CRICKET: Coleraine lose double header
COLERAINE lost both games in their double header weekend against joint league leaders Bready and Brigade.
On Saturday, the Bannsiders travelled to Bready in the hope of causing the first upset of the weekend but fell an agonizing 28 runs short of target.
On winning the toss Bready captain David Lecky decided to make first use of the pitch and they got off to a flyer as Mark Olphert and Davy Rankin tore into Irish-A international Stephen Dunn. However, the introduction of Tim Chopra changed the game as he slowed down the Bready run rate, dismissing Rankin, caught and bowled, for 13.
At the other end Muhammed Salman was bowling an excellent spell as he got the ball to move through the air and off the pitch. He had Olphert trapped LBW for 26 and then bowled both Clarke (10) and Perrera (16) before Dunn returned to dismiss Robert Rankin for six.
Coleraine stand-in captain, Salman, then introduced the two young teenage spinners into the attack and the run rate slowed significantly. At one stage Bready were sitting on 130 for 7 and Coleraine must have had visions of dismissing Bready for less than 170 but they hadn't counted on Trevor Hamilton joining Ian Young and the pair added a further 80 runs before Young was eventually caught on the boundary by Vishal Chopra for an excellent 65.
Meanwhile Hamilton continued to dominate at the other end and when the Bready innings closed, he had helped steer them to 231 for 9 with a well played 38 not out.
The pick of the Coleraine attack were Salman with 3 for 38 off 10, Tim Chopra 1 for 32 off 10 and Scott Campbell 1 for 34 off nine.
In reply, Coleraine got off to the worst possible start as they lost opener Steven Harper caught behind in the second over for one. This brought Muhammed Salman to the crease and together with Ian McGregor they added a 40 run partnership before McGregor got an inside edge, when attempting a cover drive, and deflected the ball onto this own stumps.
Tim Chopra now joined Salman and looked in fine form as he drove his first ball through mid-off for four. The pair had taken the Bannsiders past the 100 mark but with Chopra's recurring back problem giving him trouble he was struggling to cope with the pain and eventually holed out for 30.
Paul Douglas was next to the middle but the teenager struggled to cope with the Bready attack and it wasn't too long before he was back in the pavilion having been bowled by Perrera without scoring.
The in-form Scott Campbell joined Salman but when he had only scored three he was beaten by the flight of Trevor Hamilton only to see the ball hit the stumps.
At 110 for 5, Coleraine were in trouble but Vishal Chopra helped calm the nerves a bit when he formed a partnership with Salman that took Coleraine to 150. At this point, Salman was beginning to open his shoulders and was finding the boundary with considerable ease. He reached his century in the 47th over, however, with time rapidly running out Coleraine found themselves needing 32 off the last three overs. When Salman was caught on the boundary for an excellent 103, Coleraine’s dreams of winning were shattered and they finished on 203 for 9.
It was a similar story on Sunday with Coleraine restricting their hosts to 130 for 7 only to see Brigade’s lower order hit some quickfire runs and reach 240 for 9 in their allotted 50 overs. Top scoring for Brigade was Pakistani Iftikar Hussein with an unbeaten 106 but it was an innings he probably should never have had the chance to play.
Having removed Irish-A international, Chris Dougherty, caught behind for nought, Coleraine’s Irish-A international Stephen Dunn then produced a classic in swinging delivery to the little Pakistani who was wrapped on the pads on his first ball in a position, that was evident to everyone on and off the field right in front of middle stump, only to hear the umpire give a not out decision saying the ball was missing off stump. It is well known in all forms of sport that the bigger clubs always get the rub of the green when it comes to big decisions and this was no exception. At 2 for 2, with the two main men back in the hutch, it could well have been a different story but unfortunately for Coleraine it wasn’t to be. The Bannsiders did have a couple of other chances to remove Hussein as he gave two catches which, on another day, would have been taken but when his luck was in he rode it on his way to his century.
In Brigade’s top eight, only Johnny Thompson (41) showed any sort of form and it wasn’t until Ryan Brace came in at number nine that Brigade really got going. He hit a cameo 48 runs to help take the hosts to 240 before lofting a simple chance straight back to bowler Salman in the final over.
After the tea interval Coleraine’s captain, Wilson Torrens, joined Ian McGregor in a new look opening partnership and the pair got the Bannsiders off to a great start. They had taken the score to 52 from 13 overs before Torrens was bowled by Hussein for 14. Coleraine’s little professional, Salman, strode to the crease in confident mood, following his century the day before, and he immediately took the attack to Brigade.
The pair had taken Coleraine to 85 before McGregor mistimed an on-drive to gift Dougherty an easy catch.
Tim Chopra joined Salman and together they added a further 15 runs before Salman got a rather dubious LBW decision from the same umpire who had turned down the LBW appeal against Hussein in the first innings. Following the loss of Salman it was always going to be an uphill struggle and only the Chopra brothers, Tim and Vishal, had any reward with scores of 25 and 20 respectively.
Coleraine’s tail couldn’t wag in the same way that Brigade’s tail had earlier in the day and they closed their innings 81 runs short of target on 159 all out.
Speaking after the game Coleraine captain WilsonTorrens was very vocal in his opinions about the decisions for the bigger clubs versus the smaller clubs.
“In sport all around the world the bigger clubs always seem to get the bigger decisions go in their favour,” he said. “I don’t want it to sound like sour grapes because Brigade played very well but this game relied on two key decisions against each team’s Pakistani batsmen, and in my opinion the umpire got both decisions wrong”.
He added: “If the umpire had given Ifty out on his first ball, Brigade would have struggled to 170 and this would have given us the confidence to knock the runs off in our innings. I would certainly like to have seen Hawkeye’s interpretation of that delivery. However, we’ve got to take it on the chin, move on, and focus on our three remaining league fixtures”.
Coleraine entertain Glendermott at Sandel Lodge on Saturday with a 1pm start.
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Weather for Coleraine
Friday 10 February 2012
Today
Light rain
Temperature: 7 C to 10 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 5 C to 9 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: South west
