Nathan Waller hit a whirlwind unbeaten 37 from just 25 balls to hasten his Northern Knights side to a three wicket win against the NW Warriors in the three-day RSA Inter-Provincial Championship game at Eglinton. Waller, who had scored just a single from his first 13 deliveries, proceeded to hit 36 from the next 12, including 22 in an over from Stuart Thompson as the victory was secured after just 47 minutes of the final day.
The former Zimbabwean Under 19 player, who plays club cricket for Lisburn, settled his team mates nerves after the early loss of Greg Thompson. The Waringstown all-rounder was well caught at slip by Iftikhar Hussain from the bowling of Andrew Britton.
That left the total on 110 for 6, with 48 still needed for the win. Irish international James Shannon looked very solid throughout, combining resolute defence with some classic off drives when the opportunities arose.
He had reached 49 from 123 balls (7 fours) before driving Kamran Sajid loosely to Scott Campbell at point with just 12 needed. There was to be no late heroics though from the Warriors as Waller scored 14 runs from the next five deliveries bowled by Andrew McBrine to complete the win.
A competitive game in which the bowling was always on top of the batting, with the Warriors paying the ultimate price for their first innings performance which left them with too much to do.
The next game in the series is the RSA T20 Trophy at Pembroke on Friday June 21st.
RSA Inter-Provincial Championship at Eglinton - Day 3 (End of Game)
North West Warriors 116 (44.2 overs, K Sajid 47, P Eaglestone 3-35, N Waller 3-38, E Moleon 2-29) and
172 (60.1 overs, A Riddles 24, RL Dougherty 34, P Eaglestone 4-51, A White 2-20, N Waller 2-29, E Moleon 2-39)
Northern Knights 131 (48.3 overs, J Terrett 29, G Thompson 26, N Waller 22, A Britton 2-40, J Thompson 2-24,
S Thompson 3-31) and
160-7 (59.5 overs, C Dougherty 30, J Terrett 24, J Shannon 49, N Waller 37no, K Sajjid 2-9, A McBrine 2-28)
Northern Knights (20 pts) beat the North West Warriors (4 pts) by 3 wickets