Murray Power

An outstanding unbeaten fifty with five boundaries by Paddy Beverland saw the Ulster Schools record a dramatic final-over victory over the Western Union Centurions in the first match of their Scottish tour at Shawholm.  On a slow pitch that made timing strokes difficult, the Ulster spinners did well to restrict their hosts to 144 in 40 overs.

The early Ulster batsmen found runs even harder to come by, and a total of only 53-4 at the halfway point left much to be done.  Beverland however received strong support from Stuart Nelson and James McClean in stands of 39 for the fifth and seventh wickets and steered his side home with just two balls to spare.

Monday 18th July, Shawholm
Western Union Centurions 144-9 (40 overs, M Azeem Dar 43, L McNamara 4-32, J Matchett 2-12)
lost to
Ulster Schools 145-7 (39.4 overs, P Beverland 59 no, L Farndale 3-26)
by three wickets.

In the other two matches that were played on the Tour the Ulster Schools teams lost heavily in both games to their Scottish opposition.

Tuesday 19th July, Titwood, Glasgow
Ulster Schools 132 (N Alexander 4-26, M Rao 3-29)
lost to
Western Warriors 'A' 133-5 (M Dar 61, M English 40, V Chopra 2-22)
by five wickets.

Thursday 21st July, Hamilton Crescent
Glasgow Western Warriors 209 (S Shah 96 no, J Oliver 26, Z Ahmad 26, J Matchett 4-30, S Nelson 3-38)
beat
Ulster Schools 91 (L Farndale 2-6, S Shah 2-10, H Tahir 2-17, M Ghaffar 2-22)
by 118 runs.

(The two T20s scheduled for Wednesday of this week were washed out)