Coleraine make it through to North West T20 final

The Sandel Lodge outfit saw off Eglinton in the North West T20 Cup to make it through to the final this Sunday at Ardmore.

Eglinton won the toss and put Coleraine in to bat. However, any advantage the visitors hoped to gain was negated by Coleraine’s batsmen who never allowed the bowlers to settle.

All the batsmen scored at a good rate and although by the end of the eighth over three wickets were down, there were already 67 runs on the board.

After that David Cooke joined Niall McDonnell at the crease and with McDonnell racing to his half century in just 36 balls and Cooke taking his share of the strike at the other end, these two ensured that Coleraine posted a very competitive total of 157 in their 20 overs.

McDonnell finished on 75 not out (9 fours) and Cooke on 46 not out (5 fours).

Eglinton’s reply was tentative, as Andy Christie and Christopher Pierce struggled with the pace of Jarred Barnes and Gareth Burns.

Christie’s dismissal (bowled by Burns) brought Ireland international Stuart Thompson to the middle and he lost no time in trying to stamp his authority on the game.

After facing just nine deliveries he had struck one four and 2 sixes, but before he could get fully into his stride he was bowled by an excellent delivery from Kyllin Vardhan. Vardhan also accounted for Pierce and former Ireland international Stephen Smyth and with David Cooke claiming the wicket of Richard Wylie, Coleraine ran out comfortable winners by 44 runs.

The Bannsiders will now face Donemana in the final which will be held at the Bleachgreen, Ardmore next Sunday 17th August.

Coleraine beat Eglinton by 44 runs.

Sandel Lodge, 7 August.

Coleraine 157-3 (20.0 overs, N McDonnell 75*, D Cooke 46*)

Eglinton 113-5 (20.0 overs, R Wylie 27, K Vardhan 3-28)

At the weekend Coleraine were due to host Strabane in the Premier League at home, but with the edge of hurricane Bertha bringing heavy and relentless rainfall in the early hours of Sunday morning, the grounds at Sandel Lodge were left unplayable.

This means that yet another league fixture has to be rearranged, with Coleraine having only played eight out of their 14 league games with more than two thirds of the season gone.

Next weekend is closed for Premier League fixtures due to the Interprovincial One day game between the Warriors and the Leinster Lightnings at Strabane on Saturday and the Charity Cup Finals day taking place on Sunday, so it may be that time will run out on some of these games being played by September.

Meanwhile, Fox Lodge’s decade-long stay in the top flight of North West cricket is surely all but over. Saturday’s defeat to Donemana was their ninth consecutive league defeat and they remain six points adrift of Ardmore in seventh place.

With just five games remaining, they require at least three victories just to draw them level with Ardmore, though the Bleachgreen team look to have more wins in them.