Report from Hannah de Burgh Whyte
Merrion won the toss and chose to bat. Leah Paul and Cecelia Joyce got Merrion off to a great start against the bowling of Lucy O'Reilly and Professional Brooke Hepburn. Joyce (16) was caught at mid wicket by gaby Lewis off Robyn Lewis' bowling in the 10th over. Kate McKenna joined Paul at the crease and we're putting pressure on the field with their running. Sharon Smyth attacked a ball at mid on and had Paul run out coming back for a second. Paul had played a beautiful innings amassing 49 runs, falling one short of a what would have been a well deserved half century. Hannah de Burgh Whyte joined McKenna and with the score on only 104 and only 5 overs left they looked to attack the bowling knowing that YM had a strong batting line up. Together brought the score to 160 with one over remaining before McKenna was bowled by youngster Vanshika Shukla for a well made 34. Merrion finished on 165-4, de Burgh Whyte with a brisk 31 and Rachel Delany out caught off Shukla on the last ball of the innings.
Leah Paul and Ruby Neville started with the ball for Merrion and bowled well to their field. YMs opening pair of Gaby Lewis and Clare Shillington taking plenty of 1s and 2s and pouncing on the bad ball. This innings looked to a be a carbon copy of the 1st innings, with YM on 60-1 off 10, when Rachel Delany bowled Shillington. Robyn Lewis came to join her sister and the two were playing strong shots down the ground and knocking off the runs. The breakthrough came when Julianne Morrisey had Gaby stumped having played a brilliant innings of 62. Robyn was out next over after a mixup let Rachel Delany take the bails. With 40 needed off the last 4, Lucy O'Reilly and Jenny Gray went hard at the ball, however with only 4 fielders needed in the circle , boundaries were hard to find. Gray was bowled by Morrisey next over and Brooke Hepburn was trapped LBW by de Burgh Whyte in the 18th. YM continued to fight until the end, however ended up 22 runs short.
A brilliant game of cricket for the spectators and exactly how a semi-final should be. Player of the match was awarded to Leah Paul for her opening knock for Merrion along with her tight opening spell of bowling.
Merrion will face the winner of the second semi final between Pembroke and North Kildare being played next Thursday, in Sydney Parade at 6.30pm.