The Hills Vs North County (June 26th 2010)
Games between the Hills and North County are among the keenly contested local derbies in Irish sport, and last Saturday’s epic encounter was no exception. The Hills won the toss and elected to bat, but soon the batting travails of recent weeks were in evidence. The Hills top-order batting was reduced to 27 for 5 by a combination of injudicious shot –selection and brilliant bowling from John Mooney (3 for 16) and Jimmy Boyland (1 for 20). The rot was arrested to some extent by Naseer Shoukat (34) and Malcolm Byrne (26), and this combined with a healthy Extras score of 25 meant that The Hills struggled to 110, with 6 overs left unbowled.
Chasing a low score, one of two things can happen. The score is knocked off with aplomb, and the game ends very early, or the chasing side approaches the task very conservatively and the resolve of the fielding team to defend the score is stiffened. Initially, it appeared as if the first scenario would be the operative one, as North County reached a score of 26 for the loss of 1 wicket. The second wicket fell at 39, and there was little sign of the carnage which was to occur subsequently. The introduction of the newly-capped international, Albert van der Merwe, was the catalyst for a dramatic change in fortunes for The Hills. First, he effected a brilliant caught and bowled, he took 3 subsequent wickets, one other catch and ended with the figures of 4 for 28. His bowling partner, Naseer Shoukat took 3 wickets, and his final figures were a tremendous 3 for 7 off 7.2 overs. The ever-reliable Jeremy Bray took 2 wickets for 23, and there was a brilliant run-out by Mark Dwyer. When the final North County wicket was taken, with the score on 97, there were wild scenes of jubilation from The Hills’s supporters because a victory by 13 runs had been achieved from the most unpromising of beginnings.
This was traditional Fingal cricket at its best, with two very committed teams defending low scores with a combination of superb bowling and brilliant fielding. On this occasion, The Hills were victorious, but the supporters of both teams are already relishing thoughts of the return encounter at the Inch.
The Hills Innings:
J Bray (1), A van der Merwe (6), M Baumgart (7), M Sorensen (1), N Shoukat (34), T Murphy (1), M Byrne (26), L Clinton(7). North County Bowling: J Mooney 3 for 16 off 10, E Richardson 2 for 35 off 8, E Lawrence 2 for 13 off 10, C Sheil 2 for 20 off 8.
The North County Innings:
C Armstrong (18), T Sheil (6), B Sheilds (9), C Garry (24), J Boyland (5), J Andrews (4), D Armstrong (10). The Hills Bowling: N Shoukat 3 for 7 off 7.3, A van der Merwe 4 for 28 off 10, J Bray 2 for 23 off 10, M Sorensen no wicket for 34 off 8.
Result: The Hills win by 13 runs.
