Larne Cricket Club

On Saturday 20 th June, Larne Second XI defeated Cooke II by 2 wickets in League Division 2 Section 2. The match ball was kindly donated by Tom Ramsay.

On a slightly overcast afternoon Cooke's skipper decided to make first use of a decent batting track, and his opening batsmen responded with a stand of over 50 for the first wicket. An excellent piece of fielding made the breakthrough for Larne when Ryan Hamill, stopped a well struck drive at mid-wicket and fired a throw over the stumps for Stanton to take the bails off with the batsman stranded. Although a decent start by Cooke, Larne's opening bowlers had never let themselves be dominated and it was McKinley who finally got his reward when he clean bowled the new batsman for 4.

At the other end Johnnie Baxter was again settling into a good line and length with his off-spinners and his 2 wickets came at a time when Larne were really turning the screws on the Cooke innings. After McKinley had finished an excellent spell, Hegarty had immediately settled into his rhythm and scoring was difficult. However Cooke applied themselves and at the 40 over mark, although only scoring at 3 an over they still had wickets in hand for a final onslaught. Young Ryan Hamill and Johnnie McIlhenny were given the task of trying to contain the scoring and both suffered as Larne tried to protect the boundaries and allowed numerous singles to be scored. Both bowlers especially Hamill were unlucky not to pick up more than one wicket in their spells but although at one stage Larne were hoping to restrict Cooke to around 160-170 they finally managed to post a more imposing total of 197.

Given their form with the bat over the last few weeks, Larne were very confident that 200 was not a problem on the Sandy Bay wicket, and a solid start from Shah Ali Murad and Neil Hodge had the Larne later order in relaxed mood. However when Hodge was removed for 17, Leitch and Shah quickly followed to leave Larne at 52 for 3. Baxter and McKinley then steadied the innings with a good fifty partnership before McKinley edged one to the wicket keeper. As with the previous breakthrough further wickets quickly followed as Anderson , Hamill and Baxter were all caught trying to force the scoring. Baxter top scored with a confident 52 that kept Larne in the match at the vital stage of the game.

With more than 60 required in 11 overs Skipper Moore and Vice Captain Stanton decided to take a slightly different approach to try to throw some pressure back on the fielding team. Well judged singles and hard running 2's were accompanied with the occasional lusty blow to keep Larne in sight of the target, but eventually Stanton was run-out for 17 with Larne still needing 28 off the last 4 overs. Young Johnnie McIlhenny confidently strode to the crease to accompany his Skipper and continued in the same manner as Stanton as Larne kept the pressure on the fielding team and edged towards the target.

Needing 7 off the last over McIlhenny took 3 off the first 3 balls leaving the skipper to see the side home with a lofted on drive to the long on boundary. Moore remained undefeated on 38 with McIlhenny on 12 not out.

Match summary.

CIYMS: 197-5 ( J. Baxter 2-29, K. McKinley 1-21, P. Heggarty 1-35, R. Hamill 1-43 )

Larne: 198-8 ( Murad 21, J. Baxter 52, G. Moore 38no )

Larne won by 2 wkts.