On Saturday Larne second XI, who are sponsored by The Kiln, suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of local rivals Carrick in the second round of the intermediate cup.

The toss was won by the home skipper who sent Carrick in to bat in, for a change this season, pleasant overhead conditions. Larne opening bowler Ken McKinley struck and early blow when he had John Kane caught by Eddie Hunter for 4. This brought Nazir Khan to the wicket and he made his intentions clear from the start as his first scoring shot was a massive hit over the mid wicket boundary for six. In partnership with Nigel McFarland (38), Khan added 58 for the second wicket before Hegarty produced a ball that deceived him and bowled him off stump.

This was the first of Hegarty's five wickets for the day. In previous matches he had struggled with his run up but he ran in with great purpose and one suspects with a point or two to prove. In the next 10 overs Larne reduced Carrick to 114 for 6 thanks to Hegarty and Michael Walker. Bowling his enticing left arm spinners, Walker proved hard to score off and was rewarded with 1 wicket for 25 runs in his ten overs. Dean Hodge also picked up two wickets but was unlucky not to add to his total when some strange interpretation of the LBW law by the umpires saw several close appeals turned down.

Sensible batting from Carrick's lower order saw their total passed 150 and despite the best efforts of 14 year old Eddie Hunter who picked up one wicket but also saw two easy catches dropped off his bowling, Carrick finally reached 169 before their last wicket fell when Hodge bowled their last man.

With the outfield giving value for shots played, Larne were confident of surpassing the Carrick total but they suffered an early set back in the pursuit of the 170 needed for victory when Tony Anderson was bowled for 6 with the score on 18. Wylie McKinty followed soon after for 15 and Larne had lost both openers with only 29 runs on the board. Johnnie Baxter and Chris Erdis steadied the ship as they passed 50 with few alarms. Tight bowling from Carrick ensured the run rate stayed just below 3 runs per over but if Larne could keep wickets in hand then they might be able to score quickly in the latter overs.

The introduction of Nazir Khan changed the game. Just before the drinks break, Baxter played a loose shot and was caught at mid off for 22. After the break for drinks Khan then bowled Ken McKinley and Dean Hodge for ducks and Larne had slipped to 76 for 5. Larne skipper Gary Moore joined Chris Erdis at the crease and added 20 runs without alarm and seemed to be in control of the situation, despite the slow scoring rate.

The game was then taken away from Larne in the space of four balls as first Moore was well caught low down by the wicketkeeper and then Erdis became Khan's fourth victim when he was bowled for 25. Larne were now 96 for 7 in the 38th over and it was not long before they were bowled out for 105 and defeated by 64 runs.

Khan finished with 4 wickets for 20 runs and Vinay Sharma had 3 for 14 in 6 overs.

So it is Carrick who progress in to the 3rd round of the Intermediate Cup and Larne will have to get back to winning ways in the league this Saturday when the travel to Laurelvale.

Scoreboard :-

Carrick 169 all out (N. McFarland 38. N. Khan 41, P. Hegarty 5-31)

Larne 105 all out (C. Erdis 25, V. Sharma 3-14, N. Khan 4-20)

Carrick won by 64 runs.