North West Warriors stormed to the top of the Inter-provincial Cup table on a record-breaking day at Stormont.

The final margin was 63 runs but Warriors’ total of 304 for four was their highest in the competition, skipper Andy McBrine became the first to score two centuries in the same season and his partnership with Stephen Doheny of 240 was the second highest in the 10-year history of the Cup.

The bonus point win – they had to bowl out Knights for less than 244 to claim the extra point - was the icing on the cake.

McBrine’s form with the bat is more good news for Ireland, now less than four weeks away from their first international of the season and although he didn’t take a wicket, the vast majority of runs conceded were singles,

Only while Neil Rock and Ross Adair were in the middle did the Knights threaten to get close to their imposing target and when Graham Hume and Conor Olphert removed both batsmen in successive overs, the Warriors could freewheel to the finish line with only the bonus point in doubt.

Matthew Humphreys started the day as 12th man for the home side but ended up a worrying final obstacle for McBrine’s side with the bat after Matthew Foster suffered a horrific facial injury.

In the 48th over of the Warriors innings the ball bounced just in front of him as he dived to field the ball at short fine leg and it hit him flush in the face, making a mess of his teeth. He was taken to hospital to get stitches in his mouth and Humphreys was brought in as a ‘concussion' replacement.

Coming to the middle at 217 for nine, he hit 20 off 19 balls, including two sixes off Graeme Kennedy, but was undone by Scott Macbeth’s first ball, inspirationally introduced as Warriors’ sixth bowler in the 47th over.

After 25 overs without the hint of a six – Knights had struggled to 81 for three at the halfway mark – the NCU side ended up with 14, Rock and Adair each hitting five in a remarkable 10-over onslaught which produced 105 runs.

Rock faced 44 balls for his 62, also including four fours, and Adair, batting at No 7, faced just 22 balls with just a solitary four alongside his quintet of sixes.

But it was McBrine’s batting that had set the standard. His innings of 117, from 130 balls with 15 fours and a six was his second successive century in the competition and took full advantage after being dropped by his opposite number at slip on 29.

After WIlliam Porterfield was out to the second ball of the match, Doheny was happy to play second fiddle to his captain and was unlucky not to convert his highest List A score into a century, caught on the mid-wicket boundary for 97.

Warriors lost their way after those two wickets in the space of eight balls but Jared Wilson and Graham Hume, hit 31 off the last three overs, despite Mark Adair conceding just three singles in the 49th over. It took them beyond 300 for the first time and proved just enough to claim the winning bonus,