NCU Senior Section 3
Drumaness Superkings 334-6 (40 overs)
Arches 99 (26.2 overs)
Drumaness Superkings beat Arches by 235 runs
By Sophie Cranston
Drumaness Superkings first XI continued their fine run of form with a win against Arches at the weekend.
On a day that could only be described as scorching, Drumaness won the toss and chose to bat, a decision that ultimately favoured the home team as key batting performances from Darren Oldroyd (116) and Neil Walsh (103) helped to build a commanding total of 334-5.
Opening the batting on Saturday, James Cunningham (1) and Darren Oldroyd (116) started slowly, with Cunningham falling off the second ball of the second over. Garry Walsh (41) joined and together they built an impressive 158-run partnership before Walsh was caught by Veerendra Nagari off a ball from Abubakar Rehmani.
Neil Walsh (103) then came in and immediately started hitting boundaries. Oldroyd and Neil Walsh added a 70-run partnership before Oldroyd scored his long-awaited maiden century (100 off 78 balls).
Power-hitting continued until Oldroyd was caught by Venkat off Veerendra Nagari’s delivery. Ahmad Zaheer Gondal (3) was dismissed shortly after.
Captain Neil Gelston (13) came to the crease, but not long after, disaster struck for Neil Walsh. After colliding with bowler Tulasi Thatavarthi, he had to retire on 103.
Ryan McCoubrey came in but was out for 0 off a clean ball from Kishnan Karneedi.
Senthilkumar Santhanakrishnan (14) and Neil Gelston (13) then finished the innings with some solid shots.
Opening the batting for Arches, Veerendra Nagari and Tulasi Thatavarthi aimed to build a solid innings, but their hopes were short-lived when Muhammad Abid struck twice in the third over, dismissing Tulasi Thatavarthi (2) and Asad Murtaza (0), triggering a sequence of quick wickets.
Abid continued his spell with two more dismissals in the fifth and seventh overs, taking out Arush Nimmagadda (0) and Veerendra Nagari (13).
Fifteen-year-old Eoin Gelston got Anil Narra out for five with an LBW, as Muhammad Abid then took his fifth wicket in the ninth over, dismissing Ventakt Jyothi (1), again via LBW.
In the tenth over, Gelston again struck twice, dismissing Dushyanth Bommana (0) with a clean bowl and Vishnu Vonga (0) LBW.
With only two wickets left, Arches focused on defending their last two batters, leading to a somewhat dull period for spectators.
Garry Walsh ended the 17th over by bowling out Abubakar Rehmani (5). Senthilkumar Santhanakrishnan then dismissed Kishnan Karneedi, who scored 41, by bowling him out.
Well done to Darren Oldroyd (116) and Neil Walsh (103) for their centuries and to Muhammad Abid (5-9) for his fifer.
Match ball sponsor: Roisin Dagen.
