The title had been already won by the Northern Cricket Union, but the competitive edge was not lacking at Malahide yesterday, where last year's winners, the Ireland Development team, were pipped by just four runs by Leinster in a cracking finale to the Senior Interprovincial Championship.
After Leinster had batted first for a total of 195 for seven, the Development side needed 34 off the last five overs when they were on 162 for five. They needed 29 off the last four with the score on 167 for six, 24 from the last three (172 for seven), 18 from the last two (181 for nine) and 11 from the final over of the day.
Between them, Ronan O'Reilly and Gary Neely scored four runs off John Atkinson's last over, with a no-ball thrown in, but that wasn't enough. Good, tight bowling by Atkinson and Angus Fleming at the end, and astute captaincy by Matt Dwyer gave Leinster a narrow but deserved victory in a thrilling end to an engrossing match.
Angus Dunlop had contributed an undefeated 75 (98 balls, three sixes, two fours) to Leinster's total, blasting two soaring sixes off the final over, which was, ultimately, to be the difference between defeat and victory. Dara Armstrong, a late replacement for Anto Canavan, scored 26, and went on to pull off two stumpings and take two catches behind.
Graham Lyness notched up the best score for the Development team with 62 (106 balls, six fours), Barry Archer made 25, Kyle McCallan 22, while the steadfast Ronan O'Reilly all but carried the day with his unbeaten 23. Fleming, Atkinson and Dunlop shared the bowling honours, with a brace of wickets each.
