Fourth XI cricketers reach Minor Cup final

The Ballymena side won the toss and elected to field first.

The visitors started steadily, and continued to progress at a good rate throughout their innings, with Derek McKinley batting throughout for a total of 75 not out, with his main support coming from Rab McLean with 30 runs.

Some of the Ballymena bowling was excellent, and went a long way to restricting Larne to an achievable total. Sam Glass’s six overs for 18 and Jack Archer’s five overs for 17 in particular are deserving of mention, but all the Ballymena bowlers played their part as Larne completed their 30 overs with a score of 163.

Ballymena’s response got off to a stuttering start when the usually reliable Matthew Dick was out caught for just one run.

The subsequent partnership, however, between Stewart Watt (42) and John Glass (32) established an excellent base for the run chase, but when Glass was out and skipper for the day Jeff Martin was then subsequently run out without scoring, the target seemed considerably tougher to reach.

With the score at 113-4 off 22 overs, Ballymena required a challenging 51 from the final 8 overs. After Ryan Crooks scored a brisk 14, and Sam Glass a steady 10, the final run chase was left to Jack Archer and Adam Pogue. Archer, in particular, batted fluently in the final overs to finish with a score of 28 not out including a 6 and three 4s as Ballymena scored the required 30 runs from the final four overs.

The winning runs came from the first ball of the final over to the delight and relief of the home side who can now look forward to a repeat of last year’s final against Armagh III, on 23rd August.

The Fourth XI’s next match is an away fixture against Cregagh III on Wednesday, July 30, followed by a home match on Saturday against Laurelvale IIIs, both in the league.