Disappointing defeat to visitors
UMPIRES Griffin and Kimber started Sundays match in weather that wouldn’t usually be considered suitable for cricket, but weather has played havoc with the match schedules in 2016, so that may have been a factor in their decision, along with the six-hour journey each way, and two overnights the visitors from Newbuildings (just south of Derry) took to play out their Irish National Cup quarter-final against Kerry.
Bowling a hat-trick is always a special moment in cricket. On Sunday, Usman Khan performed that feat for Kerry, the first bowler to do so at the Oyster Oval in Spa. Even more special when all three wickets were bowled. The wickets fell on the last three balls of oppositions innings, and in a quarter-final of the Irish National Cup.
A moment to treasure for Usman Khan, but how cruel sport can be, for this all happened at the end of a superb batting performance by the visitors. Usman’s brilliant moment of personal triumph was too little too late to rescue Kerry from certain defeat.
As consolation, Usman cannot be removed as the first bowler to chalk up a hat-trick at Spa. Another record established on Sunday, likely to stand for years to come, was the match-winning opening partnership between Mark Hanna (117) and Dean Mehaffey (115).
In an almost flawless batting display, they put on 246 for the first wicket, before Alam Morshed finally broke through in the 41st over with a superb caught and bowled dismissal to remove Hanna.
Newbuildings club pro, is the hugely talented and extremely dangerous Peat Salmon. With the visitors haste to build on that enormous opening partnership, Salmon’s innings (11) turned out to be a cameo, hitting two thundering boundaries before being bowled by Azeem Khan. Mehaffey was next to fall with Alam pocketing the second of his three catches at cover.
Mehaffey timed a cover drive beautifully, but aerial enough to arrive at the fielder at chest height. Alam made a stinging catch look routine. Martin Mehaffey (34) Dean’s brother, was the only other visiting batsmen to pass 30, but with their total on 318, and three balls in the innings remaining when Usman clean bowled him, that wasn’t overly troubling. So in spite of the next two batsmen being bowled first ball, Kerry found themselves chasing down the daunting total of 319 to win.
The Kerry reply was mainly thwarted by Peat Salmon removing 3 of Kerry’s key batsmen. Openers Usman and Azeem Khan both fell to him as did Shani Alam. Only Arslan Anwar (27) looked comfortable dealing with the extra pace and bounce of the tall Jamaican, but he was dismissed by an almost unbelievable flying slip catch taken inches off the ground by Ray Mitchell off the bowling of Dale Culbert.
Sheeva Katta (17) and Kashif (16) provided a brief rearguard action, but Kerry capitulated on 110; more than 200 runs short of their target.
A top quality bowling performance from Newbuildings clinically closed out the match, but Kerry’s fate was sealed by the superb batting of centurions Hanna and Mehaffey who regularly put balls over the boundary rope, but were equally diligent in running hard to turn singles into twos and offering very few chances during their outstanding occupation of the crease.
Newbuildings 281 for 8 (Hanna 117 - D Mehaffey 115 - Usman Khan 3-29 - Azeem Khan 3-61
Kerry all out 110. (Arslan Anwar 28 - P Salmon 3-22 R Hunter 3-27)
Newbuildings win by 208 runs and go forward to the Irish National Cup Semi-Final.
Fixture: Saturday, July 16 - Co Galway 1sts v Co Kerry 1sts.
Venue: The Lydican, Galway, Munster Premier Division