The day started with an excellent maiden over from John Mooney, onto which Ryan Hunter was unable to lay a bat. Immediately, the Lightning had the initiative, and it was firmly theirs when Max Sorensen completely beat David Rankin for pace to claim the first wicket of the day with his first legitimate delivery. After an ungainly swat through mid-wicket for four, Warriors skipper Ifti Hussain snicked off to slip and the second over finished with the score on five for two. Eddie Richardson re-arranged the stumps of Hunter before Sorensen added Brian Allen to his list of victims and the visitors were reeling. Stuart Thompson seemed to be playing a different game to the rest of his team's batsmen, as did Andy McBrine, as the two young Irish prospects knuckled down to rebuild, but they couldn't stop their team getting flattened for 78.
The opening pair of Andrew Britton and Stuart Thompson bowled well and made small inroads into the home side, but Bill Coghlan and Andrew Poynter proved that there was nothing wrong with the pitch by both hitting attractive, stroke-filled twenties. Ifti Hussain completed a miserable match by bowling just one over for eighteen, and the young North West side simply weren't at the races. I do not know who lurks in the Long's Supervalu Premier League, but I would hope that the NWCU look to bring in one or two old hands.
Leinster Lightning overcame the Warriors by virtue of skilled bowling and fielding.
With so many runs to chase, the visiting Knights were far from favourites. When Barry McCarthy dismissed the entire top three in a classic spell of bowling, they were almost completely out of the game, despite the best efforts of Greg Thompson to rectify things. He couldn't find the support he needed, and Alex Cusack worked with van der Merwe to tidy up the scraps.
The same two teams will be competing in the next Interprovincial Championship match, once again at the picturesque College Park, on Tuesday. The Knights will hope to be boosted once again by Nathan Waller, who hopes for an Irish call-up some time soon, and fellow Zimbabwean Craig Ervine, who does not. My exams will be done by then, so hopefully the report will be more punctual.
Leinster Lightning - 177/4 Pat Collins - 66 (54) Kevin O'Brien - 32* (15) Andrew White - 2/24 (4) David Simpson - 1/11 (2) | Northern Knights - 119 ao Greg Thompson - 33 (23) Nigel Jones - 22 (23) Alex Cusack - 3/14 (3) Barry McCarthy - 3/24 (3) |