No joy for Laurelvale seconds in Intermediate Cup clash

LAURELVALE Firsts completed a successful chase in Ballymena after a few wobbles.

Bowling first, Shani took the opening two wickets before a 60- run partnership saw the score reach a worrying 110-2.

Adam Speers then ripped through the Ballymena middle order with 4 wickets including the pro to drag the score back to 157-6.

Cap and VC duo Sinton and Burns took one each before Shani returned to take 2 wickets in 2 balls to close out an excellent bowling effort.

Adnan and Babar were in aggressive form again, putting on 49 in 4.4 overs to put a massive dent in the mood of the home side.

Ballymena struck back with 3 quick wickets and then a few overs later removed Adnan for a well made 46.

The game was very much in the balance at 87-4.

Daryl Henry and David Sinton sucked up a lot of pressure to swing the game back in the ‘Vale’s favour before Daryl was caught at cover for a well-made 29.

The return of the pro saw 2 more wickets fall with 22 runs still needed. Zaheer Ali joined Sinton in the middle and proceeded to whip the bowling off his legs for an effortless 17 off 16 balls to remove any pressure. A special mention to David Sinton for another captain’s knock, making sure the team got over the line with his 25 (not out).

Summary: Ballymena 174 (45.3 overs, S Willoughby 41, P Bristow 30, C Deelman 51, K Subhani 4-22, A Speers 3-39)

Laurelvale 175-7 (30.4 overs, A Malik 46, D Henry 29, S Sinton 25*, C Deelman 4-48)

Laurelvale beat Ballymena by 3 wickets (DLS)

DLS par score was 174 off 49 overs

Laurelvale Seconds just missed out on the Intermediate Cup in an incredibly tight final against BISC IIs.

The batting innings saw 6 batsmen hit 15+ but no-one was able to kick on and make an innings defining total.

Good efforts from James Thornbury (17*), Hameed, and Muhammad Sheharyar (19) made sure a competitive total of 176 was reached after the scoreline read 114-7.

Errant bowling would come back to bite the defence in the rear, 35 extras not helping at all!

Fernando struck early but it was only with the introduction of Simon Hughes (playing in his 4th Intermediate Cup final) that stopped BISC in their tracks, his 4 wickets reducing the visitors from 77-1 to 105-5.

Captain Mo struck twice in quick succession but only after another 40 runs had been scored.

Hameed made one last attempt with his second spell, taking 1 wicket and seeing a catch dropped before a 6 took the game away from the ‘Vale.

It was a brilliant effort all-round to bring the game to such a tight finish and in general for getting so far in the competition in their first year back for a while.

The club passed on a “ massive thanks also to Simon for preparing a great pitch, Wesley for scoring, and Emma & Lucy for their hospitality!”

Summary: Laurelvale II 176 (38.3 overs, J Livingstone 20, S ur Rahman 26, H Subhani 23, P Jayaraj 3-20, S Edubilli 4-38

BISC II 177-8 (37.4 overs, S Balakrishnan 41, A Khan 21, P Jayapaul 24, M Siddiqui 2-44, S Hughes 4-24)

BISC II beat Laurelvale II by 2 wickets