Successful weekend sees Lisburn go top of the league

Firstly they travelled to Pollock Park to play Lurgan for the first time in three years and came away with a comfortable 26 run victory after a disastrous start to their innings.

Batting first on a very dry Lurgan wicket, Lisburn found themselves in a poor position after just 5 overs. Adam Berry was bowled by a fine delivery from John Guy and three balls later he did the same to Ryan Ervine. Greg Thompson, as usual, looked positive but with the score at 27 and in only the 5th over, he was caught by Godbole off the bowling of Peter Maxwell for 14.

Lisburn needed a fight back and in Yasas Tillakaratne they had just the player. He dug in and with the support of Bruce Topping stopped the rot with a stand of 29 before Topping was lbw to McCollum for a useful 11.

Tillakaratne was joined by number six, Johnny Bell and between them they turned the match in Lisburn's favour. They added a very sound 87 and their 5th wicket stand proved to be the match winner. Striking the bad ball and running between the wickets with purpose, they used the large playing area of Pollock Park to their advantage.

Lurgan chopped and changed their bowling attack but for 20 overs they could not make an impression on the Lisburn pair.

Lisburn's score rose to 143 in the 37th over before Tillakaratne, having scored a fine 73, was caught by Guy off the bowling of Maxwell. He had turned the course of the game with his highest score of the season hitting nine fours and a six in facing just 108 balls on a rapidly deteriorating wicket.

The Lisburn lower order could only manage a further handful of runs but the team had recovered from 27 for 3 to be 217 all out in the 50th over.

Lisburn could only have been content with their total but Lurgan got themselves off to a flying start with Stephen Johnston and Colin Grieve who took a few chances but certainly caused the Lisburn bowlers some concern.

Again, Lisburn's bowling had been disciplined even in the face of the Johnston assault and they all turned in good figures. Ryan Ervine took 2 for 35 off 35 while Davey Simpson had 1 for 28. Off spinner Hennie van de Merwe took 1 for 36 off his 10 overs while Greg Thompson had 2 for 34 including the vital wicket of Stephen Johnston. Ian Whitten chipped in with two valuable wickets for just 12 runs while Yasas Tillakaratne had 1 for 35 of his full quota of 10 overs.

Following their win at Lurgan, Lisburn faced CSNI in the postponed league game in the Park on Sunday and took themselves well clear at the top of the league with a very well fashioned 5 wicket win. The win was the seventh in succession for a team which now plays each match with some conviction.

The match was somewhat disjointed due to the heavy showers which delayed the game by 15 minutes and then induced the Duckworth/Lewis system later in the afternoon.

Greg Thompson had no hesitation in putting CSNI into bat in damp conditions and quickly claimed the wicket of Beverland, caught by Adam Berry off Davey Simpson in the 6th over with the score at 18 but had to wait another 12 overs for their next wicket.

It was professional Noema-Barnett who was out in the 18th over for 15, not before he had been dropped on three occasions, caught off Ryan Ervine The score at this point was 53 and another stand between professional McKee and Fisher which realised 32 runs before the dangerous McKee was dismissed by Hennie van de Merwe and 17 runs later Fisher was also out, caught by Davey Simpson off the bowling of Greg Thompson.

CSNI had reached a tally of 81 for 4 in the 29th over at this stage as they had difficulty forcing the pace against some accurate Lisburn bowling.

Facing the winning total of 163, Lisburn started well with both Ryan Ervine and Adam Berry looking to be in 'good touch'. However, in the 6th over, Berry played a rash drive and was easily caught at mid off for 8 and it took a solid effort from Ervine and number three Tillakaratne to set Lisburn up for the win.

The pair added a vital 47 for the 2nd wicket before Ervine was also out to an loose shot, caught by Fisher off Coulter in the 19th over for 36.

Tillakaratne continued his good form, playing some fine shots and along with skipper Greg Thompson took the score to a very healthy 119. However, at this point Tillakaratne was lured into a mistake, caught in the gully but he had more than played his part in another telling contribution of 45 off just 61 balls.

Lisburn's innings had been interrupted by a heavy shower and a loss of time when the sight screens fell off in the severe wind and their target score eventually ended up at 152 off 43 overs.

Greg Thompson, always aggressive in his approach had reached 28 before his was caught hitting a skier but his 28 had sealed the game for his side.

Bruce Topping, having played soundly, played an uncharacteristic shot and was out for 7 in the 36th over but at that stage, Lisburn only required 22 to win and Johnny Bell and Davey Simpson knocked off the runs without any more scares leaving Lisburn with the winning total of 152 for 5 in the 39th over and four more league points which takes them well clear of the pack with Waringstown beaten by Instonians and North Down having no match. Johnny Bell remained 12 not out and Davey Simpson 10 not out as they scored the 22 between them in just 4 overs.