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Knights shrug off Lightning challenge in their opening Rario Inter-Provincial Cup match

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DUBLIN – Half-centuries from Neil Rock and Ruhan Pretorius saw the Northern Knights take the victory over Leinster Lightning in their opening Rario-sponsored Inter-Provincial Cup opener in a sunny Pembroke Cricket Club.

Rock – stand-in skipper on the day – scored an outstanding 87 runs off just 60 balls, and also took two catches behind the stumps in a Player of the Match performance.

He was quite unfortunate not to go on and score his century, as a delivery from Fionn Hand hit off his pads and went on to hit the stumps.

It was a very good overall batting performance from the Knights, with eight of their batters reaching double figures, while in the bowling department Matthew Foster was particularly impressive, taking 3-26.

Two 67-run partnerships between Cade Carmichael and Morgan Topping, along with Rock and Tyron Koen saw the Kinghts post a very competitive target of 316-8.

In reply, the Knights bowlers struck early, taking the wickets of Simi Singh, Adam Rosslee, and both Tector brothers, Harry, and Tim.

After the loss of those early wickets Lorcan Tucker eased his way into his innings, not taking too many risks early on, but when he decided to go, he did it in style. He scored a half-century in just 34 balls, and went on to score 72 before ending up caught behind off the bowling of Koen in the 31st over.

A late partnership of 55 between Gavin Hoey and Barry McCarthy wasn’t enough, as after hitting a massive six Hoey tried to repeat the feat, only to hit it straight up in the air and was caught by Carmichael to end the game. The Knights winning with 6.3 overs remaining.

Next up on Thursday 18 May Leinster Lightning take on Munster Reds at the same venue at 10.45 am (local time).

MATCH SUMMARY

Leinster Lightning v Northern Knights, Inter-Provincial Cup, Pembroke Cricket Club, Dublin, 16 May 2023

Northern Knights 316-8 (50 overs; N Rock 87, R Pretorius 52; B McCarthy 2-36)
Leinster Lightning 250 (43.3 overs; L Tucker 72, G Hoey 37; M Foster 3-26)

Northern Knights won by 66 runs.

See full scorecard