Armagh V Academy (5/07/09)
Unconvincing Armagh beat Academy
For the second day running, Armagh managed to dodge the rain for long enough to pick up another win in the Ulster Bank Division One Section Two to knock up their eighth league victory in a row and complete a marathon run of 9 matches in 23 days. It had looked as if it was going to be a day of frustration for Armagh as a beautiful morning turned into a horrible drizzly afternoon. Academy had won the toss and elected to bat, but only a couple of overs had been possible before rain fell and an early tea was taken. Kulkarni had however taken the important wicket of the opposition captain Shields with a clever cutting delivery earning the lbw decision. Armagh were then frustrated by a good partnership between Harte and Kelso, the two Academy playing well to put on an 81 stand for the second wicket with the former taking the initiative with some big shots. Reg Stinson bowled well without reward and David Bullick eventually got into his rhythm after a slow start. It was Bullick who claimed the crucial wicket of Harte when the batsman tried a big shot down the ground but only picked out Lloyd Hamilton with a fine catch. From 94-1 Academy would collapse to 145 all out as Armagh hit their straps with the ball and in the field. Mark Stinson picked up the wickets of Kelso and Nixon in a fiery spell with plenty of bounce and Stuart Lester then ran riot with his mix of straight and quick bowling. Wix, Nash and the Jackson twins found themselves caught on the crease and either out bowled or leg before to the rampant Lester who claimed his 4 wickets for only 18 runs. Kulkarni and Bullick would collect a second scalp each as the former clean bowled Spence and Bullick claimed the final wicket as Irons advanced down the pitch in pursuit of late runs, missed and was routinely stumped by the Armagh wicketkeeper McCarter. Armagh will have been most relieved that their bowling and fielding improved suitably that they weren’t chasing a lot more.
With tea already taken, Armagh opening batsmen Michael Villiers and Colin Russell didn’t have much time to get themselves organised before they went out to bat, but you wouldn’t have thought it with the way they built another composed stand for the first wicket. Russell bashed the first ball of the innings through cover for four and they didn’t look out of control at any point after as both players scored steadily and ran well between the wickets as they added their second fifty-plus stand of the weekend. Armagh looked in complete control at 85-0 before Villiers was neatly caught at slip for a 39 that contained 5 boundaries. Lloyd Hamilton was promoted to number 3 and took a painful blow to the chin off the bowling of Harte before falling to a great catch from wicketkeeper Shields. Irons at this point was on fire and took a third wicket of Russell whose leading edge was comfortably caught at mid-on. Armagh’s leading run-scorer was gone for 40, scoring 5 boundaries and a “six”. The nerves didn’t get any better when Harte clean bowled Bullick meaning Armagh had lost 4 wickets for a mere 12 runs. Fortunately Armagh captain Kulkarni with Seamus Crowe was able to ease any worries with a composed stand of 32 with some loose deliveries being punished severely, none moreso when Crowe smashed a Harte full toss for six towards the Museum. Although Crowe was dismissed near the end, Armagh sealed their win in emphatic fashion with Kulkarni taking three boundaries in a row from Harte to give Armagh a five wicket win. Although the margin of victory could have been more comfortable, it was a good win for Armagh given that Academy had a strong start but did not build on it. Not long after the conclusion of the match, the heavens opened with more rain. It was that kind of weekend.
ACADEMY
M Shields *+ lbw Kulkarni * 13
M Harte c Hamilton b Bullick 52
B Kelso b M Stinson 25
J Wix b Lester 3
A Magee b M Stinson 7
A Jackson lbw Lester 2
C Nash b Lester 1
D Spence b Kulkarni 2
J Irons st McCarter + b Bullick 4
C Jackson lbw Lester 0
D Moore not out 4
Extras (b 3, lb 5, nb 4, w 16, p ) 28
Total (all out, 48.1 overs) 141
FOW: 1-13 (M Shields *+) 2-94 (M Harte) 3-109 (B Kelso) 4-120 (J Wix) 5-128 (A Magee) 6-130 (A Jackson) 7-133 (C Nash) 8-135 (D Spence) 9-135 (C Jackson) 10-145 (J Irons)
R Stinson 10 2 31 0
CP Kulkarni * 10 2 19 2
D Bullick 9.1 0 37 2
M Stinson 10 1 32 2
S Lester 9 2 18 4
ARMAGH
C Russell c Jackson b Irons 40
M Villiers c Kelso b Irons 39
L Hamilton c Shields *+ b Irons 0
CP Kulkarni * not out 35
D Bullick b Harte 3
S Crowe c Spence b Harte 13
A Bratten not out 0
S Lester
M Stinson
G McCarter +
R Stinson
Extras (b 5, lb 2, nb 0, w 9, p ) 16
Total (5 wkts, 28.4 overs) 146
FOW: 1-85 (M Villiers) 2-87 (L Hamilton) 3-94 (C Russell) 4-97 (L Hamilton) 5-129 (S Crowe)
J Irons 10 3 32 3
D Moore 4 0 25 0
D Spence 4 0 24 0
M Harte 7.4 0 39 2
C Jackson 3 0 19 0
For the first weekend in over a month, Armagh Firsts can look forward to a Sunday off having caught up on their postponed fixtures from early season. However, the team certainly cannot afford to take their foot off the pedal as the race for promotion looks incredibly tight between the leading sides. This Saturday sees Armagh face a trip to Drumaness and although they were humbled by ten wickets at The Mall earlier in the season, they will surely be a very different proposition in a Saturday game on their own turf. The game at Drumaness starts at noon.
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