Bangor 1XI Progress into the Final

Bangor cruised into the final of the Robinson Services Bowl with a comprehensive victory by 39 runs over Cooke Collegians at Upritchard Park on Saturday. It was a match played in difficult conditions with Bangor having to use all their experience to ensure safe passage into the final. The victory sets up a final against the Drumaness Superkings on Saturday providing a chance for silverware for Adam McCusker’s men.

Cooke won the toss and elected to field. It was a cold day with the underfoot conditions soft from the rain that fell throughout the week. After his fine innings against Ards in Bangor’s previous game, Callum Houston was promoted to open the batting with the talisman Mark English. The two openers batted sensibly against a decent bowling attack. Houston was happy to drop the singles and run, while English looked to punish anything short with his trademark pull shot. They gifted no chances and cosily saw off the opening bowling attack, serenely taking Bangor past 40 with only seven overs bowled.

The introduction of spin from the talented Mohammed was to provide the breakthrough, bowling Houston for 12 with the score on 41. Bangor have not faced that much slow bowling in this shortened season and the middle order struggled against the wily Mohammed. Martin miscued one to mid-off before McCusker suffered the same fate as Houston. The following two overs saw both Grossett and Onyekwelu caught by the omnipresent Millar meaning that Bangor had slumped from 41 without loss to 49 for five.

Panic is not a word that exists in the vocabulary of the English brothers. Paddy English joined his brother Mark at the crease and began to repair the damage that had been caused by the flurry of wickets. They were helped undoubtedly by a penalty of five runs awarded by the umpires for Cooke walking across the playing surface. Cooke then proceeded to bowl an over containing nine wides. This was all that the English brothers needed to build confidence, and both began to play their shots all around the ground.

Nowhere was safe for the beleaguered Cooke attack. The brothers put on 57, taking the score to 106 before Paddy English was run out on the last ball of the 19th over. Mark English carried his bat through the final over scoring an excellent 44 not out, setting Cooke Collegians 114 to win.

In the conditions McCusker would have known that this was an above average score but also that there would be little room for error. In this form of the game it only takes one big partnership so Bangor knew that they would have to focus fully on their bowling and take their chances in the field. The bowling attack has been excellent all season and the match on Saturday was to be no exception. Grossett opened the bowling, swinging the ball away from the batsmen. The early pressure resulted in both batsmen finding themselves at the same end from the final ball of the first over. When Walton removed the other opener LBW in the second over and Grossett had Wilmott caught behind by McCusker, Cooke found themselves three wickets down with only six runs on the board.

The early damage was exactly what McCusker would have wanted to see and it left Cooke facing an uphill task. Millar and Shekar tried to stem the flow of wickets, adding 12 before the former was bowled by Prince. Shekar himself holed out to an excellent catch by Grossett on the long on boundary in the same Prince over. Cooke Collegians were now 19 for five after only seven overs. Grossett’s catch was the first of four outstanding outfield catches in the innings and the superior fielding could well have been the difference in a low scoring match.

Inevitably, the Cooke middle order began to throw the bat desperately at the ball in an attempt to level the playing field. Unfortunately, it is not that simple against this crack fielding unit. Hussain had made seven before he skied one seemingly in between three Bangor fielders. Mark English, not content with playing the match winning innings, covered 20 yards from mid-on to take the ball at waist height leaving the dismissed batsmen shaking his head at the wonder he had just witnessed. Khalil and Kerr then formed the only meaningful partnership of the innings taking the score from 27 into the 60s.

There was still plenty of time left to get the runs so Bangor had to remain concentrated on the job at hand. After a few big hits to the boundary, George Prince struck to remove Khalil with the very last ball of his spell, forcing him into edging behind to McCusker. The aggressor was still at the other end in the form of Kerr, Bangor knew that this was the vital wicket that they needed to progress to the final. McCusker showed great faith in his youngest bowler Chris Pyper who duly obliged by getting Kerr to hit one straight up in the air to Michael Martin who, once more, covered good ground to take a fine catch. Pyper followed this up with another wicket in the same over, leaving the returning Walton to take the final wicket, another outstanding boundary catch by Prince.

The final awaits for a rampant Bangor side who will do everything in their power to bring glory to the town once more.

Match Scorebook is available here