It was all over on the stroke of three o’clock at Laurelvale as last year’s Section One runners up completed their pre-split fixtures with an eighth defeat out of nine – the other was a no result. They were bowled out by Civil Service North for 99 in 32 overs with only Alex Webb getting to 20 and James West the most successful, and accurate, bowler with figures of 3-22 from his 10 overs. West then went out to open the batting and hit 51 from 27 balls (seven fours, three sixes) in a first wicket partnership of 67 in 7.2 overs with Luke Fisher. Aswin Hebbar replaced him and hit the winning boundary, his second six, at the start of the 11th over.

Civil Service North, playing their third game in three days, followed up their 10-over victory over Waringstown with an impressive 50 runs win over CI at Stormont. The result condemns CI to six games in the bottom four after the split. It was a steady rather than spectacular batting display by CSN as Ryan Hunter top scored with 37 and useful contributions by Jake Collingwood, Harry Dyer and Andrew Cowden. The home side won the game with just 10 men because returning professional Ashwin Hebbar went down with food poisoning and failed to make it to the ground. Sathish Suresh and Jacob Mulder each took three wickets for CI. Jake Egan led the reply with 64, including just five boundaries, but he still dominated the scoring, fourth out with the score on 116. Only Charles Swart with 36 gave him any support as all five bowlers CSN bowlers shared the wickets and they can now look forward to a game against the rest of the top six.

CSNI stunned NCU Premier League leaders Waringstown by three runs in a rain-reduced 10-over thriller to blow the title race wide open. CSNI posted 89 for six, built around captain Stuart Thompson’s unbeaten 38, with Ryan Hunter adding 15 and Jake Collingwood 16. Tom Mayes and Ross Allen claimed two wickets apiece. Waringstown looked on course after Steve Stolk made 25, Morgan Topping 23 and Mayes 21, but CSNI struck back late. Needing eight from Collingwood’s final over, the leaders managed just four, finishing on 86 for four as CSNI boosted their top-six hopes and gave hope to the chasing pack.

Cliftonville Academy claimed their first win of the season with a 16-run victory over CSNI in a hard-hitting T20 clash. CP Klijnhans and David O’Sullivan powered the innings with a dynamic second-wicket stand of 90 in just 40 balls. Klijnhans hit five sixes in his 25-ball 44, while O’Sullivan smashed 44 from 22 balls. Anwar Khan added a rapid 34 from 14 deliveries as Cliftonville reached 191. Ryan Hunter kept CSNI in the hunt with 59 from 32 balls, but the required rate proved too steep as they finished on 175 for 7.

Muckamore’s title hopes took a major blow when they lost to Civil Service North by 42 runs. Even without an overseas professional – Ashwin Hebbar is due to return next week – CSN made it two wins out of two in the space of week after their Challenge Cup success at Moylena last Sunday. After slumping to 44 for four, Mark Ellison led the recovery with 72 (seven fours, two sixes) in partnerships of 45 with Harry Dyer and 56 with captain Stuart Thompson. Late runs from Andrew Cowden and Finn Lutton helped them to a total of 228 for nine in their 48 overs. When Muckamore lost Neil Brand to a run out and Jason van der Merwe to an Ellison catch off James West, in the space of six balls, the home side were in trouble. West took five for 35 in his 10 overs to reduce Muckamore to 99 for eight and only Chinmay Dakhane with a maiden senior 50 and Neil Gill’s 26 not out, in a last wicket stand of 60, held up CSN’s victory.

Lisburn moved to the top of the Premier League after hanging on to beat Civil Service North by four runs at Stormont. The hosts were on course to inflict a first league defeat of the season on Lisburn when Harry Dyer and Stuart Thompson were together. They had put on 98 for the sixth wicket and needed just 30 from the last 23 balls when Callum Atkinson dismissed the CSN captain. Next over, Ben Walsh claimed the crucial wicket of Dyer with 20 still needed from 16 balls but now only three wickets left. Walsh bowled Finn Lutton with the last ball of the 48th over and Jon Hinrichsen had Ollie Dyer caught behind three balls later. Last man Matthew Kennedy joined Andrew Cowden and with the help of a wide in the last over, Cowden had the chance to win it with a six from Walsh’s final ball. He could manage only a single. Jake Collingwood had earlier led the recovery after CSN slumped to 57 for four, scoring 58 in a stand of 96 with Dyer. The Lisburn total of 280-8 was dominated by a fourth wicket stand of 159 between Nigel Jones (67) and captain Neil Whitworth who continued his prolific start to the season with 92 (11 fours and a six). He was distraught when he steered Lutton straight to his opposite number at backward point and the pace bowler then had Hinrichsen caught behind next ball. He couldn’t go for his hat-trick, however; they were his final two balls of his 10th over. James Hunter, however, hit 30 off 27 balls and it proved enough – just.

Civil Service North swept to a five wickets victory in another low scoring game at The Green, reaching their target of 115 inside 20 overs. After James West dominated the opening partnership with Marc Ellison, Ashwin Hebbar stayed to the finish, with an unbeaten 42 from 33 balls. Adam Leckey was the early destroyer for the visitors as the in-form North Down top order collapsed to 42 for four and although captain Tyron Koen and Harry Zimmermann added 54 for the fifth wicket, the last six wickets fell for 18 runs.

Civil Service North’s young guns Harry Dyer and Adam Leckey steered them to a six wickets (DLS) victory. Set 156 in 23 overs, the visitors slumped to 74 for four after 10 overs. But Dyer 44, with four sixes, and Leckey 36 from 30 balls would not be parted after Ruhan Pretorius had taken three early wickets. However the Woodvale captain and professional Ludwig Kaestner could score only 36 between them in their side’s total of 211 for eight from 46 overs. Francis Collins top scored with 55 and and James West took three wickets in an accurate 10-over spell.

Instonians made an impressive start to the defence of their Premier League title, posting the highest 50-over total at Stormont. Sully Gould, batting at No 3, scored his first senior century as the visitors totalled 379 for eight. He was fifth out in the 27th over with the total already on 215 and Nikolai Smith and Andrew White then piled the agony on their hosts with a stand of 115 for the sixth wicket. Adam Leckey tried to keep Instonians in check and finished with five wickets but the total was always going to be too many for Civil Service North. They finished 101 runs short with new signing Jake Collingwood hitting an impressive 61 from 52 balls and a late rally from Harry Dyer who top scored with 73 from just 47 balls (seven fours, five sixes).