The North West Warriors and Connacht were left frustrated by the weather as their Wild Atlantic Way Series clash at The Bleachgreen in Derry ended in a no result after rain halted play during the Connacht reply with the contest evenly balanced.

An 70-minute delay due to wet run-ups saw the match reduced to 35 overs per side, with the hosts electing to bat first.

Several batsmen got starts but never fully managed to dominate against a disciplined Connacht attack. Fox Lodge opener Doherty top-scored with 27, while Luke Marillier made 25 and Swarnim Jha added a lively 24 late in the innings, including two well struck sixes, one of which cleared the pavilion, never to return.

The innings began steadily with Gavin Roulston striking three boundaries in a quickfire 17, but wickets fell regularly as Connacht maintained pressure throughout. 

A flurry of wickets saw the Warriors slip to 62 for four, before a valuable fifth-wicket stand between teenagers Jake Montgomery and Marillier rebuilt the innings. 

Their partnership of 50 came in 58 balls and briefly gave the hosts momentum before another mini collapse saw the final six wickets fall for 65 runs.

Connacht shared the bowling honours impressively. Mohammad Surifan was the pick with 3 for 39 from his seven overs, removing Doherty, Montgomery and Marillier at crucial moments. Jayesh Juneja claimed 2 for 47, including the wickets of Roulston and Charlie Gault, while Pushkar Saner also took two wickets in an economical spell.

North West were eventually dismissed for 177 in the final over, a total boosted by 22 extras, including 16 wides.

Melvin Devaraj gave North West the perfect start when he dismissed Swaroop Burra in the opening over, but Connacht skipper Shariq Nasim countered positively. Nasim struck two boundaries and a six in a brisk 21 from 21 balls, sharing a steady partnership with Nikhil Bharadwaj, who contributed 16.

Devaraj struck again to remove Nasim before Luke Marillier trapped Bharadwaj shortly afterwards, leaving Connacht 47 for 3 after nine overs.

However, Mohammad Danish and Srajesh Mishra settled the innings, guiding Connacht safely to 63 for 3 when rain arrived at 4.21pm. Conditions failed to improve and the match was officially abandoned as a no-result 45 minutes later. 

Connacht host Munster next month in Galway before the final match sees the North West entertain Munster once again at the Bleachgreen in August.