Lisburn produce their best so far to earn win at CSNI

Lisburn elected to bat first and made a cautious start scoring 26 in the opening 8 overs before James Magowan was lbw to Coulter for 5 leaving fellow opener Robert Rankin and Craig Ervine to build the innings. This they did with some skill against the top class bowling of Irish international Nick Jones.

The pair added 71 precious runs in the ensuing 19 overs when Robert Rankin got himself out, playing a loose shot, caught at mid-off for a very good 43. The Lisburn score was 97 at this point with Craig Ervine again being the anchor of the innings. He began to play some great shots and along with his attacking captain, Davey Simpson added a further 41 for the 3rd wicket in good time before Davey was caught for a very useful 21 leaving Lisburn on 138 for 3 in the 40th over.

With just 10 overs left in the Lisburn innings, both Craig Ervine and number five batsman Darryl Brown were keen to raise the run rate and reach at least a respectable target of 200 and although Ervine did lose his wicket in the 42nd over having scored an excellent 58 off just 97 balls, it was professional Darryl Brown who stole the show.

Brown began to strike the ball with a lot of power and as a result Lisburn were able to add 59 runs for the fifth wicket. He was supported by Adam Berry who was involved in a stand of 26 with him and then when Berry was out lbw for 10 the hard hitting pro added a further 34 with Richard Simpson who only contributed 3 runs to the partnership.

Brown struck 3 massive sixes and 3 boundaries in his 8 overs at the wicket remaining 47 not out off just 32 balls giving the Lisburn the injection of runs it badly required as they reached 204 for 5 at the end of their 50 overs.

Lisburn faced the CSNI innings with some confidence after their late rally and quickly had their opponents in trouble.

Opener Alec Cowden was proving to be a stumbling block as he formed a partnership with van de Merwe as the pair slowly pulled the CSNI innings round. The pair added 85 for the 4th wicket looking in little trouble and Lisburn badly needed a break through.

It took until the 30th over before the vital wicket was taken, van de Merwe adjudged lbw to Craig Ervine for a fine 40 and his team on 101 for 4 and still struggling to keep up with the required run rate.

Two more wickets fell quickly in the 41st over both claimed by Brown including the stubborn Cowden for 71, as CSNI reached 143 for 7 and although Goodall and Adair added 25 for the 8th wicket, Lisburn never relaxed and having run out Adair they finished a great days work when James Magowan caught Goodall off Davey Simpson in the 46th over to win the game by 36 runs and take a giant stride up the Premier League table. The victory was richly deserved by a Lisburn team which played as a unit and produced some very good cricket against top class opposition.