There will be eight Leinster, seven NCU and just one North-West side in the second round of the Irish Senior Cup on Sunday May 24th after a day where the bat dominated the ball for the most part.
Woodvale posted the highest ever Irish Cup total – until it was beaten twice inside half an hour! – when they scored 428 for five against a hapless Bready attack. The top three batters all hit centuries, Harry Warke the first to the landmark from 71 balls. He was first out with the total on 228, having hit 14 fours and six sixes in a stand with Francis Collins who made a run-ball-106. Ludwig Kastner then finished the job with 125 not out from just 76 balls with eight fours and 10 sixes.
Respect to Davy Scanlon who took three for 58 amid the carnage. A last wicket stand of 31, the second hight of the innings, delayed the inevitable with Bready all out in the 34th over for 190.
Ashwin Hebbar became only the third batter to score a double century in the Irish Cup as Civil Service North hammered Strabane by 248 runs at Stormont.
The indian professional hit 207 not out and shared a record stand (for any wicket) of 391 with Marc Ellison who was out three balls before the end of the innings for 173. Hebbar hit 12 fours and 15 sixes, Ellison 19 fours and six sixes in the second wicket partnership.
Aaron Gillespie passed 50 in the reply but when he was out, the last six wickets fell for 23 runs, Matthew Kennedy finishing with seven for 31 the fourth best figures in the competition’s history.
Chris Dougherty’s 112 balls of defiance took CI to a superb two wickets victory over Phoenix at Belmont.
Set 221 for victory, Dougherty came to the middle in the 11th over at 38 for two and when CI won the match with four balls to spare, he was 82 not out, having hit eight fours and two sixes..Jacob Mulder hit a valuable 17 in the the eighth wicket stand of 45 and Alex Armstrong stayed with him to the finish, as he ended the match with successive fours.
Four Phoenix batters reached 36 but he highest score was 43 when they finished on 220 for nine.
Centuries from Neil Brand and Mark Gleghorne steered Muckamore to a comfortable eight wickets victory over Fox Lodge at Moylena.
Brand hit 128 from 83 balls with 13 fours and five sixes and Gleghorne, with whom he shared a second wicket stand of exactly 200, was 109 not out (10 fours, three sixes) from 109 balls when the hosts reached their target with almost nine overs to spare.
Former North Down professional Gayan Maneeshan scored almost half of Fox Lodge's 297 for five, making 133 with eight fours and eight sixes.
A chanceless 152 not out by Tim Tector won the match of the round against six-times winners Waringstown as they chased down the home side’s 300 with more than six overs to spare.
Tector hit just 17 fours and shared stands of 115 with Macdara Cosgrave, 90 with Addison Sheriff and 98 with brother Harry in a dominant batting display.
And they did it without regular opening batter JJ Garth who dislocated a finger and Barry McCarthy who injured his left knee when bowling his seventh over.
Waringstown also lost Graham Hume after bowling just 11 balls, with a back injury but it was the loss of their last six wickets for 13 runs which proved fatal for the Villagers. Gavin Hoey was the Pembroke bowling star with five wickets after Steve Stolk and Adam Dennison had put on 119 for the first wicket.
Donemana are the only NW side through after they brutally accounted for a weak Cliftonville Academy side at The Holm.
Two wickets fell in the first few overs including overseas professional CP Klinijhans, and from there it was a procession despite the best efforts of Adil Maini who made a defiant 28 in their 79 all out.
Melvin Deveraj took four wickets and showed he will be a real asset for the Tyrone side, while skipper Gary McClintock took three, Mark Averill two and Andy McBrine the other.
Jamie Huey went early in the chase, but Gary McClintock (26) and debutant Awais Zafar added 59 for the second wicket, with the Pakistani hitting 5 fours and 4 sixes in his 27-ball unbeaten 47 as the 8-wicket win was sealed in the 13th over.
There will be tougher challenges ahead if they are to break the region's 22-year drought for the Bob Kerr trophy.
An opening stand of 162 between Gavin Roulston and David Barr looked to have put hosts Brigade in a strong position against Lisburn.
Roulston hit 5 fours and 4 sixes in his maiden century for his new club, while Barr's 63 laid the perfect platform.
However, Brigade failed to accelerate sufficiently to get over 300, with three wickets for spinners Ben Walsh and Neil Whitworth keeping them to 288 for 7.
Any thoughts the home side's total would be enough were soon blown away by Ross Adair with the Irish international powerhouse hitting 12 fours and 6 sixes in a 58-ball 110, adding 137 in 14 overs with David Miller (30) that all but broke the chase.
Brigade took three wickets but any thoughts of a late rally were dismissed by an unbroken stand of 99 between Ben Calitz, who clubbed 10 fours and 4 sixes in a 56-ball 73, while skipper Whitworth made 43 not out. Lisburn sealed the seven-wicket win with almost ten overs to spare.
Railway Union showed their depth and quality with a three-wicket win at Newbuildings in a contest that could have went either way, The home side were in trouble at 53 for 5, but Jared Wilson led the fightback with a high-octane 79 (10 fours, 2 sixes) sharing half century stands with Gregory McFaul (20) and Gareth McKeegan (48).
At 190 for 6 with almost ten overs left they would have been hoping for 250 plus, but five wickets for Liam McCarthy saw them bowled out for 229.
The chase started like a train with Irish youth international Bruce Whaley hitting a 16-ball 31 as he and Ash Prakash put on 54 in five overs. Josh Wilson and McFaul took three wickets in quick succession and when Liam McCarthy went later the home side were scenting blood at 127 for 6.
However, Abhay Tipnis - reprieved early on when caught off a no-ball- went on to make an unbeaten 78, adding a match winning 88 for the seventh wicket with Srihan Karpe (44).
Merrion flexed their muscles as they easily brushed aside the challenge of St Johnston.
Skipper Sean Stanton led the way with a five-wicket haul, while there were two wickets each for Tom Ford and Peter Forkin as the Saints were bowled out for 101 - Subhan Shirzad making 30.
Swapnil Modgill made 23 in the reply, but two wickets each for Nathan Cole and Ryan McAuley would have seen a few nerves at 54 for 4.
They were soon settled as Corne Botha thumped 6 fours and a six as he dominated a fifth wicket stand of 50 with Andrew Doheny to seal the six-wicket win in the 17th over.
Instonians' long trek to Munster was worth it as they scored a record 442 for eight.
Shane Dadswell did most of the damage, hitting 17 sixes out of the Mardyke ground, many of them landing in the adjacent tennis courts.
Cork were dismissed for 174, with three wickets apiece for Matthew Humphreys and Cian Robertson.
Rush were the third side of the day to pass 400 with Isaac Bird hitting 169 from 102 balls, including 15 fours and 11 of the 26 sixes the Kenure side managed.
He shared a fourth wicket stand of 210 with Abid Taniwal, who missed out on a century, making 93 from just 51 balls. It could have been even worse as Rush reached 435 for 8 with three overs left, but were bowled out with 15 balls unused - four wickets for Seneth Sumasinghe.
The chase was a forlorn one as they were bowled out for 114, of which Callum Stevenson made 43 (9 fours). Asher Abbasi and Jay Oryakhil claimed three wickets each.
Malahide easily accounted for Coleraine as home skipper Jeremy Martins claimed a five-wicket haul to dismiss the Bannsiders for just 105.
The reply only lasted into the 12th over with Robbie Foulkes (45*) and Alan Reynolds (40) not delaying the anguish for the totally outplayed NW side.
Two-times winners Leinster are safely through but were given a scare by Laurelvale.
Adnan Malik made 34 for the NCU side but six wickets for Saqib Bahadur and two for Mark Tonge saw them bowled out for 135.
What might have appeared an easy target suddenly wasn't at 19 for 3 and 81 for 5, and it needed the nous of Joey Carroll (31*) and Thomas O'Connor (26*) to guide them home, after earlier runs for Monil Patel (42).
North Down got the better of North County in a high scoring thriller.
Mike Erlank (178) and Mo Aahil (135) almost batted the entirety of the innings in a third wicket stand of 321 after they had been in early trouble at 6 for 2.
Erlank's 146-ball stay included 16 fours and 9 sixes, while in-form Aahil made his second hundred of the week, his even time knock including 20 fours and one maximum.
The hosts made a brace fist of their 356 target with Sulieman Safi and Jamie Grassi making rapid half centuries. However, scoreboard pressure told with two wickets each for Craig Young, Harry Zimmermann and Jacob McClure-Dalzell.
