Larne Cricket Club

On Saturday 24 th July, Larne Second XI, sponsored by Beattie, Marcus & Co., lost to Armagh II by 13 runs in League Division 2 Section 2.

Once again this season Larne’s skipper lost the toss giving the opposition the chance to bat first. A very strong Armagh batting line-up no doubt hoping to bat Larne out of the match. Larne’s opening bowlers Steven McDonald and Ken McKinley had different ideas though, as they settled into a superb spell of bowling with the new ball. Armagh were reduced to 9 for 3 in 10 overs, with McDonald especially unlucky not to claim more than one wicket in his spell. Change bowlers McElhenny and Baxter were no less effective with Baxter claiming a wicket in his first over and McElhenny continuing were McDonlad left off, bowling with pace and accuracy.

Unfortunately after 3 overs McElhenny had a recurrence of a back problem and had to be withdrawn from the attack to be replaced by Heggarty. Carrying an injury from the previous week Heggarty was never quite at his best and with the rain starting to fall Armagh started to fight back with Willie Carberry leading the way. On 20 Carberry was given a life when a reasonably straightforward chance was put down off Baxter. This was probably the pivotal moment in the match as he went onto score 93.

Wickets had continued to fall throughout Carberry’s innings so when he eventually went, the score was 158 for 9 and with a couple of quick wickets Larne could still have wrapped it up for under 170. Unfortunately from a Larne perspective what happened next ruined the match. The Armagh number 10 immediately edged the ball to the wicket-keeper and as Larne celebrated he refused to walk. The appeal then switched to the Armagh Umpire who refused to give the decision. Although tempted to walk off the pitch Larne played on as the guilty party added 24 in a partnership of over 30 runs to allow Armagh to reach the much more imposing target of 195.

All season Larne have successfully chased decent totals so it was still a confident Larne side that started the run chase. Shah Murad and John Higginson gave Larne a great platform with an opening stand of 69 before Higginson was out for an excellent 35. Unfortunately a rash shot quickly followed from Murad to leave two new batsmen at the crease.

Two more poor pieces of cricket resulted in Baxter being run-out for 0, and McKee being caught at mid-on for 5. After having had Armagh on the ropes Larne had handed them the initiative and when Anderson was out for 8 straight after the drinks break Larne had lost 5 wickets in 10 overs. As Larne’s skipper came to the crease to rebuild the innings McKinley soon departed and Larne’s last 2 recognised batsmen were now at the crease.

Moore and Stanton, are however, both experienced in these situations and they took the decision to see off the best of the Armagh bowlers whilst trying to stay within striking distance of the target; they knew Armagh had to find a number 6 and a number 7 bowler to bowl the last 5 overs. One big over at any stage would have given the game back to Larne. With 37 needed off 5 overs both players were still confident of victory, however a superb running catch spelt the end of Moore and the onus was on Stanton. With the bad bowling never materialising, Stanton also perished forcing the pace and Larne fell 13 runs short with 4 balls left.