IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP – 24TH JUNE

The fourth round of fixtures in the IBI Corporate Finance Championship take place this weekend, with some really interesting games set to be played out in North Dublin. Phoenix travel to Rush having snuck past the struggling Terenure side last weekend, whilst Pembroke will be seeking to end their trips out the M1 for the season with a victory in North County. In the Park, Civil Service play host to North Kildare, where for a second week in a row the newly promoted side’s fixture will guarantee one of the teams to pick up their first victory. Whilst lastly Terenure visit The Mardyke to play Cork County, a ground which they haven’t won at since 2005 when Munster Reds were the hosts.

RUSH VS PHOENIX

The visitors to Kenure this weekend are Phoenix, and they come into the game full of gusto, having won their opening three fixtures against Civil Service, Cork County and Terenure, this weekend they face off against top half opposition for the first time this season in a 2^nd vs 3^rd clash. Their batting last weekend faltered badly after the first couple of wickets had fallen, and the side were indebted to a smart knock from Adam Chester to see them across the line. Stephen Black was a man in form making 59 in that game and his prominence at the top of the order is no doubt a welcome change to Phoenix as they see one of their youth products producing runs in the 1^st XI. The middle order of Jed Wiggins, gloveman Callum O’Byrne and skipper Tyrone Kane will be aiming to get more set this weekend no doubt, to allow for an assault from the finishers in Chester, Theo Dempsey and Oli Hald. With the ball, Kane, Dempsey and Hald are the key trio for the side, particularly in the absence of Ben White on Ireland duty. Amish Sidhu and Anish Rana rounded off the bowling attack last weekend and both produced good spells which they will be hoping to repeat this time around.

Rush meanwhile boasts a side which knows one way and one way only, and last weekend’s innings which featured a brutal assault on Pembroke’s early bowlers exemplified just that. Neil Rock is in sublime form and blasted 97 off just 51 balls in that game, he will be key again to the side this weekend. Llew Johnson and the skipper Nathan McGuire will occupy the opening slots, whilst the addition of Muhammad Saad Waseem and Cian Egerton either side of “Pebbles” in the middle order give the side a far deeper look to it than it has had for the past number of seasons. With the ball, their attack has seemed to settle down in recent weeks having been ever changing throughout the opening part of the campaign, Jarred Barnes and Egerton lead the line, whilst there’s more seam options from Andrew Doheny and Alex Neary, McGuire and Brandon Morris are the spinners in what is a well-balanced bowling attack that knows it’s home ground inside out.

With the dimensions of the ground set to suit Phoenix’s middle order, they are sure to be looking to set a massive total in this fixture, however whatever they do score they will need to keep one man under wraps if they are to win this game. ‘Pebbles’ Rock has been brutalising every InterPro bowler that comes his way this season, whether it be in the IP50 or IP20 itself, or club cricket as seen last weekend, his wicket is the key to the game. Tyrone Kane is the next man up on the list to try stop the Rush left-hander, and if he can knock him over, it will almost certainly hand Phoenix the upper hand.

KEY BATTLE: Neil Rock vs Tyrone Kane

NORTH COUNTY VS PEMBROKE

The Sandymount side travel to Inch this weekend looking to continue their charge back towards the Premier League. They are in fantastic form having run up a commanding score in Kenure last weekend before then also downing Balbriggan in the quarter-finals of the Irish Cup the following day. Their batting is beginning to look formidable yet again, last weekend’s fixture seeing half-centuries for the skipper Theo Lawson, JJ Garth, Gavin Hoey and a rapid knock from the returning Fiachra Tucker. Garth misses out this weekend meaning Aussie Will Todd gets into the side. Danny Hogan is behind the stumps once again, whilst Diarmaid Tucker, Nick Stapleton and Macdara Cosgrave round off the batters in the side. With the ball, the relentless Stapleton has continued to take wickets in his opening spell, whilst front-line spinner Paul Lawson has been on-song for the past couple of weeks, with big spells against Rush, and in defeat against The Hills in the senior cup. Backing Stapleton up in the seam department are Piyush Sharma and Joe Prendergast, whilst Lawson’s off-breaks are supported by the leg-spinning pair of Tucker and Hoey.

North County meanwhile come into this fixture having professionally seen off North Kildare for the second time in the space of a month last weekend, the bowling attack featuring Eddie Richardson, the brothers Abdul - Ghaffar & Sattar, skipper Sean Sludds, Ashish Jain and part-time spinner Jonno Andrews all in on the act as they were utterly comprehensive in their bowling efforts. If the attack remains unchanged this weekend they will have a massive job on their hands to restrict the powerful Pembroke batting unit to a competitive score. With the bat, the form of Niall McGovern and John Devane at the top, as well as Andrews and Richardson in the middle order have allowed the side to make more competitive scores, whilst also making light work of some smaller run-chases, however they’ll more than likely need contributions from players lower in the order if they are to post a score which puts pressure on their opposition this weekend.

Given his excellent form with the new ball, and North County’s need to get a solid base to score big, Nick Stapleton’s opening spell to Niall McGovern is set to be the most vital sequence in this fixture this weekend.

KEY BATTLE: Niall McGovern vs Nick Stapleton

CIVIL SERVICE VS NORTH KILDARE

The first of two bottom half battles in the Championship sees the two remaining winless sides in the league face off in the Phoenix Park, with the home side doubtless the one which has put up better performances in it’s three defeats so far. They were clearly weaker heading to Cork last weekend, and an excellent performance from their frontline bowlers saw them to a situation where they had a sniff of a chaseable target, however they were once again lacking in a fifth bowler which allowed their opposition to get away from them. Mubasher Siddique and Naveed Khan have led the line excellently, with good support from Binson Thambi and Aamir Bafanda. With the bat, there were more runs for the skipper Siddique, however he and others couldn’t capitalise on their starts, which is so crucial at this standard, Dhiraj Shetty and Arjun Chandrasekar have shown promise in the middle order, however they really need their top four of Nilesh Joshi, Srikanth Boddu, Khan and Bafanda to step up to the plate and allow the side to play on the front foot, rather than chase the game.

North Kildare have been abject in their defeats so far this season, letting decent positions slip against Terenure and Rush and really going out with a whimper once the going has gotten tough in their games. Their batting unit including skipper Sayed Medhi Shah, Samran Patel, Badeeu Zaman, Syed Ali Rizvi, keeper Josh Uddin and all-rounder Husnain Maroof has not performed as a team as yet this season, with the side generally limited to one good partnership, that’s something which they will desperately need to change this weekend if they are to have any hope of securing their first victory of the campaign. With the ball, Maroof is a key performer, whilst Mohammed Zaman, Yashraj Mate, Akhilesh Sharma and leg-spinner Sadaf Raza rounded out a good bowling attack last weekend which will be hoping to have more runs to play with than has been the case in recent weeks, if they can manage to put together a decent total, that bowling unit is certainly capable of putting pressure onto the Civil Service batting line-up.

With both side’s top orders under pressure to perform, that’s likely to be where this game is won and lost, if Mubasher Siddique can get past Sayed Medhi Shah and have a good look at the NK underbelly, it will set Civil Service well on their way to a first Championship victory, the skippers in this game are absolutely key.

KEY BATTLE: Mubasher Siddique vs Sayed Medhi Shah

CORK COUNTY VS TERENURE

Finally to a fixture which has never been won by Terenure CC, they bring a hapless travelling record to The Mardyke this weekend and will need to totally reverse their recent form if they are to have a chance of ending the baron spell in the second city. Their batting has floundered with the exception of Séamus Lynch’s half-century against Pembroke two weeks ago, with the side reliant on runs from it’s top order to allow the middle and lower order to attempt to score more quickly. The top three of Henry Dall, Donal Vaughan and Raghav Grover has only produced one partnership of significance so far in the league, and this will need to improve, particularly in The Mardyke where the new ball is the easiest time to score runs. The bowling unit featuring Grover, Lynch, Darsh Shetty, Dylan Cleary and Kripesh Shetty will need to be on song from the outset, with Cork County no doubt set to target the new ball as they always have on their home ground.

Cork County on the other hand come into this game full of confidence having gained their first win of the season last weekend against Civil Service. Their batting unit featuring Ross Durity and Benji Marris at the top of the order, Syed Aiman, Abubakar Saddique, Eshan O’Sullivan, Stefano di Bartolomeo and Byron McDonough throughout the middle possess plenty of run scoring ability, as well as a balance of powerful ball strikers who feature in the back end of that middle order. With the ball, McDonough took four wickets last weekend and is bowling with excellent rhythm, whilst the quartet of spinners features two left-armers in Saddique and Diarmuid Carey, a leg-spinner in Nabeel Anjum, who also took four wickets last weekend, and off-spinner in O’Sullivan who bowls with great control in an economical manner. This well balanced unit will be as tough to beat as ever on their home patch.

Terenure’s batting hinges on the exploits of Séamus Lynch, so they will be looking for a big contribution from him to be able to set a competitive total. The left-arm spin of Diarmuid Carey will be the man he is likely to look to target in the middle overs, so if he can dismiss Terenure’s main man, it will give Cork County the foothold they need in the game.

KEY BATTLE: Diarmuid Carey vs Séamus Lynch