North West Warriors beat Northern Knights by one run in dramatic finale
- Published
Warriors reached 160-6 from their 20 overs
North West Warriors held on to claim a dramatic one-run victory over Northern Knights in their Inter-Provincial Trophy meeting at Bready.
Chasing 161 to win, Knights took the game to the final over needing 16 runs to win, but came up agonisingly short scoring 14 to finish on 159-8.
William McClintock's 54 off 32 balls had earlier helped Warriors reach 160-6 from their 20 overs.
Later, PJ Moor hit 95 not out as Munster Reds beat Leinster Lightning.
Warriors' win sees them extend their lead at the top of the standings, having won three of their four matches so far.
Knights' bowlers started well to reduce their opponents to 31-3 inside seven overs, before McClintock and Shane Getkate (36) put on a fourth wicket stand of 84.
Luke Georgeson bowled McClintock to break the partnership before removing Getkate in his next over as Warriors set their opponents a target of 161 to win.
Craig Young provided the tournament leaders with the perfect start to the defence of their total, taking the wicket of dangerman Paul Stirling in the first over as Knights saw their top four removed inside seven overs.
Their middle order rallied, with Mark Adair's 23 aiding Neil Rock, who led the push to set up a grandstand finish.
Rock was run-out in the second ball of the last over, before Ross Adair his back-to-back fours to set up a dramatic final ball, with four runs required to win. However Adair could only find two as Warriors held on.
Moor stars as Reds thump Lightning
In the second game of the day Munster Reds dominated their much-fancied opponents Leinster Lightning with captain Moor delivering a flawless batting display to add to an excellent performance from his bowlers.
Ireland trio Kevin O'Brien (9), Andrew Balbirnie (0) and George Dockrell (5) were all removed early for Lightning before Simi Singh's 31-ball 50 finally got the scoreboard moving, but wickets continued to fall around him before he finally fell for 61.
A final-wicket stand of 24 between Josh Little and David O'Halloran bumped Lightning up to 133-9 after their 20 overs.
Moor's unbeaten 95 came off just 58 balls
It was not a strong total to defend, and Reds made light work of chasing it down with Moor launching a blistering counter-attack following the removal of Seamus Lynch and Murray Commins in the first over.
The Zimbabwean hit the competition's highest score of 95 not out from just 58 balls, including 10 fours and four sixes.
Reds chased down the total with two overs to spare to claim a seven-wicket win and move up to second in the table.