There were wins for Brigade, Killyclooney, Fox Lodge, Bready, Donemana, Ardmore and Coleraine as the Premiership table starts to take shape.
Brigade stay top of the Premiership after a ruthless 9-wicket demolition of Burndennett at Beechgrove. The Tyrone side were skittled out for just 63, with Ryan Macbeth (3-15) and Josh Wilson (2-30) doing the initial damage. Scott Macbeth then hastened the innings to a quick end with four wickets for just nine runs. Skipper Andy Britton rejigged the batting order, making an unbeaten 26 as they passed their modest target in just the 10th over, with Ryan Barr (10) the only wicket to fall, and Ryan Macbeth making 15 not out.
Coleraine won the closest game of the day as they edged to a two-wickets win at Strabane. The home side had skipper Aaron Gillespie back in the ranks, and he made 21 batting first. Professional Nasir Nawaz top-scored with 74 from just 55 balls (9 fours, 4 sixes), while Kevin Gallagher hit 37 as he and Nawaz added 99 in just 13 overs. However, the wicket of Nawaz saw the Red Caps lose 7 wickets for just 20 runs, going from 151 for 3 to 171 all out. Matthew Hutchinson picked up for 4 for 8, while there were two apiece for Gareth Burns and Dawood Khan. Matty Smyth hit 6 fours and a six in his 46 from 47 balls, while Ravi Karunaratne cleared the ropes 3 times and hit 4 fours in his 42 from just 36 deliveries. However, wickets kept falling as Rhys Logue (3-30) and Usman Azhar (2-44) managed to have the match in the balance. The cool head of Rory Knox (32*) got his side over the finishing line in a tense finale.
The Blayde Capell show rolls on as the South African hit 162 to take his season tally to 1221 runs in Killyclooney's 95-run win over defending champions Newbuildings. You can't help but admire his brutal simplicity, and who knows, if could inspire the Tyrone side to at the very least a Premiership slot for 2024, and whisper it, a shot at the title. Comparisons with Leicester City and their 5000-1 odds to win the Premiership in 2016? Capell hit 15 fours and 12 sixes in his 162 from 96 balls - giving just one tough chance on 70 - and only for Mark Hanna's direct hit run out would surely have made 200 plus. He shared an opening stand of 129 with William Finlay (41) and added a further 114 for the 3rd wicket with Kenzie Hall (53*). Alan Colhoun's 9-ball unbeaten 29 rubbed further salt into the wounds and a total of 313 for 5 was daunting. Ryan Hunter top-scored in the chase with 68 from 49 balls (7 fours, 5 sixes), and there were all too brief cameos from skipper Gareth McKeegan 931) and Jason Dunn 29 - 4 sixes. Three wickets for the new leading wicket taker in the region - Kenzie Hall - and Matty Campbell, plus two apiece from Jordan Connor and Jason Wallace sealed a 95-run win that keeps the dream alive for at least another week!
Donemana are right in the title mix after a whopping 167-run win over a Glendermott side still searching for their first point. Batting first, Donemana would have been slightly worried at 117 for 6 - one of those dimissed their latest sub-pro, Promod Maduwantha for 24, and also opener Jamie Huey for 54. However the complexion of the match was changed with a 7th wicket stand of 100 in just 10.2 overs between Levi Dougherty and Dean Mehaffey (21). Dougherty hit 6 fours and cleared the ropes 7 times in his brilliant 97 from just 59 balls - missing out narrowly on a century for the second time in 9 days, having made 99 in the T20 Cup last week. For Glendermott, there were two wickets apiece for Alex Boyd, Todd Killen, Jake Montgomery, and Gihahn Cloete. The reply never got going with only Cloete - who hit seven fours in his 30 - and Jake Montgomery (22*) reaching double figures as they were bowled out for 77. Maduwanthan took four wickets, while there were three apiece for former internationals Gary Neely and stand-in skipper Jordan McGonigle.
An unbeaten 72 from Kyle Magee ensured Bready stayed in the title race as they chased 183 to beat St Johnston by 7 wickets. Magee hit 6 boundaries in his controlled knock, sharing an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 96 in 17 overs with Dean McCloskey (37*), having earlier added 61 for the third wicket with Irosh Samarasooriya (43). St Johnston's total of 182 for 7 saw David Macbeth and Michael Rankin both make 35, while David Lapsley (25) and Deepak Reddy (21) also chipped in. There were two wickets apiece for Gavin Roulston, skipper David Scanlon, and Irosh.
Fox Lodge continued their excellent season with an emphatic 78-run win over Bonds Glen. Sri Lankan professional Gayan Maneeshan top-scored with 61 from 53 balls (6 fours, 3 sixes), sharing a fourth wicket stand of 77 with Brian Allen (45). There were runs too for Ali Doherty (26) and Travis Nicholl (24) in their total of 206 for 9 - three wickets for Mattie Barr, plus two apiece for Mark Snodgrass and Raymond Curry. Bonds Glen lost early wickets, and that seemed to take the wind out of them as they made little attempt to chase down the target. David Cooke top-scored with 27, while Raymond Curry hit 25. A last wicket stand of 44 between Mark Snodgrass (23*) and Kyle Moore (22) got them to 128, but by that stage the Foxies were all but assured of maximum points. The spinners did the bulk of the damage, with three wickets for Johnny Robinson, plus two apiece for Aaron Heywood, Jason Milligan and Adam Walker.
Ardmore briefly went top of the Premiership table with a 9-wicket demolition of Ballyspallen at the Bleachgreen. Batting first, it was a case of 'spin to win' with South African professional Aviwe Mgijima taking 4 for 13 and Caolan Young 3 for 2 as the visitors were dismissed for just 91 - Stuart Kennedy top scoring with 24. In the reply, Dharm Singh fell in the first over of the chase, but skipper Rachit Gaur top-scored with an unbeaten 46 (8 fours), sharing an unbroken second wicket stand of 93 with Harry Zimmermann, who hit 6 fours and 1 maximum in his 45 not out as Ardmore romped home in the 18th over.