The 5’s travelled to Londonderry Park, Ards on a cloudy Sunday 17^th June to face Ards 2’s and registered their first league win of the campaign by a 34 run margin.

Batting first, Ben Crothers and Jack Dickson wasted no time with an attacking start before Ben sliced one into the covers. James Welshman at 3 started his tally with a maximum, taking advantage of the 35-metre leg side boundary, which was to become the theme of the day. James and Jack combined well-James unorthodox hitting and Jack’s quality on the front foot putting pressure on the bowlers. The board was moving at 10 an over from early on and this continued. It looked as if both were set for 100’s before James fell to an easy LBW decision. Adams Ly and Kennedy fell cheaply as the final run chase ensued. With Jack on 98, he hit a straightforward catch to cover who duly obliged, giving him the 2 required to reach his ton. Ards were regretting a straightforward catching opportunity at point when in single figures!

Jack’s innings contained 15 x 4’s, 3 x 6’s while James hit 7 x 4’s and 1 x 6.

In reply, Ben Crothers claimed a wicket with the first ball of the innings courtesy of a catch by Adam Kennedy at mid off. This instigated an assault by the other Ards opener. According to the Ards skipper, Ramadan had finished and Arafat Kahn was eager to celebrate with an early victory. His unorthodox style was certainly effective as they met the run rate with ease. The fielding side were at times unsure whether he was playing cricket or auditioning for Strictly Come Dancing and his gamesmanship when calling for runs was interesting.

This proved to be a good learning experience for our young guns and a lesson that line and length works. Ben completed his 4 overs for only 16 runs while most of the others struggled. Having been hit for a 4 and 2 x 6’s in consecutive balls, Jack claimed the key wicket thanks to a good take by Adam Ly.

Jack went on to claim another 2 wickets in a mixed spell of leg spin. 12 year old Tom Crothers was unphased in his adult debut and showed his more experienced schoolmates how to bowl full and straight when the pressure was on in the last few overs. With Xander McIlwaine weaving his magic in the 20^th, a 34 run victory was secured.

Thanks to Ards for a competitive game and for their hospitality.

Hopefully the start of some better batting performance from the 5’s as this has let them down in previous games.

Instonians 208-3 (20 overs) J Dickson 106no, J Welshman 51

Ards 174-5 A Kahn 86, J Dickson 3-30