The MCC won both their T20 matches against the Isle of Man on Friday. However the Island showed plenty of fight with some fine individual efforts.
In the first game Phil Littlejohns won the toss for the Island and put the MCC in. There was an instant reward with a wicket in the first over – a run out thanks to smart fielding by Ryan Windell.
The total moved to 29 when there was another run out – this time a great direct hit from Adam McAuley. An excellent 56 from Andrew Clarke steadied the visitors who ended on 127 for 6 from their 20 overs. Dan Hawke, Ryan Windell and Sam Kebbell each took one wicket.
In reply the Isle of Man made a disastrous start, losing a wicket off the first ball and then another in the second over. This soon became 30 for 3 when Ollie Webster departed for 13. Danny Kniveton came to the rescue hitting 32, but wickets tumbled around him and the Island was dismissed for 84.
In the second match the Manx went in first and got away to a flier. Opener Adam McAuley cracked a splendid 35, but the innings fell away as Andrew Clarke claimed four victims. In a late show of resistance Chris Hawke made 18, Windell crashed two sixes in his 22 and Kebbell pushed the ball around for 13.
The final total was 117, but a confident MCC were shattered when they lost their opener first ball to a Dan Hawke special. Akkie van den Berg made it 19 for 2 and the match was in the balance.
After 12 overs the visitors were behind the required run rate at 59 for 3. Mike Dumbavend and Harry Bailey then took control and swung the game. Kebbell and van den Berg picked up a wicket each, but it was not enough to stop the MCC winning by five wickets with an over to spare.
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Glashtyns now top the Manx Premier League with four wins from four games. On Saturday they beat Bugganes by two wickets in a tight match at Mullen-e-Cloie.
Bugganes made 112 for 7 from their twenty overs with Floris Venter scoring 26 and Ben Kebbell taking 2 for 14. In reply Glashtyns struggled to 36 for 4 before Phil Littlejohns hit a lively 26. At 96 for 7 the game could have gone either way, but although another wicket fell, a sturdy 24 from Dan Hawke guided his side to a narrow victory.
The first two games of the day were abandoned because of rain and went to Bowl Outs. In these Manannans beat Bugganes and Glashtyns defeated Manannans.
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