CSNI and Lisburn are sitting at the top of the Lagan Valley Steels T20 Cup table after opening day wins over Instonians and Waringstown respectively. 

At Shaw's Bridge, Stuart Thompson was the start of the show for CSNI as the all-rounder bludgeoned 73 off 37 balls to help his side chase the required 105 runs and win by nine wickets. Luke Georgeson scored an unbeaten 22 on his competitive debut for the club and helped the Stormont outfit seal the victory with 4.1 overs to spare. 

Earlier in the rain-shortened game, Georgeson took two wickets with the ball as he helped CSNI restrict their hosts to 104-5 in their 15 overs.

Instonians captain Nikolai Smith top-scored with 29 for his team. Ben Rose (22) and Marcus Poskitt (19) also reached double figures. With the ball for CSNI, there was a wicket each for Ben Adair, Ben Mackey and Thompson. 

At The Lawn, it was Robert Rankin who led Lisburn's victory charge. He top-scored for Lisburn with 46 as they chased a revised target of 118 in 18 overs.  

There were double-figure scores for captain Adam Berry (18), Jonathan Waite (18) and Matthew Humphreys (11). Lee Nelson was the pick of the Waringstown bowlers as he finished with figures of 2-18; James Mitchell and Phil Eaglestone claimed a wicket each. 

In the first innings, there were a couple of wickets each for Ireland international Boyd Rankin and David Simpson; Graham Hume was the highest run-scorer for the villagers with 41 as Waringstown scored 127-5 in 20 overs. 

Elsewhere, defending champions CIYMS had their opening game against Woodvale washed out at Belmont. It was the same story at Middle Road for the match between Carrickfergus and North Down. All four teams take two points from their respective fixtures. 

The next matches take place on Thursday and Friday night, with the fixtures as follows:

CSNI v CIYMS 
Lisburn v Carrickfergus  (Fri 14th May)
North Down v Woodvale 
Waringstown v Instonians