Maghera 3rd XI Match Report - Maghera 3rd XI Leave Donemana Disappointed but Not Disheartened

Maghera 3rd XI leave Donemana disappointed but not disheartened after what was both a dramatic and fiercely contested fixture. 

Having won the toss, MCC elected to bat, and in spite of an unfortunate early wicket quickly pressed ahead with the scoring: the obduracy of opener J Haddock and the balanced aggression of S Amaravadi at No.3 complementing each other nicely. Reaching 49 off the 8th over the runs continued to flow, until Amaravadi was dismissed run out for 27 in the 9th over with the score at 62. Next to the crease was the equally positive S McGahon, who set about busying himself with the bat with aplomb, sharing a 44 run partnership which would take Maghera to 106-2 at the halfway stage. 

After drinks however, the Donemana bowlers re-asserted control with McGahon, dismissed caught having made a handy 35. Following him were Arun, S Dougherty, skipper Alleyne, Talbot and Menary, who all lost their wickets in quick succession with the Maghera innings tumbling to 132 for 7 off the 24th over – three of these wickets falling to Donemana’s young leg spinner Robertson. Unphased, however, were the No.10 batsmen M Cassidy, and the still undismissed opener J Haddock, who steadied the ship at the conclusion of the innings to post a respectable 153 – J Haddock carrying his bat for a 120 minute 21 Not Out. 

After the interval, the Maghera bowlers quickly set about their work, and in spite of Donemana’s fast scoring rate, quickly started to make an inroad into the Donemana batting line-up with Arun bowling Gardener and Surya dismissing Olphert with a caught and bowled, to take the score to 40-2 off the first 6. With two left handers at the crease, and a short boundary square on both sides skipper Alleyne turned to off spin from both ends, bowling himself and Surya. This was a ploy which eventually paid dividends as Alleyne bowled S. Stevenson for an aggressive 24. It was, then, in the 14th over at the turn of drinks, that the Maghera players were aware by the sudden groan and immobilisation of their captain that he had pulled a calf, and having to be helped off the field it fell to J Haddock to skipper – with the score resting at the evenly poised 86-4. 

From this point on both sides remained fairly even matched with neither side extracting a major advantage over the other. Despite some tight, LBW calls going against them, Maghera bowlers still maintained the pressure on Donemana. It looked as though Donemana, whose experienced batsmen remained at the crease, would begin to ease ahead, before a spin partnership of Amaravadi’s off breaks and H Haddock’s leg breaks began to re-establish Maghera’s chances – with Haddock bowling captain Logan and Amaravadi bowling L Stevenson. It wasn’t until both spinners were bowled out each with 3 wickets apiece before Donemana finally pressed ahead to win what was a tight game, taking 19 off Cassidy’s 27th over to win the game. 

Even though, Maghera 3rd XI did not get the result they wanted, they have maintained the momentum of their opening victory following it up by another strong performance as they look to make headway in their inaugural season.

Written by Henry Haddock