It took the visitors a few attempts to take the first wicket as the batsmen were gifted with a few lives (most notably Ben Ackland shelling a sitter behind the stumps with Nick Larkin on 69), and not until 169 had been added for the first wicket, 88 of them to Dougherty, did stand-in skipper John Mooney take the fielders out of the equation to trap the left-hander in front of his stumps. Craig Ervine came out at number three, the Zimbabwean Test player who now intends to qualify for Ireland, and he set about compiling a composed fifty while giving as much strike as possible to Australian-born Larkin at the other end.
His stumps were re-arranged by Tyrone Kane, and after Nigel Jones, promoted to four, had had a dart at the bowling and fallen for 23, Nick Larkin brought up the first double-century in the Interpros. He finished the day on 200 not out, and his team were north of 400 for the loss of only three wickets. The Knights had resoundingly taken the upper hand, and Larkin looked rather unstoppable.
Nick Larkin dominated an opening day that wasn't as Leinster had planned.
Anderson fell for 44, and his dismissal was the catalyst for a feeble collapse. Numbers five to eleven managed 35 runs between them, Andrew Poynter looking particularly scratchy as he lasted 28 balls for only one run. The saving grace was that Ben Ackland was the last man out, having ground out an 87 that lasted well into the third day. Following on a mere 276 behind, the Merrion pair were soon reunited at the crease. This time, though, Ackland fell swiftly, out to James Cameron-Dow, who trapped him plumb in front.
Nick Larkin remained undefeated with 247 of the Knights' 501.
That, of course, is not counting on the depth of their batting. The Irish under-19 captain Tyrone Kane came in at number nine, and put out a watertight display of forward defensives (interspersed by the occasional six) and shepherded Poynter to his century. With a century partnership under their belts, Kane and Poynter looked favourites to bat out the day, but there was another twist as the elder batsman fell to Lee Nelson with fourteen overs still left to see out. Max Sorensen, one of the best number ten batsmen you'll ever see, clearly decided that he wanted to see them out positively, and notched up an unbeaten 36 at nearly a run-a-ball. Kane, at the other end, finished on an incredibly mature 49 not out. Leinster Lightning remained unbeaten, and collected the Interprovincial Championship trophy.
Andrew Poynter put in an impressive rearguard, aided by a very mature Tyrone Kane.
Northern Knights - 501/4 dec Nick Larkin - 247 (347) Chris Dougherty - 88 (130) John Mooney - 3/71 (25) Tyrone Kane - 1/28 (7) | Leinster Lightning - 225 ao Ben Ackland - 87 (266) John Anderson - 44 (115) Phil Eaglestone - 4/52 (17) James Cameron-Dow - 3/74 (34) and 315/8 Andrew Poynter - 113 (165) John Anderson - 60 (70) James Cameron-Dow - 5/127 (34) Lee Nelson - 1/12 (5) |
Leinster Lightning Northern Knights North West Warriors | Won/Drawn/Lost 2 / 2 / 0 1 / 2 / 1 0 / 2 / 2 | Bonus 25 20 16 | Points 63 42 22 |