Larne v Armagh - Sunday 30th May 2004 |
|
Looking to bounce back from this defeat Larne entertained Armagh in a re-arranged league fixture at Sandy Bay . However another inept batting display on a decent wicket saw Larne bowled out for 107 as they chased 230 to win. Armagh won the toss and decided to bat first and despite picking up an early wicket when Hunter had Cairns well caught in the covers by Griebenouw the Armagh batsmen were clearly enjoying the favourable batting conditions as they raced to 40 in the 12 th over. Ian Hill picked up two wickets in his opening spell and returned figures of 2 for 22 and Larne were back in the game with Armagh at 59 for 3. Sensible batting from Wright and Thornbury took the score along at 5 an over and at the drinks break Armagh were 125 for 3. Wright had passed his 50 and now looked to accelerate the scoring rate further. Gareth Gaw was brought into the attack and after a few tidy overs he picked up two wickets in successive overs and with Hunter coming back on and picking up the wicket of Wright for 75 Larne had Armagh 178 for 6. Two more quick wickets from Hodge and Hunter had Armagh struggling on 184 for 8 but sensible batting from the tail-enders saw them up to 229 before McElhinney picked up the last wicket in the 48 th over. Larne's reply got of to a slow but steady start as Aiston and Alexander punished the rare bad deliveries. Aiston was having trouble with his timing and was the first out with the score on 32. Alexander went soon after for 21 and when Griebenouw was caught in the covers for 11 the ghosts of the previous days batting collapse came back to haunt Larne. Dempsey, McKee and Ian Hill all were dismissed cheaply and Larne were reeling on 57 for 6. Spirited batting from Dean Hodge and Jonathan Craig only delayed the inevitable and when Gareth Gaw was joined by last man McElhinney at the crease the end was nigh. However both batsmen enjoyed themselves at the crease and stayed together for 7 overs in a partnership of 20 runs for the last wicket before Gaw was finally caught and Larne had been dismissed for 107 runs. These defeats mean Larne has now lost 4 league games in a row after starting the season so brightly and travel to CIYMS on Saturday looking to stop the rot and return to winning ways. Scorecards :- |
