WEXFORD CRICKET

Following last week’s heavy defeat by Bagenalstown, Wexford Wanderers had slipped into the League relegation zone and faced a difficult task when League leaders Laois came to Park on Sunday. Wanderers batted first on a dampish wicket following overnight rain and they seemed to be in a difficult position with only 54 runs on the board with 5 wickets down. Sharjeel Shaikh with 17 runs was the only early Wexford batsman to make a notable contribution.

However when skipper Tony Murray joined in form Eugene Brennan at the crease, the situation began to improve as they put together a useful partnership, with Eugene hitting 36 runs and Tony 34.

Nitin scored an important 26 not out and together with some useful contributions from the tail helped see Wanderers close their 45 over innings with their total on 175 runs with nine wickets down. In reply the visitors never looked at ease against an impressive Wexford bowling attack.

Nitin in particular was in superb form with ball in hand and returned very impressive figures of 5 wickets for 13 runs off 7 overs.

He received good support from all the other bowlers as Laois were bundled out for just 64 runs. This was a most impressive all round team performance and shows just what this team can achieve when the full squad is available for selection. Too many games have been lost this year due to the unavailability of key players.

Next Sunday the team are away to Sandyford at Marley Park and they travel to Sandymount the following Sunday to take on YMCA in their final game of the season.