Darshan produces record innings to help Dundalk climb up to fourth in table
DARSHAN Patel recorded the highest competitive individual innings total for a Dundalk player as he dismantled the Swords bowling attack in a remarkable win at Dromiskin on Sunday afternoon.
Captain Andy Williams won the toss and elected to field first, in what turned out to be an inspired choice as he claimed two crucial wickets in his first two overs.
From the opposite end, Kevin Waterman secured a third as he combined with Williams to have dangerman Muttathottil Benlee out caught for just 4.
As Swords looked to settle into the game, Michael Mullen emerged to take the wicket off Iype Roshan with the third ball of his spell.
After the loss of their fourth wicket, the north-Dublin team re-grouped and managed to string a 51-run partnership together between Jacob Manoj and Muralidhar Guru.
In one erratic over, Abdul Moeed conceded 16 runs but also managed to take both wickets, one of which came from a peach of a catch by Brent Higginbotham over long off.
From there, Dundalk were merciless in their pursuit of the tail-end and Phil Osborn cleaned up two easy wickets, with Williams returning to take his third and Regin Samuel taking the final wicket in his last over.
The steady and determined all-around team performance from Dundalk bowled out Swords for 119 runs, in just 34 of their allotted 45 overs.
After tea, Dundalk began their chase but got off to a rocky start, losing Peter Phillips in the second over, as he was caught off Jose Sibu’s bowling.
Fellow opener Mullen stuck around for 10 overs until he too fell to Sibu’s bowling. At 25/2 the target looked well away from the Louth outfit, but Darshan Patel had other ideas.
In a blistering innings, he scored a whopping 11 sixes, another club record, including a magnificent four-in-a-row in the 15th over.
Once he got into his groove, Swords couldn’t stop him and he only came undone when he was cruelly run out by his captain, just five runs shy of a maiden century.
Phil Osborn suitably wrapped up the win when he lobbed a massive six over square leg in just the 21st over of the innings.
The win sees Dundalk climb to fifth in the table, and puts a severe dent in Swords’ hopes of winning the league this season.
Dundalk continue their campaign against Carlow at home next Sunday.