Maghera Second XI travelled to Strabane Academy on Sunday, where they were graciously hosted by Letterkenny Third XI. Despite the overnight rain and overcast conditions, the outfield was dry and play got underway promptly. Maghera won the toss and chose to field first. Some fast and accurate opening bowling by the duo of Ajay Krishnan and Arshdeep Sharma led to the first wicket but Maghera struggled to push home the advantage with some solid work by the Letterkenny top order. Graeme Stevenson and Charlie Mainwaring shared the middle overs for Maghera, both bowling their allotted 6 overs for a respectable 26 runs apiece. But despite two wickets by G Stevenson, Letterkenny had built a strong platform, finishing with a challenging total of 223 off their 30 overs. Vinith John was the top scorer for Letterkenny, with 38 runs off 40 balls. The Maghera Innings struggled to gain any real momentum. An authoritative 44 by Jamie Reid kept the win possible and a huge six was the highlight of a controlled innings by the junior Bret Marshall. Bret also kept well behind the stumps for Maghera. Siddenth was the pick of the Letterkenny bowlers, taking 4 wickets for 27 runs in only 2.4 overs. Despite some solid cricket, Maghera fell short of their target, finishing on 138 all out. It was hugely encouraging to see the commitment and enthusiasm shown by both teams, in particular by Maghera's very own Bret Marshall, who is definitely one to watch for the future! A big thank you to our Chairman, Mark Semple for scoring and umpiring and to Niall McDonnell for opening the school grounds.
Written By Graeme Stevenson