Larne v Carrick - Saturday 17th July 2004 - Intermediate Cup Semi-Final |
On Saturday Larne Second XI defeated Carrick II in the Intermediate Cup Semi Final by 7 wickets. The match ball was kindly donated by Tom Ramsay. Larne skipper Gary Moore won the toss and had no hesitation in asking Carrick to bat first. Stephen McDonald and Eddie Hunter opened the bowling and under cloudy skies both bowlers swung the ball. After s steady opening McDonald made the early breakthrough when he had Craig caught in the gully for a duck. Hunter had to wait until his sixth over to pick up his first of the day when he bowled Gilmour for 7. At this stage he had figures of 1 for 5 in 6 overs. Johnny Baxter replaced McDonald and bamboozled the Carrick batsmen with his brand of off spinners. Dean Hodge replaced Hunter but he looked out of sorts and only bowled 3 overs for 15 runs and was quickly removed from the attack to be replaced by the veteran Paddy Hegarty. Hegarty relishes the big occasions and once again did not let his skipper down as he produced an immaculate display of line and length bowling. In his second over he took the wicket that Larne wanted more than any other when he bowled Nigel McFarland for 33. Baxter had already taken the wicket of McCrea for 22 and Carrick were tottering at 67 for 4 in the 24 th over. Baxter bowled right through and finished with figures of 1 for 29 in 10 overs. Hegarty picked up one more wicket as he too bowled his 10 overs straight through and finished with 2 for 24. Tony Anderson had replaced Baxter and despite conceding 8 runs off his 5th over (4 of which came off the seventh ball of the over) he bowled five tidy overs for 14 runs. Ken McKinley was asked to bowl in the final stages of the innings and only conceded 14 runs in 4 over. Meanwhile Hunter had returned to the attack and in his first two overs he bowled two wicket maidens and would end up taking 3 for 13 in his 10 overs. McDonald also bowled at the death and picked up one more wicket, to finish with 2 for 35 in 8 overs, Carrick finishing on 152 for 9 in 50 overs. After tea, Gareth Alexander and Eddie Hunter started Larne’s reply and Alexander looked in fine form right from the start. He crashed numerous balls through the cover area, whilst Hunter just occupied the crease as Alexander blazed away. Alexander struck 8 boundaries and just as he was looking like posting his fifty he was caught behind off the bowling of Wilson for 47. Alan McKee joined Hunter and he looked out of touch but was determined not to give his wicket away cheaply. However when he had taken his score to 11 he was bowled by Gilmour and shortly after Hunter’s long stay at the wicket was over when he was caught and bowled by Robinson for 9. Larne were 91 for 3 in the 28 th over and the game was in the balance. Several overs passed before another run was scored as Baxter and McKinley sought to tame the aggressive Carrick bowling. Just when it looked like the game was drifting away from Larne Baxter decided to move up a gear and started to take the attack to the bowlers. In a blistering display of batting he reeled off boundary after boundary and it became apparent that the only question to be asked is could he reach his fifty before the runs required were reached. This he achieved by pulling a short ball for 4 and next ball he drove an over pitched delivery for 2 to bring victory for Larne and put them into the final. Baxter finished on 52 not out but he was ably supported by McKinley who finished on 8 not out. The final will take place on the 7 th August at Comber and Larne’s opponents will be Laurelvale whom they play this Sunday in a league fixture. |
