2017 Inter-Provincial Championship

2017 Inter-Provincial Championship

Dates	30 May 2017 (2017-05-30) – 7 September 2017 (2017-09-07)
Administrator(s)	Cricket Ireland
Cricket format	First-class
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin
Champions	Leinster Lightning (5th title)
Participants	3
Matches	6
Most runs	James Shannon (446)
Most wickets	George Dockrell (22)

The 2017 Inter-Provincial Championship was the fifth edition of the Inter-Provincial Championship, a first-class cricket competition played in Ireland. It was held from 30 May to 7 September 2017.^[1] It was the first edition of the competition to be played with first-class status,^[2] following the outcome of a meeting by the International Cricket Council (ICC) in October 2016.^[3][4] Leinster Lightning won the tournament, their fifth-consecutive, and completed a domestic clean-sweep in the process.^[5][6]

Points table

Team[7]	Pld	W	L	D	Pts
Leinster Lightning	4	2	0	2	68
North West Warriors	4	0	1	3	33
Northern Knights	4	0	1	3	31

  Champions

Fixtures

1st match

30 May–1 June 2017 Scorecard

Northern Knights	v	North West Warriors (H)
130 (37.5 overs) James Shannon 71 (106) Craig Young 5/37 (13 overs)		167 (64.5 overs) Andy McBrine 30 (66) Nathan Smith 4/34 (18 overs)
161 (55 overs) Robert McKinley 43* (73) David Scanlon 5/29 (12 overs)		48/2 (15 overs) Imran Butt 23 (36) Gary Kidd 1/1 (2 overs)

Match drawn Woodvale Road, Eglinton Umpires: Roland Black and Jareth McCready

• North West Warriors won the toss and elected to field.
• No play was possible on day 3 due to rain.
• Ross Allen, Rickie-Lee Dougherty, Aaron Gillespie, Niall McDonnell, David Rankin, David Scanlon (North West Warriors); Adam Dennison, Christopher Dougherty, Shane Getkate, Nathan Smith, Lee Nelson and Nikolai Smith (Northern Knights) all made their first-class debuts.
• Points: North West Warriors 11, Northern Knights 10.

2nd match

5–7 June 2017 Scorecard

Northern Knights (H)	v	Leinster Lightning
233 (85.4 overs) James McCollum 119* (235) Eddie Richardson 4/33 (18 overs)		288 (95 overs) Jack Tector 75 (196) Gary Kidd 3/70 (25 overs)
328/6d (96 overs) James Shannon 140* (161) Andrew Balbirnie 3/40 (24 overs)

Match drawn Civil Service Cricket Club Ground, Stormont Umpires: Michael Foster and Paul Reynolds

• Leinster Lightning won the toss and elected to field.
• Gareth Delany, Max Neville, Eddie Richardson, Simi Singh, Jack Tector, Lorcan Tucker (Leinster Lightning) and John Matchett (Northern Knights) all made their first-class debuts.
• Points: Leinster Lightning 10, Northern Knights 9.

3rd match

20–22 June 2017 Scorecard

North West Warriors	v	Leinster Lightning (H)
235 (87.2 overs) Andy McBrine 67 (125) Simi Singh 3/59 (22.2 overs)		365/9d (101.3 overs) Ed Joyce 156 (209) Craig Young 3/70 (24.3 overs)
296 (108.4 overs) Niall O'Brien 87 (192) George Dockrell 6/67 (40.4 overs)		123/3 (16 overs) Jack Tector 48* (40) Stuart Thompson 2/17 (3 overs)

Match drawn Oak Hill Cricket Club Ground, Wicklow Umpires: Graeme McCrea and Paul Reynolds

• North West Warriors won the toss and elected to bat.
• Andrew Austin, Steve Vijay Lazars and Johnny Thompson (North West Warriors) all made their first-class debuts.
• Points: Leinster Lightning 11, North West Warriors 8.

4th match

1–3 August 2017 Scorecard

North West Warriors	v	Northern Knights (H)
208/9d (68.2 overs) Ross Allen 81 (179) Gary Kidd 3/36 (9 overs)		0/0d (0 overs)
84/1d (28 overs) David Barr 42* (89) Gary Kidd 1/19 (7 overs)		264/8 (79 overs) James Shannon 59 (84) Steve Vijay Lazars 3/54 (13 overs)

Match drawn The Green, Comber Umpires: Mark Hawthorne and Philip Thompson

• North West Warriors won the toss and elected to bat.
• No play was possible on day 2 due to rain.
• David Barr (North West Warriors); Jamie Magowan and Jacob Mulder (Northern Knights) all made their first-class debuts.
• Points: Northern Knights 10, North West Warriors 8.

5th match

30 August–1 September 2017 Scorecard

North West Warriors (H)	v	Leinster Lightning
122 (54.2 overs) Ross Allen 37 (102) George Dockrell 4/38 (22 overs)		274 (81 overs) Kevin O'Brien 74 (87) Johnny Thompson 3/61 (14 overs)
148 (50.1 overs) Aaron Gillespie 51 (99) Andrew Balbirnie 4/23 (10.1 overs)

Leinster Lightning won by an innings and 4 runs Bready Cricket Club Ground, Bready Umpires: Roland Black and Paul Reynolds

• Leinster Lightning won the toss and elected to field.
• Reece Kelly, Ryan MacBeth (North West Warriors) and Tyrone Kane (Leinster Lightning) all made their first-class debuts.
• Points: Leinster Lightning 23, North West Warriors 4.

6th match

5–7 September 2017 Scorecard

Northern Knights	v	Leinster Lightning (H)
195 (55.2 overs) James Shannon 86 (109) David Delany 4/31 (12.2 overs)		383/8d (88.3 overs) Ed Joyce 167* (246) Shane Getkate 4/62 (15 overs)
176 (63.2 overs) James Shannon 60 (155) George Dockrell 6/29 (21.2 overs)

Leinster won by an innings and 12 runs Clontarf Cricket Club, Clontarf Umpires: Bala Kailash and Alan Neill

• Leinster Lightning won the toss and elected to field.
• David Delany (Leinster Lightning) made his first-class debut.
• Points: Leinster Lightning 24, Northern Knights 4.

References

1. "2017 Hanley Energy Inter-Provincial Fixtures Announced". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 24 February 2017.
2. "First-class arrival in Ireland". Cricket Europe. Retrieved 31 May 2020.
3. "Ireland domestic competition awarded first-class status". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
4. "Ireland's Inter-Provincial Championship awarded first-class status". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 October 2016.
5. "Leinster Lightning win Three Day Inter-pro title for fifth straight year". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
6. "Joyce Hits Unbeaten Century as Lightning Secure Hanley Energy Title". Cricket Ireland. Retrieved 7 September 2017.
7. "Points Table". ESPN Cricinfo. Retrieved 7 September 2017.

External links

• Series home at ESPN Cricinfo