14/04/16 Rob Gorvin
DU 2 v North County 5, Sunday 24th May, College Park.
Sunday saw the visit of North County 5 to College Park. Losing the toss, DU were asked to field first as North County opted for runs on the board. Things did not go to plan early on for the visitors and DU picked a couple of early wickets with North County on 22-2 off the first ten overs. By drinks they had consolidated a bit, and were well placed on 73-3. As North County picked up the pace, and DU showed some double-weekender fatigue in the field, a total approaching 200 seemed a possibility. However Trinity finished strong with the ball, and regular wickets restricted North County to 168-8 off their 45. Nitin Rajwar finished with 3-29, and Tom Gibbs 2-21,Ramesh Neppalli claimed his first DUCC wicket, and Garin Howell added another to his tally. In reply, Ashish Bharvikar (22) and John Sampson settled things down after the loss of an early wicket and DU were well-set at 49-1 after 15 overs. A bit of a wobble saw the fall of a few wickets, but Sampson kept the chase on track, reaching his maiden fifty for DUCC off 59 balls. Unfortunately Sampson’s graceful innings ended for 57, with Trinity still requiring another 50 runs with 5 wickets left. It should still have been a straight forward chase, but North County battled hard and the pressure led to wickets. Thankfully Garin Howell (38*) stayed at the crease, showing great temperament and resolve to keep the runs ticking over. However after 40 overs DU still required 21 runs, with only 2 wickets remaining. The tension around College Park was palpable, but thankfully Howell and Conor Hamilton (10*) kept their cool. Seven runs from the penultimate over swung the advantage towards Trinity, and in the second ball of the final over a lofted drive over extra cover from Hamilton saw DU home. A thrilling end to a successful weekend at College Park for the 2s, keeping their Division 8 campaign well on course.