ROSS ADAIR returned to haunt his old club CIYMS with a blistering century to get Lagan Valley Steels T20 Cup holders Lisburn off to a winning start at Belmont.
The former Ulster rugby player turned Irish cricket international bludgeoned 11 fours and cleared the ropes five times in his 100 from only 53 balls as Lisburn posted 190 for 5. He shared a third wicket stand of 77 in 39 balls with skipper Neil Whitworth, who made 21, while Nigel Jones made two maximums in a breezy 24.
Chris Dougherty made 48 in the chase but after two early wickets for Ryan Macbeth, Whitworth took four scalps to kill any momentum as they closed out a 39-run win.
Abhishek Raut was the night’s other centurion with the former Rajasthan Royals IPL star hitting seven fours and five sixes in a 58-ball unbeaten 103 that powered Cliftonville Academy to 190 for 5 at Templepatrick. He shared a fourth wicket stand of 91 in eight overs with John Glass who made 29, while skipper Matthew McCord hit 28 – three wickets for Evan Carlisle.
Charles Swart hit five boundaries in a quickfire 51, while Mark Thompson scored 28 in the chase, but Templepatrcik were never in contention falling 45 runs adrift – two wickets for Andrew Forbes.
Highest scorers of the night were Waringstown who racked up 202 for 5 at Muckamore. All the top six were in the runs with skipper Greg Thompson leading the way with an undefeated 57 from just 24 balls, that included no fewer than six sixes – three of them from the final over bowled by Sathish Suresh. Tom Mayes and Sam Topping both made 29,while James McCollum (26), Morgan Topping (24) and Daniel van der Merwe (22) all chipped in.
Jason van der Merwe clubbed eight fours and four sixes as he raced to 58 in 25 balls, dominating an opening stand of 70 in five overs, but he was the first of three wickets for Ross Allen, while Thompson also claimed a trio in a 45-run victory.
Three wickets for Josh Corbett and an unbeaten 48 from Steven Saul guided North Down to a six-wickets win over Woodvale.
Ruhan Pretorius top scored with 39 for the Ballygomartin Road side but Saul and skipper Tyron Koen (27) ensured the victory with a fourth wicket partnership of 63 in nine overs.
