Enniskillen Cricket Club hosted Killyclooney 3s in their latest match in North West League Division 4 on Saturday last and emerged from the fixture as five wicket victors.
It was another win based on a superb bowling and fielding performance after Stephen Maxwell had won the toss and put Killyclooney into bat on a glorious sunny afternoon.
The wicket and outfield were in superb condition thanks to the grounds team who once again spent a lot of time and effort in having the ground in such pristine condition.
Enniskillen’s opening bowlers Bibin Matthew and Satheesh had the Killyclooney batsmen in early trouble with Satheesh taking two wickets in a superb first over and Matthew chipping in with one and were almost unplayable at times.
However R Bresland with a quickfire 43 looked to be putting his team in a decent position until Kenny Maxwell bowled him with a delivery which turned sharply on the dry surface. Indeed the Enniskillen man was causing huge problems for the visiting batsmen who couldn’t find an answer and the innings folded very quickly to 89 all out with Maxwell claiming career best figures of 6 for 41 superbly backed up by Satheesh with 3 for 13 and Matthew 1 for 7.
Energised catching
All the good bowling was backed up with a energised catching and fielding display with two catches apiece for David Cadden and Matthew and one from the returning Alastair McFarland and at the interval the home team were in the driving seat
After a well deserved and excellent spread McFarland and Aby Theckanath started out in pursuit of the total.
The Killyclooney bowling was accurate and the openers had to be watchful but seemed to be progressing smoothly until Theckanath was lbw after looking good and another quick couple of wickets left Enniskillen on 27 for 3 and with work to do.
Enter Bibin John and Matthew who batted confidently for a partnership of 43 to take the side to the brink of victory and when John was out for a well made 19 and Matthew controversially run out for an excellent 35 the two Maxwells finished the task with the skipper hitting the winning runs with a well timed four.
Another excellent performance from the team who are learning all the time and skipper Maxwell was elated by the win and the efforts and commitment of all the players especially in the field where they have targeted as an area for improvement and worked hard on.
Two wins on the bounce have propelled the local team into mid table a great achievement after the early season nerves.
The next fixture is an away game next Sunday in Strabane against Letterkenny 3s
Match summary
Killyclooney 3s
89 all out
K.Maxwell 6/41
Satheesh 3/13
Enniskillen
93 for 5
B.Matthew 35
B.John 19
Enniskillen won by 5 wkts.
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