Clontarf Ease to Victory in the Sports Hub Whelan Cup Final

Clontarf ease to 7-wicket victory over Leinster in the final of the Sports Hub Whelan Cup at Park Avenue on Sunday.

Opener Rana Naveed (33) and Ali Shah (31) broke the back of the chase but it was left to Tariq Hussain (7*) to hit the winning runs with eight balls to spare.

Naveed dominated an opening stand of 38 with Sahil Sheikh (11), playing two powerful straight sixes in the process.

That was before Shah brought his side to the brink of victory, manoeuvring the field and finding the gaps to play three boundaries in his assured innings. The disappointment for him was that he fell nine short of the victory target as he picked out mid-off with another classy looking shot in the 18^th over.

The target was 93 after Clontarf had restricted Leinster to 92/9 when winning the toss and opting to bowl first. Saleem Mohammad (2-15) took two early wickets to vindicate the decision to field.

Abhinav Bargur (2-22) also took a pair of wickets while of the six bowlers used only Sunny Nakka went wicketless, however his three overs went for just 13 runs.

Player of the match Naveed even picked up a wicket as his two overs saw him take 1 for 5.

All this was despite Nitin Rajwr (23) and Tom Halliday (22) batting very well on a tough batting wicket and an excellent cameo from Nathan O’Reilly (14*) pushing the score to 92/9.

Unfortunately for the Rathmines outfit, the northsiders top order were in dominant mood and chased down their target without too many scares.

Sports Hub Whelan Cup 20-over

Final

Clontarf 4 v Leinster 4, Park Avenue, Sunday September 13^th      

Leinster 92/9 20 Overs (N Rajwr 23, T Halliday 22; Saleem Md 2-15, A Bargur 2-22)

Clontarf 94/3 18.4 Overs (N Rana 33, A Shah 31)

Clontarf won by 7 wickets