Instonians skipper Nikolai Smith wants big finish to league campaign

A win for Instonians will remove any lingering hopes that CI might harbour.

On the other hand, if CI were to win then beat Lisburn on Sunday and next Tuesday’s T20 between Instonians and Waringstown was to be rained off, CI will very definitely be in the fray.

A lot of if’s you may argue, but relevant nonetheless.

And Instonians captain Nikolai Smith wants a big weekend from his side.

“It was not an ideal performance last weekend against Lisburn and to be fair to them they impressed me and gave us absolutely nothing. If anything they had the worst of the weather, on and off and no chance to get into any rhythm.

“It was a difficult wicket and obviously James Shannon and Andrew White gave us a good platform early on. I would say that Lisburn were in front for 90-95% of the game and it was only some fine blows by Rusty Theron late on that got us across the line.

“Rusty has batted well for us but he will probably be disappointed with his return with the ball, but I can assure it is not for the want of trying. A lot of teams have stepped up this year and Saturday was a good day for us with Carrickfergus beating Waringstown.

“As I have said Lisburn are improving, Carrickfergus are becoming a force to be reckoned with particularly at home and Derriaghy have also shown what they are capable of, there are no easy games.

“And I was surprised that Waringstown did not want to play on Sunday. Admittedly the wicket was not perfect but they are the ones playing catch-up now. If we win on Saturday and it rains next week it plays right into our hands.

“CIYMS are coming into form and it will be a tough game. All I would say is the league is far from over,” he added.

Derriaghy have a must win game at home to Carrickfergus and if they succeed it sets up a clash against fellow strugglers CSNI on Sunday.

The other fixture on Saturday is North Down taking on CSNI at Comber.