start against some quick bowling from Shaheen Khan and Phil Eagleston. Both James and David Kennedy could count themselves unlucky to be out when full–blooded cut shots went straight to fieldsmen and after four overs Ballymena found themselves 17 for 3.

However Yogesh Takawale was sensibly playing himself in and, with intelligent support from Robert McKinley and Fergus Taylor, started to dominate the bowling. In fact the score had gone from 26 to 89 in just over 6 overs when heavy drizzle descended. At this point Takawale was caught behind, trying to uppercut a head high bouncer. He had reached an excellent 56 off only 36 balls, with 4 fours and 4 huge sixes.

After Takawale’s dismissal it became clear that the rain was too heavy for play to continue and the match was abandoned. It will be rearranged as a 20-overs per side evening game, a format that Ballymena will not be too unhappy with, given the ability of Takawale and some of their other batters to score quick runs.

Ballymena have a home Premier League on Saturday (12 noon) against North Down. The Comber side will provide tough opposition for their strong batting line-up have a habit of scoring big runs against the Eaton Park side. However, with Michael Glass, Steve Lazars and William Montgomery all likely to return to the side, Ballymena will hope to be at full-strength for the first time this summer. Even that fact alone should ensure that Ballymena will go into this game with genuine hopes of causing an upset in the race for the Premier League title.

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