Bangor Through to the T20 Bowl Final
3 min read
Bangor hosted local rivals Holywood last Friday night in the semi-final of the Lagan Valley Steels T20 bowl. Upritchard Park was glowing in anticipation of the mouth-watering encounter that was to ensue, as a light buzz built around the ground. Bangor won the toss and elected to bowl first, backing a clutch chase from their batsmen.
Openers van Harte & Pyper kept things tight, with strong seam movement in the early stages. Pyper was unlucky as a number of edges made their way to third man for four and overseas player Lamprecht looked uncomfortable.
But, this Bangor bowling partnership is seldom denied a big breakthrough. Van Harte removing Lamprecht as Jonny Parker juggled a catch at point.
This brought Holywood’s other danger man Timothy Gordon to the crease, who immediately sought to up the rate. Going for a straight six back over the bowler George Prince’s head, Gordon hit the ball sky high but did not possess the legs to clear the boundary rope as Sam McMillan cooly took the catch, putting Bangor in the ascendancy.
Holywood batsmen Hemings and Harte (son of Bangor legend Chris) began to develop a strong partnership. Picking off boundaries on the loose balls and running well against the good deliveries, the two experienced operators were slowly hitting back against the strong early Bangor bowling. That is until the 12th over, where off the bowling of Will Simpson, Hemmings hit the ball powerfully as it seemed destined to head over the rope for six. However, Pyper rose like a proverbial salmon to claim a catch that the more vertically challenged in the Bangor side could only dream of.
Holywood were now 101-4 and still in a strong position, Bangor were now required to dig in and battle hard. Tight bowling from Sam McMillan and James Patterson built pressure resulting in risky and foolish running between the wickets. The diminutive Khan was run out after a typically cool headed throw from Prince and predictably clean gloves from Kirkpatrick.
Holywood continued to chip away at the late stages, finishing on 141-6 off of their 20 overs. A strong total, but on what many believe to be the best batting deck in the country was no sure thing, particularly with the form of Bangor’s current batting lineup.
Kirkpatrick and McMillan got the innings of to a tremendous start, carving boundaries like a renaissance sculpture, treating each new ball as an opportunity to create more cricketing beauty. It’s important to note at this stage that commentary was featured in the livestream, and during its inaugural use the commentator’s curse darkened our door. After being commended from the commentary box on how well they were batting, Kirkpatrick thinly played a shot into the keeper’s gloves as he was removed for a run a ball 21 runs.
Soon after the in-form Sam McMillan who looked in fantastic form continued his tirade, now joined at the crease by skipper Parker who took a few extra balls the find the same flow to his game. Disaster would strike in the 11th over as McMillan was caught at deep midwicket for 41, short of a deserved half century.
Van Harte then came to the crease for a short lived innings with a well taken catch on the deep cover boundary as Holywood gained a firm grip on the game. Bangor were now 82-3 after 12.4 overs. The required run rate was gradually increasing, supporters a touch subdued, a saviour was required. Enter Mark Hutchinson.
Hutchinson, who was in a mood where he could pick a fight with his own reflection, was dogmatic. Hawkish in his approach, Hutchinson found the boundary rope at will. Suddenly, the total seemed close, the boundary smaller, the gaps in the field that bit broader, and Bangor hopeful once more.
Hutchinson was a man possessed as he finished 42* off just 22 deliveries and charged off the pitch to celebrate with his teammates after a famous innings was complete with skipper Parker hitting the winning runs. Everyone knew they had seen something special.
Bangor booked their place against BISC in the final and now are desperate to protect their title. Momentum builds on an already successful season, who knows what heights this team will reach or what hole they will dig themselves out of soon. One thing is for certain, it’s hard not to get romantic about Bangor cricket.
