Bangor kick started their 2021 season with a welcome victory by seven wickets over Saintfield at the Desmesne on Saturday. The emphatic nature of the victory was even more impressive by the fact that Saintfield had previously been unbeaten this season. Bolstered by the returning Mark English, Bangor were better in every single area of the game and the style and flair with which they won the game bodes ominously for the rest of the teams in Section One this season.
Adam McCusker won the toss and made the correct decision to field first. The wicket looked green, soft and uneven and was there to be exploited by the Bangor bowlers who had bowled well as a unit to this point. The fine work continued as Taj Onyekwelu got one to move away from the opener McCavery who succeeded in guiding the ball into the hands of Kris King at slip. Backed up exquisitely by the exuberant Chris Pyper at the other end, Bangor were quick to exert superiority over their hosts. Runs were practically non-existent as Saintfield stuttered to 18 for one after six overs.
The final ball of Onyekwelu’s spell proved to be a key point in the match. Harrison lashed out at a ball and sent it high into the clear blue Saintfield sky. The fans returning for the first time since the restart of cricket since the pandemic, assumed the ball would go to the Long Off boundary as the nearest Bangor fielder was 20-30 yards away. Mark English covered the ground like a bullet and took a catch within inches of the rope. Both the travelling fans were jubilant and Saintfield were stunned. Taj finished with figures of 4-1-11-2 which set the standard for the rest of the innings.
Bangor were now rampant and threatening with every delivery. George Prince, Josh Bates and the spin of James Patterson kept it tight during the middle overs. It was Patterson who struck next with another piece of sensational fielding, Ryan Smyth who had scored a double century against Bangor when he played for Downpatrick was looking to increase the paltry run rate from the minute he arrived at the crease. Unperturbed, the wily Patterson threw one up to the Saintfield star and he drove the ball right from the middle of the bat. In a flash Patterson dived to his left to take the ball one handed for one of the finest caught and bowled wickets ever seen in world cricket. This meant that Bangor had restricted a hapless Saintfield to 34 for three at the midpoint of their innings.
Hamill and Woodruff set about repairing some of the damage. The early wickets meant that the two would need to take risks and they started to open up a little. Together they put on 29 before Josh Bates removed opener Hamill, taking his off stump out of the ground in the 15th over. This was a crucial wicket as it stopped all momentum for the home side, removed one of their main threats from the action and slowed down the run rate that had been increasing. The way that the wicket had been playing meant that it was vital that Bangor kept Saintfield’s total down and they would have had 100 in mind when Bates struck. The score after 15 overs was 68 for four.
The rest of the innings proved to be the Chris Pyper show. Returning to the action, buoyed by his teammates’ excellent performance in the field, he set about dismantling the Saintfield middle order. His first wicket was that of the dangerous left hander Viner who had hit a couple of big sixes and look destined to take Saintfield cruising past the 100 mark. He got the ball to swing into the batsmen as he was swing from the hip, you miss I hit said Pyper. One run later, Sofley clipped the ball from to Mark English at Mid On who took a routine catch. When Pyper tempted McCavera into a ridiculous paddle shot that only succeeded in finding the gloves of Ricky McLarnon, he had three wickets in the space of five runs. It was a fine performance from the young Bangor star and an example for any bowler looking to learn how to bowl at the end of an innings. Patterson added another to his tally in the final over of the innings and a run out meant that Saintfield ended their innings on 95 for nine after their 20 overs.
Although the total was under par, it has been the batting aspect of the game where Bangor have suffered this year, failing to chase a couple of low targets already. Patterson and Mark Nixon took to the crease with happy hearts knowing that they had an opportunity to get Bangor off to a fine start and set the platform for a famous victory. Disaster struck in the first two overs, with both openers finding the ball sticking in the pitch and being caught out. The score was only three for the loss of two wickets in the second over. Suddenly, the total required seemed a very long way away indeed. Such a shock to the Bangor system, coupled with poor performances with the bat this season may have spelt the end for this match as well. Thankfully, two titans of the game had other thoughts in mind.
Skipper McCusker joined Mark English at the crease and they set about stabilising the innings. It was English who found his feet first. He nudged the ball into the gaps and had a willing partner to rotate the strike with. When a bad ball came his way, he flayed it to all parts of the ground. McCusker was steady and looking to play himself in. Initially, the Saintfield players thought they could curtail the insatiable English by keeping him from the strike. McCusker began to punish this train of thought with boundaries of his own and left the opposition scratching their heads. These two took the score past 30 before they really began to accelerate. When the 10thand 11th overs went for 13 runs each, the match was effectively over as a contest.
English fell short of a half century when he was run out with the score on 79. To be honest, a run out was the only way that the home side were ever going to extract this batting colossus from the field. His exit brought his brother Paddy English to the crease and, with McCusker, he saw the Bangor side home with 15 balls to spare. The skipper finished on 35 not out, a skipper’s innings indeed, and Bangor had their first victory of the season. Never has a victory been more deserved.
Saintfield 95-9 20 Overs
Hamill 30
Pyper 3-21
Onyekwelu 2-11
Patterson 2-23
Bates 1-16
Bangor 96-3 17.3 Overs
M English 44
McCusker 35*
Taj Onyekwelu
Saturday’s excellent victory over Saintfield was a fitting finale for Taj Onyekwelu’s brief season with Bangor. Taj is returning to England after an extended return to Bangor in the wake of the pandemic. He has been ever present in the side since his return last year helping the club win it’s first piece of senior silverware in sixteen years, when they won the Robinson’s Services Bowl in 2020. He will be missed not only for his performances with both ball and bat, but for his spirit and the massive positive impact he has on morale within the team. Everyone at Bangor Cricket Club would like to wish Taj all the very best in his future endeavours and hopefully it will not be long before we see him in a Bangor shirt once more.
