Ruan Pretorious created Irish Senior Cup history by clubbing six sixes in an over as Waringstown beat 2013 winners Clontarf in a thrilling quarter-final encounter at Castle Avenue.
Pretorious scored an unbeaten 101 from just 49 balls — his second fifty coming in just 14 balls. Connor D’Arcy was the unfortunate bowler as Pretorius and Greg Thompson (66 not out) shared an unbroken sixth wicket stand of 164 in 14 overs — 93 of which came off the last 24 deliveries of the innings as the NCU side finished on 316 for 5.
Clontarf were undaunted by the large target and for much of the chase were on course to overhaul it. Bill Coghlan top scored with 94 and skipper Eoghan Delany hit an unbeaten 85 as they fell an agonising six runs short. Former Ireland spinner Gary Kidd took three late wickets as Clontarf ended up on 310-9.
Kane century
Meanwhile, Tyrone Kane’s century helped propel Merrion into the semi-finals as they beat five-time champions North County by a whopping 132 runs at Balrothery.
The 20-year-old all-rounder has enjoyed a breakthrough summer at international level and an innings of 107 from 90 deliveries was the standout knock as the visiting side scored 312, with No 11 batsman Tom Stanton finishing on 45 not out from 40 balls as they were bowled out in the final over.
Ireland under-19 bowler Stanton then took out four of the top five County batsman, while Kane got the key wicket of former West Indies batsman Brenton Parchment for 70 to leave them reeling on 118 for six. South African leg-spinner David Rhoda (3-34) then took care of the tail as North County were bowled out for 180.
Pembroke made up for their Leinster semi-final defeat to YMCA on Saturday by getting the better of Malahide in a low-scoring affair at the Village to make their second successive All-Ireland semi-final appearance.
Robin Kelly’s 59 down the order was vital as they were bowled out for 198, while Jono Cook took four wickets for just six runs as Malahide were bowled out for 142.
Civil Service North will be the final team in the semis after Pakistan pro Mansoor Amjad’s knock of 84 helped the Belfast side to a four-wicket victory over Leinster.
