Victory ensures Carrick’s Premier League survival

Muckamore won the toss and asked Carrick to bat and skipper Ross Gelderbloem and Jordan McClurkin, who was called up for the Ireland Under 19 squad this week, got their side off to a great start. The pair despatched the ball to all parts of the field, and saw the fifty up for their side in only the seventh over.

However, with the introduction of experienced seamer Andy McCulloch into the home side’s attack the situation soon changed, with McClurkin, Gelderbloem - who hit seven boundaries in his 33 - and Michael Gilmour, all falling to catches off his bowling to reduce Carrick to 64 for 3 after 13 overs.

Mikey Taiaroa and Jamie Holmes then steadied things and saw the hundred up for Carrick in the 24th over. With the score on 112 Carrick lost Taiaroa, who had looked in fine form, stumped for 40.

Holmes was joined by Ryan Eagleson and there followed a period of consolidation, with only thirty runs coming off the next dozen overs, but importantly, no further wickets had fallen going in to the last ten overs.

Holmes and Eagleson now moved it up a gear and the runs began to flow, as 80 were added to take the Carrick total to a very healthy 227 for 6 at the end of their 50 overs.

Holmes, who was dismissed in the run chase at the end, scored a superb 63, showing great concentration and maturity beyond his 18 years, in batting for 35 overs. Eagleson finished unbeaten on 42, a well-paced innings that helped Carrick set Muckamore a formidable target on a wicket that was offering assistance to the seam bowlers.

Ryan Eagleson was soon also starring with the ball for Carrick, capturing the vital wickets of big-hitting opener Horwood, bowled in the first over, and Indian professional Kamtekar, trapped lbw, to reduce the home side to 19 for 2 after 10 overs.

With the ball seaming around, Carrick were struggling for a time to control it and a series of wides helped van der Merwe and Dunlop see the fifty up for Muckamore just six overs later.

Mikey Taiaroa then got the breakthrough trapping Dunlop lbw, and from then on it was all Carrick, as Ireland Under 19 star van der Merwe could only watch as wickets tumbled at the other end. Anthony Martin, who has been bowling very well in recent weeks for little reward, picked up four wickets in a fine spell, with Taiaroa’s seamers capturing another wicket, as Muckamore were dismissed for only 94 in 28.3 overs.