First Round of LHK Insurance T20

T20 is the format of the game most likely to produce upsets. And so it proved yesterday with a number of Premier League teams falling to Senior II opponents. The big winners from the day was Balbriggan who ended up with two big scalps - YMCA and Leinster. But there was also a win for Malahide over Pembroke. The other team on two wins is Phoenix

Brian Hamilton has provided reports below on three of the games around the grounds.

The Table after R1 [subject to official confirmation] looks something like this. 

Rush v Railway Union – LHK Insurance Alan Murray Cup

Rush faced off against Railway Union in an All Division 2 encounter in the LHK Insurance Alan Murray Cup. Rush won the toss and batted in a match reduced to 16 overs. Neil Rock and Stephen Doheny brought the score to 42 in a little over 4 over when Rock was caught R Nicoll bowled by S Khan. Alan Eastwood joined Doheny. They reached 56 when Doheny was bowled by S Khan for 25. Conor Mullen and Eastwood brought the score to 106 when Mullen Mullen was bowled by J Smith for 7. Eastwood striking the ball well. Sean Monks was bowled by J Smith for 5. Alex Neary bowled by R Dhammika for 9 and Nathan McGuire not out 16 from 11 balls. That left Alan Eastwood not out 67 from 34 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes, a brilliant knock. Rush finishing 162 for 5 in 16 overs. Railways successful bowlers were S. Kahn 2-30, J. Smith 2-18 and R. Dhammika 1-28.

Railway lost wickets regularly in the early overs. A. Stiles caught McGuire from the bowling of Alex Neary for 8 when the score was 21. D. Singh was caught Doheny again bowled by Neary when the score was 27. Ten runs later A. Hafiz was c & b Neary for 24. In the 11th over H. Sultan was caught by Neary off the bowling of Daniel Coffey. C. Divney was caught by Doheny off the bowling of Nathan McGuire for 18. Railway now 5-98. That became 6-98 when R. Dhammika was caught by Eastwood off the bowling of McGuire. J Smith was bowled by Doheny when the score was 101. S Khan next to go caught by caught by Doheny bowled by Neary who was having a day of days with the ball. A. Jackson yet another victim for Neary caught by Doheny. N. Hunt was caught by S Monks again off Neary for 0, Neary's 6th wicket. R. Nicoll not out 1 left Railway all out for 107 in 15.5 overs. Obviously Alex Neary took the man of the match award with his incredible figures. 3.5 overs 6-21. McGuire 2-18, Coffey 1-12, Doheny 1-19 the other wicket takers. Rush comfortable winners by 55 runs.

Malahide v Pembroke – The Village

At Malahide in the LHK Insurance Alan Murray Cup the Divison 2 Leaders welcomed Divison 1 Pembroke for their early game. Pembroke won the toss and batted. Theo Lawson and Ryan Hopkins opened and batted steadily till Hopkins fell for 39 from 37 balls, caught by Matt Ford off the bowling of P Angibesh. The score had reached 89. Lorcan Tucker joined Lawson and the pair batted through to the end of the overs. Tucker 46 not out from 25 balls, with 6 fours and 1 six. Theo Lawson a brilliant 80 not out from 63 balls with 9 fours and 2 sixes. Pembroke a very competitive 180 for 1 off their 20 overs. Malahide toiled hard but the only wicket taker was P. Agnibesh with 1-16. Adavntage Pembroke you would think at half way.

If there's one thing Malahide are not short of this season its runs. So they would have fancied the chase. Alan Reynolds and Fintan McAllister opened up. Reynolds fell when the score reached 11, caught by S Ruttle off the bowling of Josh Little. Greg Ford joind McAllister. The score had reached 30 in the 4th over when McAllister was stumped by Tucker off the bowling of Lawson. Enter brother Matt and thus began the Ford Show. The pair batted beautfully together bringing with a partnership of 127, bringing the score to 157 in the 17th over when Greg Ford was stumped by Tucker off Balbirnie for 55 with 5 fours and 1 six. Matt Ford and Jimmy Newland brought Malahide home with 7 balls to spare. Newland finished 2 not out. But hats off to Matt Ford who finished with a magnificant 104 not out from 52 balls hitting 7 fours and 7 sixes with a strike rate of 200. Malahide home in style by 7 wickets.

YMCA v Balbriggan - Observatory Lane

At Observatory Lane the second LHK Insurance Alan Murray Cup game was betweeen Division 1 challengers YMCA and Division 2 challengers Balbriggan. Balbriggan won the toss and batted. Conor Fletcher and the returning AJ Moor opened the batting and brought the score to 49 before Fletcher fell to Streek caught by Harry Tector. Nasr joined Moor but fell for 4 bowled by Tector. Tim Maruma joined Moor and brought the score to 86 before he was caught by Tim Tector off Harry Tector for 17. Moor was steady at the other end. In form Nathan Rooney joined Moor and they pressed on to 150 when Rooney was run out by Murphy for 32 from 22 balls. Ehtesham Ahmed finished off the innings with Moor bringing the score to 158 for 4 in 20 overs. Ahmed 6 not out from 1 ball and Moor an held the innings togther with an excellent 46 not out hitting 5 fours and 1 six. YMCA used 6 bowlers. Harry Tector 2-41 and Sam Streek 1-19 the two successful ones. YMCA needed 159 for victory. Balbriggan would have to bowl and field well to defend their total, you would think.

Needing 159 for victory YM opened with Jack Tector and Sean Murphy. Murphy fell was bowled by Kashif Ali for 5 when the score was 12. Harry Tector came to the crease and the score went to 85 in the 11th over when he fell caught by Fletcher off Nasar for a well made 40. Oliver Gunning awas bowled by Tim Maruma for 8 when the scored had reached 100. A vital period in the game then occurred. Zaayman was caught by Maruma off the bowling of Ahmed for 21 when the score was 127. On the same score Jack Tector fell c&b also to Ahmed. Bobby Gamble then fell for 1 caught by Maruma off the bowling of Kashif Ali, the score now 128-6 in the 18th over. Barnes fell when the score had reached 139 caught again by safe hands Maruma for 4. Tim Tector not out 13 and A Shukla not out 1 left YMCA 11 runs short of Balbriggan's total at 147-7 off their 20 overs. Balbriggan bowled and fielded really well. Ahmed 2-27, Ali 2-30, Maruma 1-32 and Faheem 1-26. An excellent victory for the Division 2 side.