Lisburn fall further behind as they suffer heavy defeat

The margin of victory was 7 wickets and it leaves them with just one win from four games and again it was their batting which let them down.

The home side won the toss on a fine day and knowing Lisburn’s batting form of late, they asked them to bat first and for the opening six overs may well have regretted their decision as the Lisburn openers got off to a fine start.

However, midway through the seventh over, James Magowan was disastrously run out after a mix up with his partner Robert Rankin. Magowan had been looking good during his short stay at the wicket scoring a quick 15 but his dismissal ended a stand of 34 and things were to get worse for Lisburn as Rankin, also threatening with some well timed shots, was also out, caught behind the wicket off Bunting for 20.

Lisburn were now 38 for 2 and when Richard Simpson departed after only 8 deliveries, they were struggling at 38 for 3 in the 11th over.

The innings was now in the good hands of Craig Ervine and pro Darryl Brown and for 7 overs they seemed to be in little bother against the spin bowling of Zach Rushe and Andrew White adding 27 in the process. However, in the 18th over, Craig Ervine was given out adjudged lbw to White and reluctantly had to join his team mates in the pavilion having scored 15.

The in-form captain, Davey Simpson joined Brown at the crease and between them they began to gather runs at a decent pace. The pair added 32 runs in 10 overs when Darryl Brown took a ‘rush of blood’ and was stumped by a massive margin for 32 and Lisburn were now facing a modest total having reached 98 for 5 in the 28th over.

Unfortunately, Davey Simpson followed the professional just a few balls later for 8 and the Lisburn innings was left to youngsters Adam Berry and Glen Halliday. For 10 overs they played very well facing the turning pitch with some confidence and adding 36 precious runs in the process.

The stand ended in the 40th over when Glen was bowled by Wasim for 17 with the score at 137 for 7 with just the Lisburn tail end batting to come. However, Adam Berry looked in little trouble and although he lost Richard McConkey, his brother Mark and number 11 Trevor McKeown, he remained 21 not out but his team had managed a well under par 152 all out in 44 overs and were under immediate pressure to gain a result with thelong talented Instonians batting order to come.

The Instonians bowling had been good on a responsive pitch with spinners Rushe with 3 for 22 and White 3 for 27, being the pick of the attack.

Lisburn badly needed to get off to a flying start and they did not disappoint when the hard hitting Russell was caught by Richard McConkey off Davey Simpson with the fifth ball of the innings and two balls later the vastly experienced Andrew White was caught behind the wicket off Darryl Brown and Instonians were 4 for 2.

When the Instonians professional, Wasim was clean bowled by Darryl Brown in the 6th over, Lisburn were beginning to fancy their chances at 18 for 3 but they were to fail to claim another wicket for the next 36 overs as James Shannon and Eric Layard proceeded to carry the Instonians right to the finishing line with a stand of 136 defying all Davey Simpson’s attempts to make a break through. All his bowlers were tried against the stubborn pair but to no avail and to make matters worse, veteran wicket keeper Trevor McKeown broke his finger which was poor reward for his sterling work during the past weeks as he stood in for the absent Stephen Allen.

One again Lisburn had failed to score sufficient runs on the board to threaten their opponents and even after a great start, claiming three quick wickets, they could not finish the job with so few runs to play with. Darryl Brown returned the best figures with 2 for 37 off 8 overs while frustrated skipper Davey Simpson ended with 1 for 27 off his 10 tight overs. Shannon remained 73 not out and Eric Layard 37 not out as Instonians eased to a more than comfortable victory by 7 wickets.

Lisburn have a free Saturday this week due to their dismissal from the Challenge Cup in the first round but they do have a very important match on Sunday. They travel to the North West for the second time this season to play Donemana in the second round of the Ulster Cup.

Having brought off a great result against Brigade in the first round, Davey Simpson will be very keen to extend Lisburn’s season with a win at the hot bed of North West cricket.

Lisburn played Donemana two seasons ago in the same competition and lost but they will be doing their level best to upset the form book on Sunday and proceed to the semi final stage. Again, only am improvement in their batting will give them a chance in the 40 over encounter which might prove to be a tighter affair than predicted. The match starts at 1p.m.