Fourth XI book semi final place

Saturday saw another tense finish for Ballymena Fours in the 3rd round of the NCU Minor Qualifying Cup up against a very competitive Cregagh side.
Cricket.Cricket.
Cricket.

After losing the toss and being asked to field, Ballymena’s bowlers soon found themselves up against it as the Belfast side progressed to 93 for the loss of just 2 wickets at the halfway mark with some hard, clean hitting. When Cregagh then reached 143 for 3 after 21 overs, a score in excess of 200 appeared more than likely.

At this point, u15 bowler Jonny Browne returned to the attack and in a remarkable over took 3 wickets for 1 run, including 2 wickets in 2 balls, reducing the visitors to 143 for 6.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With the big hitters now in the pavilion, the brakes had been applied to the Cregagh innings and some controlled bowling at the end saw the visitors finish on 174 for the loss of 9 wickets.

Ballymena started their reply at a good rate, with the returning Andrew Lytle, in particular, taking the attack to the experienced Cregagh bowlers. When Lyttle fell one short of his 50, the home side was in a good position, well up with the rate, but when Sam Glass then found himself run out, followed immediately by Crease, the Ballymena side’s response temporarily stalled.

Adam Pogue and John Glass then picked up the innings with Glass in particular looking fluent in his score of 39.

With the home side needing 6 runs an over from the last four overs, and with Cregagh’s best bowlers in action, a tight finish seemed inevitable and so it transpired. With Justin Jolly and Josh Scott in the middle, some tight bowling left the home side needing 9 runs from the final over to win.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

When the first ball was clubbed by Jolly for 6, victory seemed inevitable, but with only a wide from the subsequent 4 balls, 2 runs were required from the last ball. Unable to get bat on ball, the batsmen scrambled a bye leaving the scores tied on 174.

A frantic search through the rule book then confirmed that it would be the Ballymena side that would progress to the semi-finals as a result of losing fewer wickets, much to the relief of all concerned.

Related topics: