Enniskillen Cricket Club made their much-anticipated bow in the Northern Cricket Union Section 10 last Sunday when they made the long journey to Comber to take on North Down 4s .

It was a beautiful sunny day and Enniskillen captain Stephen Maxwell won the toss and decided to field first in a T20 match. 

For the first few overs, the local team struggled to contain the home batsmen who made a flying start and reached 70 after only five overs not without a little luck and any edges and balls in the air seemed to fall either short or between fielders.

New opening bowlers Thuwan Puthra and Jaice Cherian struggled to find their groove although Puthra claimed an early wicket with an excellent delivery to bowl one of the openers.

But with the run rate spiralling Stephen Maxwell turned to his two slow bowlers Kenny Maxwell and Bibin John who between them started to gain a measure of control over the batsmen reducing the run rate appreciably and Maxwell took the important wicket of the dangerous Dugan who had been threatening to take the game away completely.

Maxwell and John between them bowled eight overs for only 31 runs and as a result pegged back the home team to a final total of 153 for 5. Puthra took two for 39 and Cherian Maxwell and Bibin Tommy took a wicket apiece.

When Enniskillen batted they got off to a steady start courtesy of Aby Theckanath and David Cadden reaching 26 after five overs.

However, Cadden fell shortly after to a ball which surprised him by keeping low which brought the skipper in to join Theckanath in the middle they continued to push the score along and Theckanath brought up a well-deserved and classy 50 full of glorious shots.

However, the run rate continued to climb reaching 10 an over and acceleration was needed and as a result Maxwell lost his wicket trying to do just that.

Paul Ramsay joined Theckanath who continued to play shots to all parts of the ground but with overs running out he unselfishly ran himself out going for a second run having made 88.

His efforts really deserved a century but try as they might the local team fell just short on 136/3 an agonising 17 runs short. 

Disappointment then but certainly the guys were not overshadowed and were competitive for large periods of the game but ultimately those first five overs of the home teams innings proved crucial where too many runs were leaked. 

The team now turn their focus to their first home game on Sunday against Dunmurry 4s at the Erne Integrated College.

Match summary: North Down 4s - 153/5
T Puthra 2/39; K Maxwell 1/14; B Tommy 1/20; J  Cherian 1/43.

Enniskillen - 136/3
A Theckanath 88; S Maxwell 15; P Ramsay 12 N/O;

North Down 4s won by 17 runs.