VCAI Match Report — Over 50s — North v South — 31 July 2026
Match Report
"On a rain-interrupted afternoon at the historic Mall in Armagh, the Southern XI turned the tables on their Northern rivals with a commanding 69-run victory in the latest Over-50s Inter Regional contest."
Played in the unique setting of Armagh CC, the 2nd Inter Regional series game between the a Southern Over 50 selection VS a Northern Over 50 selection, was played in great spirit, on the day after Armagh CC had won the local T20 competition. The supporters were still on hand celebrating the club's success and made for a great atmosphere for the players.
Asked to bat first after the Northern XI won the toss and elected to bowl, the South produced the innings of the summer — an opening stand of 162 between Alan Macbeth and Ian Walshe that batted the North out of the game. Macbeth batted through the innings for a superb unbeaten 97 from 87 balls, striking ten boundaries and falling agonisingly short of a century when the overs ran out, while Walshe matched him stroke for stroke with a fluent 79 from 82 balls, also with ten fours, before being run out in the 26th over. Colm Morgan (5) and Andrew Kay (4 not out) saw the innings home to an imposing 205 for 2 from the 30 overs.
The Southern team welcomed some new players to the Veterans scene including Sandeep Shadeo and Chirag Desai (both Leinster CC), Om Doshi (UCC) and Raj Adi (Knockharley). The Northern team has debutants that included Ismail Mohamed (BSK), Senthil Krisnan (DSK), Prasanna Krishnan (BISC), Gajanan Talwekar (Muckamore) and Shakkeel Shaikh (Muckamore). Steven Dyer, as well as Aaron & the team in Armagh did a fantastic job to get teams out and prepare the ground.
Brian Anderson was the pick of the Northern attack, conceding just 22 runs from his six overs with two maidens, while Gajanan Talwekar claimed the wicket of Morgan in his 1 for 35.
The Northern reply never recovered from an early collapse. Captain Michael Lax removed Barry Cooper, well caught behind by Casey - as well as Bruce Topping and Trevor Dalzell in a devastating early spell of 3 for 23. Kamran Mirza (3 for 12) sliced through the middle order, with a high-class spell of legspin bowling as the chase slipped to 84 for 6. NagaSuprasanna Nagineni fought a lone hand with a defiant 47 from 56 balls, including the only six of the day, and crowd favourite Keith Wilson remained unbeaten on 18, but Chirag Desai (2 for 18) wrapped up the innings for 136 in the 28th over to seal a comprehensive Southern win.
"Played in excellent spirit despite the showers, the fixture was another successful staging of the Over-50s Inter Regional series, with the Veterans Cricket Association grateful to all who made the journey to Armagh to support both teams."
Match Awards
Alan Macbeth — an unbeaten 97 from 87 balls to anchor the innings from first ball to last. A great debut from the St Johnstone player & one that we hope to see many runs from in the future.
Given to Ian Walshe - who has played all of the 050 Veterans game this season. Ian batted for much of the innings - and made a real effort when his team needed it. When asked did he need a break following his epic knock, he said "Nope, I'm here to play cricket..." and got straight back on with the game - in true veterans spirit.
♥ Special Thanks
Scorecard
South Over 50's — 1st Innings 205/2 (30 overs)
| Batter | How out | R |
|---|---|---|
| A. Macbeth | not out | 97 |
| I. Walshe | run out | 79 |
| C. Morgan | b Talwekar | 5 |
| A. Kay | not out | 4 |
| Extras | (b 4, lb 5, w 11) | 20 |
| Total | 30 overs, 2 wickets | 205/2 |
Did not bat: M. Lax*, L. Casey†, R. Adi, C. Suttraway, S. Shadeo, K. Mirza, O. Doshi, C. Desai
Bowling — North Over 50's
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B. Anderson | 6 | 2 | 22 | 0 |
| G. Talwekar | 6 | 0 | 35 | 1 |
| S. Santhanakrishnan | 4 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| B. Adams | 4 | 0 | 31 | 0 |
| S. Shaikh | 3 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| K. Wilson | 2 | 0 | 21 | 0 |
| I. Mohamed | 3 | 0 | 28 | 0 |
| T. Dalzell | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
North Over 50's — 2nd Innings 136 all out (27.4 overs)
| Batter | How out | R |
|---|---|---|
| B. Topping | ct Morgan b Lax | 15 |
| B. Cooper† | ct Casey b Lax | 7 |
| N. Nagineni | b Shadeo | 47 |
| T. Dalzell | ct Casey b Lax | 6 |
| A. Speer | b Mirza | 5 |
| S. Shaikh | run out (Casey/Mirza) | 3 |
| G. Talwekar | b Mirza | 0 |
| I. Mohamed | lbw b Desai | 4 |
| S. Santhanakrishnan | b Mirza | 0 |
| K. Wilson | not out | 18 |
| B. Adams | ct Walshe b Desai | 7 |
| Extras | (b 3, lb 2, w 19) | 24 |
| Total | 27.4 overs, all out | 136 |
Did not bat: B. Anderson*
Bowling — South Over 50's
| Bowler | O | M | R | W |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| O. Doshi | 2 | 1 | 12 | 0 |
| C. Suttraway | 4 | 1 | 15 | 0 |
| M. Lax | 5 | 2 | 23 | 3 |
| R. Adi | 3 | 0 | 16 | 0 |
| K. Mirza | 4 | 0 | 12 | 3 |
| A. Kay | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 |
| C. Desai | 4.4 | 0 | 18 | 2 |
| S. Shadeo | 3 | 0 | 15 | 1 |