Ruhan Pretorious shines as North Down win again

South African Ruhan Pretorious was the star of the show for North Down, carrying the bat to finish their innings unbeaten on 58, before taking two for 19 with the ball later on in the afternoon.

Pretorious played a support role throughout the innings. Initially, he shared an opening partnership of 71 with Irish international Paul Stirling (47) and a fourth wicket stand of 57 with Ryan Haire (43) as North Down reached an imposing total of 172 for five in their 20 overs.

On a week when he was named in the Munster Reds T20 squad for the upcoming interprovincial series, Matthew Foster proved his worth taking two for 26 in his four overs for the hosts.

In pursuit of 173 for the win, Civil Service lost both openers early.

Marc Ellison hit four boundaries before falling for 16, while his partner, Ross Adair only managed a single boundary a week after his match-winning 92 against Carrickfergus.

Civil’s international duo Gary Wilson and Stuart Thompson made 11 and 17 respectively in an innings where there were starts but nobody could kick on.

Corin Goodall struck 19 before being run out by Stuart Nelson and Andrew Cowden (20) was the last wicket to fall as Civil Service were all out for 111.

Peter Davison and Carl Robinson impressed, taking three wickets each. There were two for Pretorious and one for Ireland bowler Craig Young.

Only two rounds remain in the league before the semi-finals. Both sides remain in the hunt for the knockout stages with North Down sitting second – level with next week’s opponents CIYMS; while CSNI are only four points behind as they welcome Woodvale to Stormont next week.