Heroic Captain Seals Three in a Row

By June 7, 2016May 29th, 2020Updates

Midleton’s Cork T20 Cup side continued their 100% start to the season as they defeated Harlequins Hurricanes by 5 wickets at Farmer’s Cross on Tuesday.

Midleton won the toss and elected to field, with openers David Jallil and Luke O’Reilly fighting a fiercely contested game of rock paper scissors to decide ends, and it was to be O’Reilly to strike first, taking two quick wickets. The Hurricanes soon showed just why they are the most talked about team in Cork cricket, as Adam Hickey and Jack Buss took to the crease and piled on the runs with some fantastic shots. Eventually Buss fell to Nottingham Nightmare Thackery for 20, and Hickey departed for 39 during a devastating over from Magsi that left him with figures of 2/5 off his six balls. Shane O’Reilly kept things tight from his three overs, as did Majid Sharrif, whilst Stack showed a real captain’s awareness, bowling an 11 ball over in an effort to make his fellow bowlers look even better. Luke O’Reilly came back on for the last over to take the final wicket of the innings thanks to a smart catch by Brendan Jallil, with a promising total of 143 set.

However, Midleton’s response was devastating, with flights to Cork Airport temporarily suspended as openers Kieran O’Reilly and Manam Gujjar got to work, sharing a total of 12 boundaries in a dizzying start. O’Reilly eventually retired on 35 and Manam shortly afterwards on 42. Magsi was unfortunate to top egde, but Majid kept the middle order ticking over with 19, before David Jallil was caught, his brother stumped and Shane O’Reilly contentiously dismissed LBW. With Luke O’Reilly still at the crease, the club needed a hero to see them home.

Webster’s Dictionary defines a hero as “a person who is greatly admired”. Nothing could have been further from the truth as Adrian Stack wearily made his way to the crease. A man who has shown absolutely no cricketing ability in the year he’s spent with the club. A man who has a career high score of 4. A man who has broken three bats despite rarely actually hitting a ball. But there was something magical in the air that night. Perhaps it was his sobriety. Perhaps it was the tiring bowlers. Or perhaps it was the spirit of the Hmong people after he got lost in Lourdes on Sunday and ended up in a Vietnamese language mass. Either way, three of the most unorthodox boundaries followed, as the crowds gasped, and the target was reached.

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