Rain showers were prevalent and DLS came into play at most of the games but the teams for LVS T20 Finals Day at The Lawn on Sunday 23rd July are now confirmed.
At The Green, Waringstown and Lisburn got the day off and running in the 11 am start with Lisburn winning the toss and electing to field first. Waringstown finished on 148-8 from their 20 overs with captain Greg Thompson top scoring with 43 and Morgan Topping and Adam Dennison supporting him with 34 and 30 respectively. After a delay due to the persistent rain, Lisburn was set a revised total of 107 from 13 overs. 33 runs from opener Faiz Fazal and 23 from his partner Chris Burns were the top scores in the chase with Greg Thompson taking 3-18 and James Cameron-Dow taking 2 quick wickets for 3 runs. After another rain break, it was down to DLS to decide the match and after 10.1 overs Lisburn was 13 runs short.
The 3 pm start at The Green saw competition holders CIYMS face off against Instonians in another rain-affected match. Instonians posted 116-7 from their reduced 16 overs with Shane Getkate showing his class for a well-made 72, Allen Coulter and Tyron Koen took 2 wickets apiece. Needing 116 for victory, the CIYMS batsmen got off to a fast start with plenty of boundaries and got to their total after 14.5 overs. Ross Adair led from the front to carry his bat for 59 and was well supported by a decent knock of 29 from Koen.
To Belmont which hosted the LVS T20 Trophy semi-finals and the first game was between Muckamore and Armagh. Armagh won the toss and decided to bat first and scored 94-8 from their 20 overs with Jamie Rogers being the top scorer with 43. Muckamore chased the total down with 5 overs to spare and the top scorers were Suresh and Srinivasan with 34* and 28.
The 3 pm start and the most exciting game of the day was between Ballymena and Cregagh which was no surprise after the famous 2021 LVS T20 Trophy final between the 2 sides. Reduced to 19 overs a side, Ballymena batted first and scored 143-5 with Glen Adams hitting his first century of the season and of the semi-finals day to help his Ballymena side to a respectable first innings total. Cregagh required 146 from their 19 overs (DLS) and fell agonisingly close but lost by 2 runs as they posted 144-9. Jonny Moore top scored for Cregagh with 49 and Owen Dick, Mark Stinson and Glen Adams took 2 wickets each.
Congratulations to the finalists for Finals Day, the matches will be:
Ballymena v Muckamore
CIYMS v Waringstown
Thank you to North Down and CIYMS for hosting both semi-final days and for all the volunteers who helped out on the day.
