Armagh V Saintfield

Armagh V Saintfield 25/07/09

Armagh stay in prime position

Armagh kept themselves in firm position at the top of the Ulster Bank League Division 1 Section Two table after a nervy but well deserved three-wicket win over rivals Saintfield on the Mall.

Having not played since the home game against Academy on Sunday 5th August, Armagh were perhaps a bit short of match practice, but did have a strong side available with Royal School rugby tourists Matthew Steenson and Harry Doyle back in the side after missing seven victories in their absence. Armagh won the toss, and decided to field hoping that they could take advantage of the damp conditions offered by Friday’s heavy rain. Saintfield had a steady start and were able to score some early boundaries, but Armagh captain Charu Kulkarni made the early breakthrough when he clean bowled Boultwood. He took a second wicket soon after when he bowled a beautiful delivery that moved away, took Harrison’s edge which was caught by McCarter behind the stumps. Mark Stinson was bowling a great spell with lively swing and seam movement and took two crucial wickets when he clean bowled Saintfield captain Ricky Owens then soon after had their pro Williams well caught at slip by Kulkarni. Saintfield had slipped to a precarious 46-4; a position that could have been even worse had Armagh held onto another couple of tricky chances. To their credit, Saintfield battled back and built a strong partnership between Ray McCavery and Ross Boultwood with clever running a consistent feature. Runs never exactly flowed though, with the terrific disciplined bowling of David Bullick and Mark Stinson going for less than 50 runs between them in 20 overs in tandem. Stuart Lester provided the breakthrough when he dismissed Boultwood courtesy of a fine leaping catch from Reg Stinson in the gully. Harry Doyle was next on the act in a decent five over spell, clean bowling Patterson and forcing Graham to edge through to McCarter who took a low catch. In the same over, McCavery attempted to steal the strike with a single but hadn’t counted for Kulkarni who ran out his young partner Cairns with a fabulous direct hit strike. The Kulkarni show continued as he bowled his final two overs, clean bowling Murray and then repeating the trick on McCavery from the final ball of the innings to complete a wonderful spell of ten overs with four wickets for only 18 runs. Saintfield set a target of 179 for Armagh to win, a decent effort after their early trouble.

Armagh’s start was a steady one, with Michael Villiers and Colin Russell looking comfortable and forcing Saintfield to rotate bowlers who were struggling for rhythm. Russell in particular seemed in good touch and played some nice shots early on. Villiers departed bowled by Harrison, bringing Philip Doyle to the crease, a place he would occupy right until Armagh won the game. Russell was next to go, victim of a dubious umpiring call when an appeal barely seemed to be made and the ball was surely missing leg stump. Kulkarni also seemed unable to settle at the crease and in an attempt to cut loose fell to a catch on the boundary. At this point, Doyle and Matthew Steenson sought to rebuild with a partnership worth 42. Steenson struck two delightful boundaries and it took a terrific ball from Yeates to remove him for 19. David Bullick, Harry Doyle and Stuart Lester all fell for single figure scores but all provided vital support to the calming influence of Philip Doyle, who while not playing the flowing innings with which he made his name for Armagh, was showing a determination to win the game for his side and this looked increasingly likely as the target grew closer. It has to be said that Saintfield did not help their cause with some terribly erratic bowling gifting Armagh a final total of over fifty extras towards their innings. In a nervy and frantic finish, Mark Stinson took Armagh close with a good shot for four but the biggest cheer of the day was when Doyle smashed a square drive to the boundary for four to tie the scores. There was no little irony that the winning run the ball after was gained from a leg-side wide ball, but Armagh didn’t care as they completed a crucial three wicket win.

Charu Kulkarni was delighted with his teams win, saying that he “was worried about the lack of match practice for the boys in a tough month with matches off, holidays and everything but they couldn’t have done any better on the day. Special mention for Phil Doyle who seen us through a tough position and showed real nerve to do it. Mark Stinson and David Bullick did a great job with the ball today, and I guess I did too!”

SAINTFIELD

G Harrison c McCarter + b Kulkarni * 13

C Boultwood + b Kulkarni * 16

R Owens * b M Stinson 7

B Williams c Kulkarni * b M Stinson 2

R McCavery b Kulkarni * 58

R Boultwood c R Stinson b S Lester 38

C Patterson b H Doyle 8

A Graham c McCarter + b H Doyle 0

A Cairns run out (Kulkarni *) 0

P Murray b Kulkarni * 7

M Yeates not out 3

Extras (b 2, lb 12, nb 7, w 5, p ) 26

Total (all out, 50.0 overs) 178

FOW: 1-35 (C Boultwood) 2-37 (G Harrison) 3-45 (R Owens) 4-46 (B Williams) 5-124 (R Boultwood) 6-143 (C Patterson) 7-149 (A Graham) 8-149 (A Cairns) 9-171 (P Murray) 10-178 (R McCavery)

R Stinson 5 0 25 0

C Kulkarni * 10 2 18 4

M Stinson 10 2 22 2

D Bullick 10 3 23 0

S Lester 10 0 51 1

H Doyle 5 0 25 2

ARMAGH

C Russell lbw Murray 37

M Villiers b Harrison 6

P Doyle not out 44

C Kulkarni * c Patterson b Cairns 6

M Steenson b Yeates 19