Cricket really is a different world these days. Only 10 years ago, a score of 200 batting first would have been competitive but in 2026, no total is seemingly out of sight.

The latest three examples have come this month. Northern Knights hit 414 in the IP50 and lost. On Saturday, Woodvale scored 335 and lost. And at Shaw’s Bridge, defending Premier League champions Instonians posted 316 for eight. And lost.

The first two games at least went to the last few balls. Waringstown needed only 34.2 overs to score 321 for four and, fittingly, consolidate their lead at the top of the table. Even with three matches remaining, they look heirs apparent to Instonians’ crown.

While one player made the difference, it still needed his team-mates to finish the job and Waringstown’s batting depth ensured a ridiculously straightforward chase.

In Steve Stolk, Shane Dadswell, Neil Brand and even Cliftonville Academy’s CJ Klijnhans, who scored 133 from 61 balls in their win at Woodvale, NCU’s top flight have never had it good for big hitting professionals.

It was Stolk who took centre stage against Instonians, scoring his first 50 from 20 balls out of 69 in the sixth over, bringing up his 100 in the 12^th over from 41 balls, out of 127, before finally holing out to mid-on in 16^th over. But the damage had been done.

The South African hit 132 from 55 balls with 15 sixes and six fours out of an opening partnership of 169. Waringstown’s target which was more than 6.3 runs an over at the start of the innings was down to 4.2 with nine wickets in hand. A dawdle?

Yes, if they had wanted, but in fact they scored the remaining runs at almost eight an over with Morgan Topping scoring 83 from 53 balls and Graham Hume 38 not out from 26 balls. The final boundary tally in the innings was 24 sixes and 23 fours.

Only two Instonians bowlers survived the carnage, their two quality slow bowlers Cian Robertson who bowled Stolk’s opening partner, Adam Dennison, and Andrew White, who needed only three balls to dismiss Stolk. Their combined figures were two for 97 from 16 overs. The other six bowlers used by skipper Neil Rock had two for 222 from 14 balls more.

One of others was the unfortunate Ben Rose who in trying to find the ball in the undergrowth after one of Stolk’s sixes, walked into a wasps’ nest and was stung three times, resulting in an eight-minute hold up. There was even talk of him needing to go to hospital but he played on and it is to his credit that he ended Topping’s innings.

While Instonians’ bowling depth has been a worry all season, it has been Waringstown’s bowling that has won many matches this summer.

Admittedly this wasn’t one of them but credit for that must go to Cade Carmichael, White and Dadswell who all passed 50 and indeed Carmichael, set to be named in Ireland’s ODI squad for the Afghanistan series, went onto three figures, even if the last 17 runs proved something of an endurance test.

After hitting Greg Thompson for six to go to 83 in 87 balls, it was 10 overs before he hit his next boundary, and he faced another 23 balls before reaching a well-earned century.

However, for much of those 10 overs, he was content to rotate the strike because after White was out for 70, falling to one too many reverse sweeps, Dadswell was teeing off at the other end and hit a 29-ball 50 with five fours and three sixes.

But still the Waringstown bowling did not give up and both set batters were dismissed in the space of six balls, Carmichael also to a reverse sweep on 112 and Dadswell, leg before to Stolk for 57. Suddenly Instonians from 266 for three and looking at a total in excess of 330, were 269 for five.

They managed only six boundaries in the last seven overs and Stolk was also on a hat-trick in the last over after dismissing Cian Robertson (25 off 18) and Ben Rose.

The unsuccessful defence of 316 all but ends their title defence and leaves Lisburn as the only team within a win of Waringstown at the top of the table and the Wallace Park side have a vastly inferior run rate.

And if the Villagers beat North Down at The Lawn next Saturday, they would clinch the title with victory at Wallace Park two weeks later. It really is that close for Waringstown.