The Hills Vs YMCA(June 5 2010)
The Hills First X1 v YMCA, Saturday 5th June 2010
The Hills played host to the newly-promoted YMCA at the Vineyard on Saturday last. The home side won the toss and elected to bat, but the loss of 2 early wickets with only 23 runs on the board did not augur well for its prospects. The gloom around the Vineyard was increased with the loss of a further 2 wickets for 31 runs, but Jeremy Bray, batting in the unaccustomed position of number 4 and Max Sorensen put on 67 runs to bring the score to 131 when Sorensen was clean-bowled. Initially, Bray and Mark Dwyer steadied things, and then accelerated, with Bray ending up unbeaten on 79, and Dwyer unbeaten on 60. The sixth wicket partnership put on 104 runs, and The Hills posted a score of 234 which had seemed highly improbable until this pair came together.
The YMCA response started very briskly with Reinhardt Strydom in particular being very punishing on some less than threatening bowling. However, Naseer Shoukat took 3 wickets, and YMCA fell away to 87 for 6, but hopes of a comprehensive victory for The Hills became very distant when the seventh wicket partnership of Paul Beacroft and Sean Mc Auley put on 93 runs. The return of Albert van der Merwe was crucial and he took the wickets of Beacroft (40) and Mc Auley (44) in the same over, and The Hills' supporters were able to breathe a little easier. The final 2 wickets fell with 24 being added to the total, and YMCA ended on 204. The main bowling honours for The Hills were taken by Shoukat (3 for 25), van der Merwe (2 for 23) and Bray (2 for 19).
This was not one of The Hills better performances because this game could have been finished much sooner, and maximum bonus points garnered. It is to be hoped that post match analysis will pin-point some deficiencies in approach, and that this will be reflected in a much-improved performance against Pembroke in the next round of the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup which is being held at the Vineyard on Saturday, 12 June.
The Third X1 hosted Bagenalstown in their Middle Cup first round on Sunday but bad weather delayed the start and the match was reduced to 25 overs a side. Batting first The Hills put on an incredible 199 for 4 in the allotted overs. Principal scorer for The Hills was Andrew Moore with an undefeated 94 supported by Simon Cooke 56 and Kamran Butt 20. Not content with having inflicted so much damage with the bat, Moore continued his assault with the ball taking 5 wickets for just 7 runs to leave Bagenalstown all out for just 52. One could say a good day at the office for one A Moore! The Hills will face the winners of Laois V Terenure on June 26th at home in the second round. Could be a home fixture all the way to the Final which we host on August the 2nd.
Earlier in the week the Ladies Second X1 went to Castle Avenue to face the might of Clontarf in their opening match in the Cup campaign. Clontarf batted first & made 133 for 4. One wicket each for Nicola Flemming, Rhiannon Pope & Rebecca Branigan. We gave a good chase & made 78 for 7. It was a game that the lower order got to bat which was a great experience for them. Great to see the Ladies Second X1 giving a good account of themselves given their youth. Details below;
Earlier in the week the Ladies First X1 fell excruciatingly short by just three runs in a thrilling encounter in The Vineyard to a very professional and athletic Pembroke X1. Chasing a total of 134 The Hills Ladies put up a valiant effort in the face of what has to be called an incredible fielding performance by Pembroke. Nikki Symmons scored 99 of the Pembroke total and showed her skills all round the ground scoring freely to all corners. Chief contributors for The Hills chase were Laura Boylan, Nicola Murphy and Miranda Andrews. For those of you not following the Ladies cricket this year all I can say is, you missed a cracking game with great batting, great bowling and incredible fielding.
