The Ulster Grasshoppers were beaten by one wicket against a strong Western Province Chairman's XI on the second match of their South African tour, having won their opener on Saturday.
Batting first the tourists Matthew Daly (21) and Ally Shields (17) got starts, but didn't kick on and at 68 for 5 they were in some trouble.
However, veteran Alan Waite (46*) and Arnie Wright mounted a salvage operation in contrasting styles with a superb 6th wicket stand of 86.
Wright thumped 7 fours and a six as he top scored with 55 from just 52 balls, while 'Waitey' hit three boundaries in his unbeaten 46.
A final 40 over total of 167 for 7 looked competitive, and even more so when Callum Atkinson reduced their hosts to 97 for 7.
Callum Atkinson and Aaron Wright
WP skipper Derrick Mitchell showed why he is one of the region's top-rated batters with a fine 43, but when he became Atkinson's fifth victim, ten were still required with the last pair at the crease.
Despite a few nervy moments the last pair prevailed, sealing the narrow win in the penultimate over.
The teams after the thrilling match
The Grasshoppers are back in action on Wednesday when they take on Durbanvaille in the third match of the two-week tour.
| Toss won by | Ulster Grasshoppers |
| Home Side | Western Province Chairman's XI |
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Min | Bls | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Shields* | b P Peskin | 17 | 33 | 28 | 3 | 0 | |
| J Beattie | c ? | b P Peskin | 6 | 25 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
| M Daly | c ? | b A Flanagan | 21 | 42 | 36 | 2 | 0 |
| S Best | lbw | b L Delbianco | 0 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| J Cameron-Dow | c ? | b A Flanagan | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 0 |
| A Waite | not out | 46 | 107 | 94 | 3 | 0 | |
| A Wright | c ? | b B Brukwe | 55 | 72 | 52 | 7 | 1 |
| J Waite+ | st D Mitchell | b B Brukwe | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| R Simpson | not out | 7 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | |
| Matthew McCord | dnb | ||||||
| P Davison | dnb | ||||||
| extras | (b1 lb1 w10 nb2) | 14 | |||||
| TOTAL | 7 wickets for | 167 |
| FOW |
|---|
| 1-27(J Beattie) 2-30(A Shields) 3-31(S Best) 4-32(J Cameron-Dow) 5-68(M Daly) |
| 6-154(A Wright) 7-154(J Waite) |
| Bowler | Overs | Maid | Runs | Wkts | wd | nb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P Peskin | 6 | 1 | 21 | 2 | - | - |
| L Delbianco | 5 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 2 | - |
| A Flanagan | 8 | 0 | 28 | 2 | 4 | - |
| S Dyson | 5 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| H Byrne | 6 | 0 | 34 | 0 | 1 | - |
| J Rossouw | 6 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| B Brukwe | 4 | 0 | 13 | 2 | - | - |
| Batsman | Fieldsman | Bowler | Runs | Min | Bls | 4s | 6s |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| S Dyson | c J Waite | b C Atkinson | 20 | 48 | 27 | 33 | 0 |
| C Fourie | b Matthew McCord | 5 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 0 | |
| N Kulkarni | b C Atkinson | 13 | 37 | 23 | 2 | 0 | |
| B Brukwe | c C-Dow | b C Atkinson | 13 | 25 | 23 | 2 | 0 |
| R Waite | b S Best | 1 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | |
| D Mitchell*+ | c C-Dow | b C Atkinson | 43 | 103 | 55 | 4 | 0 |
| H Byrne | c and b | b R Simpson | 10 | 13 | 14 | 0 | 1 |
| L Delbianco | b J Cameron-Dow | 3 | 18 | 13 | 0 | 0 | |
| J Rossouw | b C Atkinson | 14 | 50 | 46 | 0 | 0 | |
| P Peskin | not out | 7 | 17 | 8 | 0 | 0 | |
| A Flanagan | not out | 9 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 0 | |
| extras | (b5 lb4 w24 nb0) | 33 | |||||
| TOTAL | 9 wickets for | 171 |
| FOW |
|---|
| 1-10(C Fourie) 2-55(S Dyson) 3-56(N Kulkarni) 4-58(R Waite) 5-76(B Brukwe) |
| 6-89(H Byrne) 7-96(L Delbianco) 8-153(J Rossouw) 9-158(D Mitchell) |
| Bowler | Overs | Maid | Runs | Wkts | wd | nb |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew McCord | 6.2 | 0 | 40 | 1 | 2 | - |
| P Davison | 6 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 5 | - |
| S Best | 5 | 0 | 23 | 1 | - | - |
| C Atkinson | 8 | 1 | 27 | 5 | 1 | - |
| R Simpson | 5 | 0 | 14 | 1 | - | - |
| J Cameron-Dow | 4 | 0 | 13 | 1 | 3 | - |
| A Shields | 4 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | - |
