Brigade and Newbuildings to contest Sports Hub senior cricket final

​Rain played a frustrating part in all four semi-finals on a day when batting second did nobody any harm.

The repeat of last year’s final between the Foxes and Newbuildings began promisingly as the hosts went on the attack straight away with Jason Milligan and TJ Nicholl taking 38 from the first 5 overs.

Nicholl was first to go when Johnny Thompson, in his retirement season, had him caught at the second attempt by Hanu Viljoen in the deep.

Aidan Logue came and went but the game was to turn in the 16th over when after yet another rain break, Thompson had Milligan caught behind by Gareth McKeegan for 35 and then Brian Allen falling to the same combination from the very next ball.

All of a sudden the hosts were 69-4 and with overs tumbling with every rain interruption, Newbuildings were well on top.

Gayan Maneeshan made 23 before being bowled by Ross Hunter, and then, as the game started to fizz a little, Jonny Robinson hit the same bowler across the main road three balls in a row.

Hunter got his length a little better for the fourth and ‘Bap’ (25) could only manage to chop it on to the stumps; the subsequent ‘send-off’ from the bowler earning the Newbuildings man a quiet word from the umpires.

Only Levi Kerr with a couple of lofty blows got to double figures after that as the stop-start innings closed on 128 all out.

Hunter (4-38) certainly had the last laugh on this occasion with JT (3-26) and Jason Dunn (2-19) also bowling excellent spells.

‘Bull’ has really improved in the last few seasons and he was excellent with the bat too as the visitors took on the chase.

Robinson (2-30) picked up a couple of quick wickets in the reply, however unbeaten half centuries from Dunn and Hanu Viljoen cemented the current league champions’ place in a second consecutive cup final.

Brigade’s game at Eglinton was also reduced- this one to 33 overs a side- and the Beechgrove team had little difficulty in knocking off the home side’s 126 all out.

Despite the early loss of David Barr, a 70-run partnership between Iftikhar Hussain (34) and Adam McDaid put them bang on track for the win.

McDaid’s knock of 59 (11 fours) ended the same way as Barr’s- caught behind by Tommy Orr off the bowling of Jamie Millar who claimed 2-38.

Scott Macbeth (25*) and Cameron Melly (6*) had little difficulty getting over the winning line from there.

Eglinton’s innings had earlier been controlled by Brigade’s Jamie Millar (4-23) and Hussain (3-16) with Andy Millar (19), Orr (18) and Lee Ritchie (17*) faring best in a below-par total.

Bready and Coleraine will lock horns in the Sam Jeffrey decider after the Bannsiders won a nail-biter at the Boathole.

The Saints opted to bat first on winning the toss, and Jack Macbeth’s 60 (5 fours, 2 sixes) was the highlight of their competitive 155-5; their innings then brought to a swift halt by the rain.

Graeme McCarter hit 34, David Lapsley 18 and Ian Macbeth 17* in what was to be fair, a challenging enough target- subsequently reduced to 141 in 31 overs.

Scott Campbell got Coleraine’s reply off to a great start with an even-time 79 (9 fours, 4 sixes).

Matty Smyth’s 23 was much more circumspect but nonetheless valuable as that pair put on 81 for the first wicket, although after that, the bowlers were very much on top.

McCarter (3-23) and Nathan Cole (2-11) were particularly impressive as Coleraine slumped from 129-3 to 140-8 before finding the one run needed to get them into the final.

Bready were just a bit more emphatic as they accounted for a gritty Ballyspallen by 9 wickets.

Demith Perera made an unbeaten 66, Luke Gilfillan 40 and Stuart Kennedy 27 as the Roe Valley side posted a respectable 195-6 in their reduced 37 overs.

Kyle Magee (3-33) and Davy Scanlon were the pick of the home side’s bowling however the former champions were at a different level with the bat.

David Rankin made 30 at the top of the order before an unbroken 139-run second wicket partnership between Irosh Samarasooriya (83*) and Gavin Roulston (59*) put the game to bed with plenty to spare.

In Saturday's Long's SuperValu senior league games it was Killyclooney who claimed centre stage as they moved back to the summit of the table with a win at Bonds Glen.

Yet again it was 'Clooney's talisman- Blayde Capell who stole the show after the South African hit his second century in two days at the same venue- his seventh of the season overall- as ‘Clooney won by 58 runs.

Capell hit 11 fours and 7 sixes in his 109 with skipper Timmy Dougherty and William Finlay both adding 34 in the visitors’ total of 241-9; Heinrich Roberts (3-21) and Sam Kinkaid (3-34) best with the ball for the hosts.

Raymond Curry top-scored for the Bee Gees with 42 while Matty Barr hit 4 sixes in a quickfire 28, however Jordan Connor (4-45), Jason Wallace (3-33) and Dougherty (2-24) did more than enough to restrict the reply to 160 all out.

Brigade were knocked off top spot after a thrilling game at home to Ardmore.

David Barr hit 78, Cameron Melly 33 and skipper Andy Britton 24* in the hosts total of 198-6, with Edrees Kharotai finishing with figures of 3-64.

Following a rain delay, the Bleachgreen team were set a target of 189 in 37 overs and Edrees was in the runs as well- 4 sixes and 2 fours in his 42 in the reply.

Aviwe Mgijima added 33 and Dharm Singh 28 but three wickets apiece for Iftikhar Hussain and skipper Britton meant Brigade were right in it.

The visitors still needed 12 with the last pair at the wicket but Sabin Babu (10*) and Caolan Young held their nerve to move their side up to third in the table.

Fox Lodge and Newbuildings are due to meet again at Ballymagorry on Sunday in the Sports Hub senior cup semi-final and it was Gareth McKeegan’s men who claimed a morale-boosting 100-run win in Saturday’s league clash at Foyleview.

Johnny Thompson hit 6 fours and 6 sixes in an unbeaten 71 as the home team set a target of 242-6.

Ryan Hunter weighed in with 51 and Hanu Viljoen 50 while Jason Dunn made 47 in a solid batting performance.

Jonny Robinson and Adam Walker picked up 3 wickets each, but The Foxes’ reply fell well short.

Travis Nicholl fared best with 41 and Alistair Doherty made 37; however Trent McKeegan (4-33), Ross Hunter (3-22) and Charlie Downey (2-3) ensured a maximum points win for Newbuildings.

There was another thrilling finish at the Holm where Davy Scanlon hit consecutive sixes off the first two balls of the final over to give Bready the points against Donemana.

William McClintock made 64 (7 fours, 5 sixes), Jamie Huey 48 and new overseas man Karl Birkenstock 34 as Donemana posted a competitive 245 batting first.

Irosh Samarasooriya (4-39) claimed the bowling honours with ‘Sca’ and Ian Young getting two wickets apiece.

Davy Rankin was in top form with the bat- 11 fours and 2 sixes in his 93 with Kyle Magee adding a valuable 50 as the Magheramason men started well.

Ian Young’s unbeaten 31 and skipper Scanlon’s last over efforts saw the visitors pick up the win that moves them into second place in the table.

Eglinton secured a much-needed win as they recorded a 7-wicket verdict over Coleraine on the north coast.

Stephen Hutchinson made 35, Matty Smyth 31 and Ravi Karunaratne 29 in the Bannsiders’ total of 127-9; two wickets apiece here for Mike Erlank and Josh Martin.

The South African was also in good form with the bat as the villagers comfortably chased down the target- Erlank with 62 and Tommy Orr 22 handing their side just their second league win of the season.

Previously pointless Glendermott finally got on the board as they leap-frogged Burndennett to move off the bottom of the table for the first time.

Mark Pollock was again among the runs for ‘Dennett- his 74, as well as cameos from Marty Mehaffey (38) and Niall McDonnell (28) helping the visitors set a target of 193.

It was to be well within the Rectory men’s compass however as Gihan Cloete scored 62, Ben Mills 38 not out and Jason Lynch 21 in a 5-wicket victory.

The day’s final game saw St Johnston beat Strabane by a whopping 170 runs at the Boathole.

Star performer for the Donegal side was Michael Rankin who hit 8 fours and 6 sixes in a brilliant 118 not out. Graeme McCarter (45), David Lapsley (43) and Deepak Reddy (21) also chipped in as the hosts made 255-6 from their reduced 39 overs.

Ryan Gallagher picked up three wickets for Strabane and while more rain saw a target re-set of 249 from 37, the reply just never got going.

McCarter claimed 3-4, with Scott Devenney and David Anthony also getting three each as the Red Caps were skittled for 79.

After a bright start to the season for the Park side the losses are starting to stack up, and they’ll need a quick return to form if they’re to claim a top-8 spot.