The Lightning, who were arguably slightly short of full-strength, batted first, aiming to bat their opposition out of the game in much the same fashion as the last time the two sides met in this format. The Lightning pair of Strydom and Coghlan started positively, but Strydom was soon pinned in front of his stumps by David Simpson. Pat Collins also looked scratchy, with the exception of a solitary six, and fell chipping back to the opposition skipper, White. Coghlan was soon frustrated by his lack of strike, and holed out at the end of the seventh over having faced only twelve deliveries. More wickets were to follow as neither Kevin O'Brien nor John Mooney could find their range. Andrew Poynter had been holding the innings together from number four, and when he joined the procession back to the pavilion, it was left to his brother Stuart to coax the Lightning to a respectable total.
Nigel Jones, though, soon made that respectable score look much more manageable. He played his second blinding innings in as many days at the top of the order, laying into experienced internationals like Sorensen, Mooney, and van der Merwe. At the other end, though, Eddie Richardson kept his team in the hunt almost single-handedly, removing Andrew White and James Shannon cheaply, breaking the Nelson-Jones partnership that threatened to win the game at a canter, and running out Johnny Terrett. His three for 23 will not go unnoticed by the selectors. However, when Jones was dismissed at the end of the penultimate over, there were still a couple of runs required, but they were calmly taken by Rory McCann to end the Lightning's unbeaten streak.
Eddie Richardson gave it his all but couldn't stop Nigel Jones winning the game.
Leinster Lightning - 143/7 Andrew Poynter - 33 (27) Stuart Poynter - 23 (17) Peter Eakin - 2/15 (4) David Simpson - 2/31 (4) | Northern Knights - 147/5 Nigel Jones - 77 (55) Lee Nelson - 30 (34) Eddie Richarson - 3/23 (4) Max Sorensen - 1/32 (4) |
With that momentum going into the Warriors match, the Knights were suddenly firm favourites to take both of their home matches. Again they bowled first, and this time the strategy of starting with spinners really created a strangle-hold. Cambridge University spinner Ben Wylie spun a web that was too much for the Warriors top order, as the powerplay yielded just 29 runs, with Wylie claiming to scalps. When David Rankin fell to Peter Eakin in the eighth over, the innings had limped to a miserable 35 for four, of which Rankin had contributed a turgid 22-ball eleven. Andy McBrine and Johnny Thompson, though, fought back. They each struck two sixes, and when McBrine fell to Eaglestone, the score had reached three figures. Thompson completed his second face-saving half-century in as many days as the Warriors finished on one more than the Lightning in the morning.
A victory in the making, though, it was not. For around an over and a half of the chase it could have been, as Andrew White fell to Andy Britton, caught by new skipper Niall McDonnell, but it didn't take long for the number three, James Shannon, to dismiss any notion of a fightback. He cleared the boundary six times en route to his 62, and when he fell with five overs left, Lee Nelson and new finisher Rory McCann were more than capable of knocking off the 36 needed for victory with six balls to spare.
The Knights completed another run-chase, their second of the day.
North West Warriors - 144/5 Johnny Thompson - 55 (45) Andy McBrine - 24 (16) Ben Wylie - 2/19 (4) Nigel Jones - 1/20 (4) | Northern Knights - 148/4 Nigel Jones - 66 (42) Lee Nelson - 37* (30) Peter Connell - 1/10 (3) Andy Britton - 1/20 (2) |
Leinster Lightning Northern Knights North West Warriors | Won/NR/Lost 2 / 0 / 1 2 / 0 / 1 0 / 0 / 2 | Points 4 4 0 |