North Down v Larne - Sunday 22nd August 2004 |
Larne Fourths finished the season with a victory as they travelled to North Down and recorded an eighty-run win on Sunday. They won the toss and made an impressive score of 188-6 off their 40 overs. Scott Allen top-scored for Larne with an excellent knock of 63. He opened the innings and led the way, hitting seven fours and running between the wickets with great skill. It was the second fifty he has scored for the Fourths this season, and both of them have been away from home on artificial wickets. His two-hour innings was also the top-score that anyone has made for the Fourths this season, and ended a recent run of poor form from the talented batsman. He was ably supported by Simon King, who compiled 27 runs in a partnership of 90. Simon's excellent technique is well suited to batting up the order, andhe has consistently scored runs all season. Toward the end of the innings Larne accelerated impressively with Chris King, Andrew King and Eddie Wilson all scoring quickly as 44 runs were scored off the last six overs. North Down began their reply at a great pace, reaching 54 for no wicket in the sixth over. However, Andrew King, as he has done so often this season, broke the partnership with his accurate medium-fast bowling. He took two wickets, but at 80-2 North Down were still favourites to win. William Graham bowled without luck, whilst Darren King had a rare bad day with the ball. Larne were therefore under some pressure when they made their fourth bowling change, bringing Cameron Ruys into the attack. The young seam bowler came of age with a sensational spell of bowling, as he took seven wickets in the space of just twenty balls to finish the match. He nervously bowled a wide and was hit for four in his first over, but he took a wicket with the last delivery and never looked back. Four times he rattled the stumps, and he actually took three wickets in four balls, narrowly missing the highly-prized hat-trick. Still, it was a the best bowling figures recorded this season for the side, and he will surely cherish memories of this glorious spell for many years. For the record, he bowled four overs and took seven wickets for just nine runs. Cameron has spent most of the season playing for the under-15's, but he will surely press-on now to become a regular star for one of the senior sides. Larne finished winners by eight runs. This match was kindly sponsored by the Curran Court |
