NCU SECTION 2
Bangor beat Dundrum by 1 run
Bangor 193-9 (40 overs, R van Hart 68, A Kirkpatrick 38, S Swanepoel 5-19, S Symington 2-52)
Dundrum 192 (40 overs, R Phillips 75, G Prince 2-40, W Simpson 2-42, J Patterson 2-37)
BANGOR’s 1st XI got their league campaign off and running with a well-deserved but very closely contested win away to Dundrum on Saturday.
In what was a picturesque setting in the foothills of the Mourne Mountains under blue skies and a radiant sun, once again the Bangor skipper lost what looked to be an important toss and his men had to bat first on what appeared bowler-friendly conditions.
This proved to be the case with the Dundrum opening bowlers putting together an excellent opening spell and receiving an LBW dismissal apiece as their reward. That left the returning Mark Hutchinson and new overseas player Robbie van Harte to rebuild and solidify the innings for Bangor and this partnership was crucial as they saw out the impressive opening spell of Stuart Campbell and Stian Swanepoel without further damage.
The 12th over of the game saw Hutchinson chase a wide delivery from Symington that unfortunately he could only edge behind into the waiting hands of the Dundrum ’keeper. This brought together Bangor’s wicket-keeping batsman Andrew Kirkpatrick and van Harte to begin what would be a match-defining partnership.
The pair were able to aggressively put the bowlers under pressure, in particular Dundrum captain Gavin McNerlin, who usually bowls his quota economically but was taken for 36 runs off four overs before he brought himself out of the attack. Kirkpatrick was adjudged LBW to the first ball of the returning Swanepoel and van Harte found himself a new partner in the form of James Patterson.
These two added another vital 32 runs before Patterson found point with a forcing shot off the back foot. As the innings progressed towards its closing stages wickets started to fall quickly as the Bangor batsmen attempted to up the scoring rate. Van Harte was dismissed with five overs remaining for an excellent 68 off 74 balls.
The very impressive Swanepoel went through the lower order, bowling the final three wickets to fall and finish with figures of 5-19 off his eight overs. Bangor completed their 40 overs scoring 193-9 and what many present at The Meadow thought was a par score.
Dundrum openers Terry Hutley and Rhodri Phillips began their pursuit of 194 and had the duo of van Harte and George Prince to contend with. Bangor wicket-keeper Andrew Kirkpatrick was up to the stumps to keep the batting pair in their crease and make already difficult batting conditions more problematic.
The Bangor pair bowled with great accuracy and patience and this pressure told as Hutley, eager to rotate strike, misjudged a run to midwicket and the experienced Hutchinson made light work of flicking the ball up to Kirkpatrick to dislodge the bails.
This brought Stuart Campbell to the middle and much like many of the batters before him, he found timing and fluency difficult and he was the second Dundrum wicket to fall, this time van Harte gathering a straight drive to remove the number three, caught and bowled.
Dundrum’s overseas Swanepoel now joined Phillips in the middle and in his accustomed manner, implemented his aggressive style onto the run chase. Swanepoel quickly got himself to 22 off 16 balls with five boundaries before he received the delivery of the game.
It was the beginning of the 18th over when slow left-armer Will Simpson delivered a ball that drifted into the batsman and lured him forward, only to spin away and hit the top of the stump. This prompted jubilant celebration from the visiting Seasiders, knowing how crucial a wicket this was.
In a great show of sportsmanship, Swanepoel congratulated the young left arm spinner on the delivery on his way off the field. The remainder of Dundrum innings followed a very similar pattern to what had gone before with Bangor building a lot of pressure and picking up regular wickets.
The one mainstay for the south Down team was that of opening batsman Rhodri Phillips. Bangor had spurred several chances to remove the opener and as the innings came towards its finale this was looking like it could back to haunt the visitors. In the 30th over, the Bangor side believed they had Phillips stumped and the batsman looked to turn and walk to the pavilion, only to turn on his heels as the square leg umpire remained motionless.
The 32nd over seemed like the game once again swung towards the visitors as George Prince took two wickets in two balls to leave the Dundrum side 144-8. To their great credit Dundrum kept believing and with two overs of the contest to be completed they found themselves 179-8 and needing 15 from 12 balls to secure the win.
Patterson stepped up to bowl the penultimate over and clean bowled the Dundrum opener and mainstay Phillips for 75. This left numbers 10 and 11 the task of chasing down the remainder of the target.
The final over pressure fell to left-armer Chris Walton with the home side requiring nine. They made a good start in pursuit scoring three off the first two deliveries, then Walton swung the contest back to Bangor with two dot balls. Now requiring six off two balls and boundaries hard to come by, the Bangor side looked favourites but last over pressure saw the next three deliveries go wide and suddenly the chasing side required two off the last ball, with one securing the tie.
Pressure was now back on Walton who delivered the full, outside off stump. The Dundrum batter left the delivery as it was close to the wide line, once again all eyes turning to the umpire who remained motionless – but this time in favour of the travelling Bangor side as wicketkeeper Kirkpatrick collected the delivery and stumped the batter, securing the four points for the men from Upritchard Park.
Back in north Down, a strong Bangor 2XI team also picked up their first win of the season with a 94-run victory over CSNI 4XI. A match-winning century from Beachy English and a very impressive quick-fire 68* from Myles McNaught were the highlights from the day.
This week sees Bangor’s 1st XI on the road again, with a rearranged league at Sandy Bay v Larne this evening (Thursday) before a Junior Cup tie v Waringstown IIs on Saturday at the Lawn.
