It has been an eventful last couple of weeks for Kian Hilton. The North Down batter/wicket-keeper scored a century to help his side stun defending Premier League champions Instonians and in the space of four days, he has experienced the highs and lows of games against Waringstown and Muckamore and then with the Northern Knights in their record-breaking match with Leinster Lightning.

And the big games will just keep on coming with North Down in their first T20 Cup semi-final for six years on Saturday and then next week the Knights have the return fixture against Lightning at Lisburn before travelling to Eglinton two days later to meet North West Warriors, who won the opening Cup match between the teams at Stormont.

“Eventful is one way of putting it,” says the 21-year-old South African who, with his mother’s family coming from Athlone, is an Irish passport holder. “As a squad, we were all a bit shellshocked after the Knights game in Pembroke. You don’t expect to lose after scoring 414 but they batted well as well and it was a good game to be part of, but obviously disappointed not to get over the line.

“Sunday was a bit shambolic, failing to get 107 against Muckamore (despite Hilton top scoring with 30) and Saturday, we were set 259 in 40 overs, which was quite the jump after Waringstown scored only 233 but we gave it a go with Mo (Aahil) and Mike (Erlank) playing two brilliant innings. Let’s hope they can do it again on Saturday, because that’s pretty big for us.”

It is North Down’s last chance of silverware for the 1st XI this season – something that has been sadly lacking in recent years – and although they lost their last two games, they have done enough to ensure they are in the top six post-split once again.

“The top six was one of our aims this season. We wanted a good (Challenge) Cup run but fell short against CI but we’re quite chuffed to be in the top six, it’s still quite an achievement with a young squad. We have a number of inexperienced players but they are getting the chance to play games against Waringstown and Instonians with no pressure,” says Hilton.

The clash with Lisburn pits Hilton up against his Northern Knights team-mate Ross Adair, who hit a sensational 95 from just 41 balls on Tuesday and the irony of them being on opposite sides on Saturday is not lost on the North Down player.

“Yeah, it’s lovely to have him on the same team, shocking to play against. Hopefully we get a good start.”

Hilton’s inter-provincial journey has taken quite the detour with a debut for Munster Reds in 2024, before being moved to the Warriors last year and, finally, this year, he is playing alongside his NCU team-mates with Knights.

“Every team is a little bit different but I love playing for the Knights. I have always been in the NCU and always wanted to play for Jonty (Knights coach Simon Johnston). We haven’t got the results we want but the boys back each other. We are getting along well, there is a bit of banter in the changing room which gets us all going. Looking forward to the double header next week.”

Hilton’s journey to Northern Ireland is even more fascinating than his passage through the inter-provincial teams. It started three years ago and while his club career began at Cliftonville Academy, it was actually supposed to be Waringstown.

“My fielding coach in South Africa saw that the Ireland Under-19s were travelling down to Tucks (his home club) and he asked Pete Johnston if I could join the squad for training. I actually played against them in a match and I then came over in the school holidays in 2023 and played a couple of games at Oak Hill.

"I was planning to play for Waringstown because Graham Hume’s brother, Craig, was a teacher at my school but they had just got Tom Mayes so I had to be a local or on a study visa, but as I was studying for my degree online, it didn’t work.

“I met Jared Wilson at Oak Hill and he said Cliftonville Academy needed an passport holder and they would be keen to have me so I made my way there for the 2024 season.”

By that stage Hilton had already represented Ireland at the Under 19 World Cup in his native South Africa – the tournament had been moved from Sri Lanka – and made an instant impression with 90 against Bangladesh and 72 v New Zealand.

He is still waiting for further international honours – but there is plenty of time on his side.  For now, he has a T20 Cup semi-final at the forefront of his mind.

As usual, both semi-finals will be played on the same day at the same venue. Belmont hosts the games this year with Lisburn v North Down first up at 11 o’clock followed by Waringstown v Instonians at 3pm.