Kyle slams three sixes in final over for famous victory

The villagers went into the final over requiring a highly unlikely 21 for victory against their old rivals North Down with McCallan still at the crease.

Experienced off spinner Marty Moreland was bowling and a scrambled single from the first delivery from teenager Jamie Matthews left McCallan facing the apparently impossible – hit 20 runs from five balls.

The first lumps in North Down throats must have been visible as McCallan sent the second delivery towering past the pavilion for six. From the third ball, the 34-year-old gave his first semblance of a chance after three hours at the crease but Kieran Donnelly touched the boundary line at wide mid-wicket as he attempted a catch. A second six was the result.

By now North Down must have feared the worst and when McCallan hit Moreland’s fourth delivery for his sixth maximum, Waringstown, outsiders for so long, were on the brink.

A single from the fifth delivery tied the scores and left Matthews needing a single for victory. Even then there was drama as he only just cleared Neil Russell at mid-wicket.

Waringstown’s celebrations were understandably delirious but the truth is that McCallan and Keith Morrison apart, their top order batting was woeful and many lessons must be learnt if they are to sustain a league title challenge.

At 86 for four in the 20th over in pursuit of North Down's 286 and with James Hall, Lee Nelson and Jonathan Bushe all dismissed in desperately disappointing fashion, North Down looked to be cruising to a 10th league home victory over the villagers in 11 years.

In truth the home team didn’t do a lot wrong, they simply ran into McCallan in majestic form. He found the middle of the bat almost from the first delivery he faced, and in Morrison he finally found another batsman with the stomach for the fight. Together they added 136 for the fifth wicket, with Morrison striking four boundaries in recording his second senior half century. When he was finally caught brilliantly by Andrew Haire on the long-on boundary in the 44th over, after making 66 from 81 balls, Waringstown were still 67 runs from victory.

The target eventually became 39 from three, and 31 from two, and of course 21 from one. But with McCallan making 146 not out from only 129 balls, including those six sixes and nine fours, the impossible became reality.

McCallan’s 146 not out was his highest score in an illustrious career. And the 287 Waringstown chased down for victory was comfortably the highest the club has ever achieved in its history stretching back to 1851. He was just 10 short of the 156 made by Shane Harrison at the same venue in the 1990s.

But it must be emphasised that this wasn't an all-round performance from the villagers. They were sloppy in the field almost from the first moment of the match and the bowling wasn't up to the level required, with only McCallan and Simon Harrison proving economical.

The villagers bowled their overs far too slowly – in a new rule from the NCU North Down were given six penalty runs for each of the three overs not started after the three hour cut-off point – and a target that should have been 269 was increased to 287.

It would perhaps have been above 300 had North Down not enjoyed a moment of ill-fortune when Ryan Haire was dismissed three runs short of a century. Jonathan Terrett drove the ball back fiercely at Simon Harrison who touched the ball onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end with Haire well out of his ground.

Reprieved badly by Nelson at cover when he was just 22, Haire struck the ball fiercely thereafter, hitting seven fours and four sixes in his 97 from 117 balls. The left-hander dominated a third wicket partnership of 127 with Taimur Khan (39), while the final flourishes of the innings came from Shields, who batted intelligently in making 41 from only 37 balls.

The final word must go to McCallan. He has now made 217 runs without being dismissed in two innings this season. But it was typical of the man that amidst the emotion of a famous victory, he ran straight to the boundary to embrace father Billy, who has been battling serious illness.