A thrilling Premier League title race continues on Saturday with leaders Instonians, Lisburn and defending champions Waringstown only separated by net run-rate.

Instonians will make the trip to Templepatrick this weekend on the back of a resounding 150-run triumph over CIYMS last time out which propelled them to the summit.

Nikolai Smith’s side contains some of the most in-form players in the Northern Cricket Union with Shane Dadswell (388), Cade Carmichael (356) and Neil Rock (328) already surpassing the 300-run mark.

Carmichael has taken his game to another level in recent times with the newly-capped Ireland international scoring two fifties alongside striking 134 in last weekend’s triumph.

placeholder image — Lisburn are looking to bounce back after suffering their first Premier League defeat of the season last weekend. (Photo by Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press)

While 23-year-old Carmichael has a strike-rate of just over 100 in the league this term, Dadswell and Rock have shown their blistering attacking intent which has laid the platform for Instonians success.

No top-flight player (with more than one innings) has a better strike-rate than Ireland international Rock (190.7) while South African overseas ace Dadswell (183) occupies second spot.

Templepatrick sit ninth, one position above bottom side Woodvale, and will be dreaming of a famous upset at The Cloughan, which is playing host to Premier League cricket for the first time this season.

Meanwhile, Lisburn’s sights are set on bouncing back from their first league defeat of the campaign to Waringstown last weekend with Saturday’s trip to Muckamore, which sees Ben Calitz return to his former club.

Northern Knights ace Calitz scored over 1,000 runs for the Moylena outfit before making a move to Lisburn earlier this summer.

Lisburn’s overseas professional, former Indian international Faiz Fazal, has once again been in fine form, scoring 359 runs at an average of 71.8, while no bowler has collected more wickets than Ryan MacBeth (18).

Waringstown continue to generate momentum, beating both title rivals in recent weeks, and Greg Thompson’s side will be hoping to extend their unbeaten run when they host North Down.

Ireland international Tom Mayes has played an important role for the Villagers this term, scoring crucial runs in the middle order – he struck a rapid 66 to change the game against Lisburn last weekend and averages over 70 while also collecting 15 league wickets.

For North Down, Mickey Copeland has enjoyed a fine maiden NCU campaign, collecting a joint-high 18 wickets while Alistair Shields showed his class with a century against Templepatrick.

Woodvale’s ambition will be to climb off the bottom this weekend when they face a repeat of last weekend’s Challenge Cup quarter-final against Cliftonville Academy – a fixture they won by seven wickets with Ludwig Kaestner scoring an unbeaten 112*.

Ruhan Pretorius (397) once again sits top of the NCU’s run chart, striking two centuries, and Woodvale will hope his form can help inspire more success as they look to pull clear of potential relegation trouble.

There’s also a local derby with CIYMS hosting CSNI.

Both teams are looking to bounce back from heavy defeats last time out and strengthen their top-six hopes with CI currently sitting four points better off than their opponents.

Marc Ellison has been in fine form for CSNI, scoring 386 runs at an average of 55, while Jacob Mulder and Alex Armstrong have shone with the ball for CIYMS, picking up 15 wickets apiece.