CIYMS celebrate All-Ireland trophy joy

CI continued their perfect run in cup competitions this year with an six-wicket victory over Cork Harlequins, marking their fourth trophy of the season.

And they’ll be looking to round off an already remarkable campaign by making it five in the Irish Senior Cup final against Lisburn next weekend.

After winning the toss and electing to bowl, CIYMS captain Nigel Jones could barely have wished for a better start as overseas professional Keith Dudgeon (4-10) bowled Harlequins skipper Matthew Brewster for a golden duck with the second ball of the game.

Dudgeon has enjoyed a brilliant first season in NCU cricket at Belmont and was back amongst the wickets in his next over as Mubeen Ali (1) guided a leg-side delivery through to wicketkeeper Chris Dougherty to leave the hosts in all sorts of early trouble at 8-2.

They were never granted the opportunity to recover from the precarious position as CI kept their foot on the pedal through Allen Coulter’s (1-22) dismissal of Brandon Kruger (4).

Cork’s hopes of a competitive total rested with Ryan Joyce (32) but when he was bowled by Jacob Mulder (2-23) it triggered a mini-collapse as they lost three wickets for no runs, reducing them from 57-3 to 57-6 in the space of six balls.

Dudgeon was then reintroduced into the attack and picked up a further two wickets to mark a wonderful afternoon as Harlequins were bowled out for 93, with Mark Adair (1-15) collecting the final wicket.

That score was never going to be anywhere near enough against a rampant CIYMS side stacked full of quality and they got off to a typical rapid start through Ross Adair (35).

Adair kicked the innings off by taking 15 from the opening over and added 10 more to his tally in the second from Hassan Khan, which included a second trademark six.

Cork made a breakthrough shortly after as Dougherty (3) was trapped lbw by Kruger, while Adair had reached 35 from 15 balls before he was caught off the bowling of Seanan Jones to leave CI sitting on 44-2.

They lost a further two wickets in the shape of John Matchett (26) and Mark Adair (0) but it was left to Nigel Jones (25*) to strike the winning runs with a boundary and seal yet another piece of silverware in style.

Earlier in the day, CSNI Women were defeated by a strong Merrion side as Ireland international Rebecca Stokell (110*) blasted a century from 69 balls to help set up a 64-run victory.

Stokell shared an opening partnership of 96 with Celeste Raack (29) before Leah Beattie (1-30) made the breakthrough and while Jess Mayes (1-25) picked up the wicket of Cecilia Joyce with a glorious in-swinger,

Stokell continued to fire from the other end.

The 22-year-old stuck 13 fours as Merrion finished on 169-3 and they had immediate joy when CSNI captain Rachael Thomas was caught off the second ball.

Aoife Fisher (18) and Alison Cowan (30) rebuilt with a stand of 52 before further contributions from Lucie McNaught (24) and Sophie Thomas (20*), but the total proved too steep a task as they ended on 105-4.

In the Robinson Services Premier League, Lisburn were handed their second defeat of the campaign by CSNI but, more importantly, a first Premier League title since 1996 in front of home support at Wallace Park.

Troy Johnson (103*) led the way for CSNI – who moved into second spot after the 30-run victory – as they posted 186-4 in a reduced 30-over game before Lisburn finished short of their target.

Elsewhere, Waringstown picked up a win over North Down while Instonians beat Cregagh by 102 runs as Nikolai Smith (78) and James Hunter (52) both hit half-centuries.

In the crunch top-of-the-table Section One clash, Derriaghy moved to within one win of a return to the Premier League due to a four-wicket success over Templepatrick.

Ross Bryans (78) starred for Templepatrick in another rain-affected encounter as they ended on 193-6 from their 34 overs before the equation was further altered for Derriaghy, leaving them requiring 127 in 20 overs.

They chased it with nine balls to spare - despite John Busby’s (5-26) best efforts for the visitors - as Ross Bailey (44) and Morne Venter (29) got their side over the line.

In the Intermediate Cup final at the Castle Grounds, Cliftonville Academy II bowled Deriaghy II out for 95 on route to a five-wicket win.