Leinster had two half-centuries, and a simply astonishing six wicket haul, to thank for a 41-run victory over Phoenix in a crucial relegation battle in the Premier League on Tuesday evening.
Saqib Bahadur wrapped up the Phoenix innings with three wickets in an over to close with figures of 6 for 9 off his four-overs as Leinster leap-frogged their visitors at the bottom of the table.
Earlier, Monil Patel (61) and Hugh McDonnell had put on 102 together for the second wicket as Leinster set an imposing 169/6 off their 20 overs.
Patel hit six boundaries and cleared the ropes over extra cover before he fell in the 15 th over, bowled Dyer caught Kneebone. McDonnell went to his own fifty with his seventh boundary to start the 16th over, but couldn’t accelerate as he was stumped, next ball, by McDonough.
Despite being five down, Bahadur struck three consecutive boundaries to start the 20 th over to maintain the Leinster momentum to the end of their innings. The home side could survive his run out, off the final ball, to post 169/6.
Phoenix needed their top order to fire if they were to chase down 170 but captain Brad Kneebone was bowled in just the 3 rd over.
Richie Lawrence (23) continued to flick and cut his runs bit when he skied a MacKay delivery, O’Herlihy did well to hold on.
The big-hitting Fletcher Coutts lived up to his reputation with three big sixes and five boundaries in his 49. At the beginning of the 10 th over however, he pulled a Gareth Delany delivery straight to Fionn O’Sullivan and along with his 49 runs, Phoenix chances seemed to go too.
Bahudar backed this up taking two wickets in the next over, his first, putting Leinster firmly in charge and leaving Phoenix 103/5. Phoenix were struggling to come by any runs and the chase was looking a forlorn one.
It was left to Bahudar to bring a sudden and sensational end to proceedings as three wickets in his fourth over, the 17 th, left him with the frankly outrageous figures of 6 for 9 and Phoenix bowled out for 128.
With that, Leinster had secured a 41-run victory and a vital win in their bid for Premier League survival.
Mason Alexander LHW Financial Planning Premier League
T20 Re-Fix at Observatory Lane;
Leinster 169/6 20 overs (M Patel 61, H McDonnell 53; R Anders 2-20)
Phoenix 128 a/o 16.5 overs (F Coutts 49; S Bahadur 6-9, G Delany 2-17)
Leinster win by 41 runs