On Sunday last Enniskillen made the long trip up to Mallusk to take on Belfast Superkings 2s in a league fixture in Northern Cricket Union Section 10.
It was to be a very disappointing day for the local lads as they lost on the very last ball of the match by three wickets in what was an ill-tempered affair at times.
Enniskillen captain Stephen Maxwell won the toss and decided to bat and he and Aby Theckanath opened the batting and put on an excellent opening stand of 99 runs before Maxwell was out with lbw for 35 and several overs later Theckanath was bowled for 41.
Thuwan Puthra then entered the fray and immediately hit a quickfire 22 at more than a run a ball and after he perished Kenny Maxwell and Devin Carnihill added useful runs towards the end of the innings both finishing on 10 and 12 not out to push the total up to a very respectable 160/3 after the 25 overs played.
After the break, Enniskillen came out to field and immediately opening bowlers Carnihill and Jaice Cherian started to cause the batsmen problems with their pace and movement.
Cherian took two early wickets and Carnihill one to leave the opposition at 34/3 and in trouble.
Darshan Nair and Kenny Maxwell came on as change bowlers and both immediately took a wicket apiece to boost the chances of an Enniskillen victory.
Some dubious umpiring and delaying tactics from the opposition it came down to the last over and the last ball where three runs were needed to win.
Unfortunately, the final ball was miscued into a big gap in the field allowing the three runs to be taken and a victory denied.
Bibin Tommy was the bowler who took on the task of bowling the last over and credit to him for putting his hand up to do that and it could have so easily gone the other way.
Cherian finished with excellent figures of 3/24 and Carnihill Nair and Maxwell all picked up one apiece, while Maxwell’s five overs only cost 20 runs.
Unfortunately in sport, there are ups and downs and having been on the right side of a nail-biter against Armagh a few weeks ago the town team found themselves on the other side of the result this time.
But with the cup quarter-final on Saturday little time can be spent dwelling on it and the squad must refocus for that.
Match scores
Enniskillen 160/3
A.Theckanath 41
S.Maxwell 35
T.Puthra 22
Belfast Superkings 2s
161/7
J.Cherian 3/24
Belfast Superkings won by three wickets
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