Recap
Nathan and Lazarus bring Lismore back from the dead.
Lismore 1st XI had to rely on Nathan Bryan and Romald Lazarus to guide them to a biblical win in the MCU Division 2 League match over Cork Harlequins on Sunday at the Castle Farm. See the scorecard here
The visiting Harlequins lost the toss and were put into bat on a wicket softened by Storm Hannah. Openers Adam Hickey and Max Egan had a measured innings but could only muster 22 of the first 8 overs off before Egan was caught from a superb diving catch by Steve Stone off the bowling of Asharaf. With that partnership broken, the wickets fell quickly as Jack Buss caught by Lazarus at slip, Freddie Froggat at mid-off and John Buss from an excellent catch by Keating at long on. Just 15 overs into the game and Harlequins were stuck on 33-4. The incoming Peet did rally with the opener Hickey to carve out a respectable partnership of 24 to bring the game back toward Harlequin’s advantage, before the re-introduction of Nathan Bryan brought it to a halt. He took 2 wickets in 2 balls to leave the visitors reeling at 57-6. The incoming Jon Russell prevented the hat-trick and bravely added a total of 19 runs to offer some resistance and with 6 overs to go, Harlequins had the potential to post a decent total considering the heavy ground. But up stepped the father – Ardmore man Jim Bryan. Not a man to be outdone by any one of his sons, he duly took his two wickets from two balls. Harlequins could not handle this longstanding familial rivalry and the prodigal son Nathan returned to dispatch the visitors for a total of 105, leaving only the opener Adam Hickey to carry his bat back to the clubhouse at 36 not out.
At the interval Lismore must have thought they had it won but were duly shook from their complacency when Charlie Bryan and Stone were sent packing for for 0 and 1 respectively by the lively Hickey. Asharaf (12) did offer some mettle, but was caught of the bowling of Buss. The talented off-spinner Max Egan then took took the wickets of Keating (4), Huskinson (1) and J Bryan (0) to leave Lismore at 38-6 and staring at a crushing defeat. Then in stepped Nathan Bryan and Sarath Divakaran and with a a partnership of 41 brought the game back toward Lismore’s favour. Divakaran was eventually bowled by John Buss for 15 but the game still hung in the balance. However by now Bryan had taken control of the game and was joined at the crease by the aptly named Lazarus who aided Lismore’s resurrection, eventually slogging the winning runs to the cow corner boundary to secure a 3 wicket victory.
Okay, so this match won’t go down in the annals of history. But it certainly showed the promise in both teams and what they need to work on to improve over the season. The highlight was Nathan Bryan’s 47 no and 5 for 19, but special mention must also go to the promising Harlequins youngsters, particularly Adam Hickey (38 no and 2 for 20) and Max Egan (3 for 16). Harlequins have probably the best youth development program in Munster, and by combining new with old, their 3XI squad is a testament to that.
109/7 vs 105 