It was a great day on Saturday for the two Galway sides in action in the first round of Cricket Ireland’s National Cup as County Galway Cricket Club eased into the next round after a superb 208-run victory over Burndennett at Lydican.
County Galway reached 318/3 off their 40 overs. A brilliant fourth-wicket partnership of 171 between Shariq Nasim (133 off 119 balls) and Swarrop Burra (83) saw the home side set a big total.
In reply, Burndennett lost wickets regularly as Galway’s bowlers took control. Sukhpal Singh was the pick of those, taking 4 wickets for the loss of just 20 runs, while Jayesh Juneja also took four wickets (4/41) as Galway limited the visitors to 110 all out in just 23 overs.
In the other game, the University of Galway won a thrilling contest in Eaton Park, Ballymena, beating the hosts by 5 runs.
University of Galway ended their innings on 227/8 after winning y the toss and electing to bat first. Srajesh Mishra top scoring with 66.
Ballymena started well in response, with openers Scott Willoughby and Curtley Deelman scoring 55 for the first wicket, but runs were hard to come by after that with the University of Galway bowlers limiting their output.
Pushkar Saner and Muhammad Asad (3/33) bowled superbly at the death as Ballymena crumbled late on, and the University of Galway held on for victory.
The draw for the second round will take place during the week.
