IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW – 8TH JULY

The sixth round of fixtures in the IBI Corporate Finance Championship sees the only unbeaten record remaining in the top two leagues once again put on the line, as table-topping Pembroke are 5 from 5 and face what on paper is the toughest test in the league yet as they travel to Phoenix who lie second having lost just one game so far. Fourth placed Cork County visit the winless North Kildare in The Maws, whilst in Terenure, North County are the visitors as 5^th hosts 6^th in the table, assuming the game in the Kilcock goes to form, this will be a vital fixture for whichever team wins it to avoid being cut adrift. Lastly, third placed Rush host Civil Service, and having seen Terenure run up a sizeable total against them last weekend, the men from the Phoenix Park are no doubt ruing needing to then travel to the quickest scoring ground in the league!

PHOENIX VS PEMBROKE

The game of the day in the Championship is no doubt this battle between the top two in the table, Pembroke come into the weekend with half an eye certain to be drawn to their impending Irish Cup semi-final on Sunday, they still however remain extremely strong for this game. The batting unit sees the top three of Diarmaid Tucker, JJ Garth and Nick Stapleton who are all in brilliant form having put together some massive scores across the last 5 weeks. Skipper Theo Lawson, Gavin Hoey, Will Todd, Fiachra Tucker and keeper Danny Hogan make up a strong middle order which can help the side to a big total. With the ball, Stapleton’s brilliant record with the new ball will be supported by seamers Zach Micklewright and Joe Prendergast, whilst the spin attack of Paul Lawson, Hoey and Tucker have rotated hauls of wickets over the past few weeks, with each of them having taken at least four in an innings on at least one occasion.

Phoenix meanwhile come into this game off the back of a remarkable “come from behind” win against North County last weekend, having been 15/6 in the first innings, runs for the power hitters, Adam Chester and Oliver Hald getting them to a decent score. The top order including Stephen Black, Levon Shields and Jed Wiggins have struggled for runs in the past couple of weeks and will need to arrest that slide if they are to put the team into a position where the likes of Tyrone Kane, James Maginnis and the aforementioned Hald and Chester aren’t simply on permanent rescue missions with bat in hand. With the ball, Hald and Kane lead the way, with support from Theo Dempsey and Jed Wiggins in the seam department, they have shown a knack for taking early wickets in games so far and will need to do so against this strong line-up. The spin has been the real strength for Phoenix of late, Amish Sidhu’s spell last weekend, taking 4/19 in Inch, a typically unfriendly ground for spinners, was fantastic, and really showed his class in seeing the side to an ultimately comprehensive victory.

Considering how well he bowled last weekend, Amish Sidhu will be the man Phoenix hope can get stuck into Pembroke’s middle order this time around, if he can dismiss the big hitting Gavin Hoey, it will stunt Pembroke’s potential progress at the back end of the innings.

KEY BATTLE: Amish Sidhu vs Gavin Hoey

NORTH KILDARE VS CORK COUNTY

The Munster men travel to The Maws off the back of two good wins in the past two weekends, firstly beating Terenure, before defending 171 against Rush’s strong batting line-up last time out. They visit Kildare searching for their first away win this season. That victory centred around a good knock from Syed Aiman, who has been the anchor. Ross Durity and Matt Spanner are the two openers ahead of Aiman and the base they are setting is allowing the middle order to fill their boots throughout the back end of their efforts. With the ball, Byron McDonough and Stefano di Bartolomeo make up a potent opening pair, whilst their third seamer Hamdullah Safi has shown some raw ability however needs to keep the run rate down if he’s to be successful at this level. Following those three, the spinners, Ehsan O’Sullivan, Abubakar Saddique and Diarmuid Carey are usually the focal point of the attack on home turf, however The Maws should be an equally happy hunting ground for the trio to extract maximum movement off the pitch.

The home side’s batting began the season initially extremely weak, however they have managed to see some decent scores in recent weeks, with last week’s effort by the top 6 against Pembroke, Husnain Maroof making 50, whilst there were also starts and therefore some level of cause for encouragement from Sayed Medhi Shah and Josh Uddin, the others in the top six including Samran Patel, Badeeu Zaman and Syed Ali Rizvi will need to occupy the crease for longer if they are to help the side post a decent score. With the ball, Maroof and Mohammad Zaman have opened the bowling with some level of success, whilst players like Yashraj Mate have also contributed nicely when they’ve been in the side. Last weekend saw Bakhtyar Nabi and Akhilesh Sharma both bowl ten over spells, and given the score which Pembroke ran up against them, both performed a perfectly reasonable job.

Given his exploits with the bat the last two weeks have allowed Cork County put together decent scores, Syed Aiman’s wicket will be vital to North Kildare’s chances of getting into the Leesiders’ middle order, they’ll be looking for Husnain Maroof to take his wicket to give them that opening they need.

KEY BATTLE: Husnain Maroof vs Syed Aiman

TERENURE VS NORTH COUNTY

Fifth placed Terenure welcome North County to Dublin 6 for the first time since bowling them out for just 65 in the corresponding fixture last season. The away side may still be without Simi Singh, who is on the comeback trail from a broken thumb, however they do have Alan Joseph Mathew in the side for the first time since his move from Railway Union, he will partner Tanvir Hasan as the two spinners in the line-up. The seam bowling department is led by Eddie Richardson, who tore through Phoenix’s top order last weekend in tandem with Abdul Ghaffar, whilst Abdul Sattar will likely bowl first change, the fourth seamer in the line-up is the skipper Sean Sludds, who also managed three wickets in last week’s effort. With the bat, the side has yet to put together the sort of innings they would have wished for, Niall McGovern and John Devane at the top of the order will need to set the tone, whilst Richardson is comfortably the most experienced of what follows, gloveman Luke Whelan is another player who they will look to for runs in this fixture, whilst Ben McBride has recently returned having not played for some time, and will likely also occupy a position in the top 6.

Terenure’s batting unit come into this weekend’s fixture off the back of a monster score of 370 last weekend, which centred firmly around centuries from Raghav Grover and Dónal Lynch, who shared a mammoth stand of 229 for the 5^th wicket. Nobody in the top four scored more than 33 which makes the effort to reach 370 even more impressive, however as was mentioned last weekend, with Henry Dall, Dónal Vaughan, Liam Harris and Séamus Lynch all seemingly due some runs, as well as the form of the two century makers last week Terenure’s line-up certainly has the look of one with some massive scores in it. With the ball, the side will no doubt be keen to reduced their extras column, having contributed 47 to their opposition’s total last weekend. Mark Thomas, Raghav Grover and Kripesh Shetty are joined in the seam attack this weekend by Bhavic Tukrel and Dylan Cleary, whilst Séamus Lynch comes into the game off the back of four wickets last weekend.

Considering how aggressive Terenure’s middle order are by nature, they will need a solid base to build from with the bat, so they will be hoping to see Henry Dall work through Eddie Richardson’s opening spell to give the side a chance of yet again putting together a massive total.

KEY BATTLE: Henry Dall vs Eddie Richardson

RUSH VS CIVIL SERVICE

Civil Service face the daunting trip to the only straight boundaries in Leinster shorter than Terenure this weekend, as they face Rush in Kenure, and after last weekend’s exploits with the ball, they will no doubt be very keen to take some early wickets and get themselves on the front foot in the game. Naveed Khan and Mubasher Siddique have both bowled well at the opposition top orders this season, whilst Binson Thambi, Dhiraj Shetty and Aamir Bafanda have managed to put together the bulk of the remaining overs between them, however they have still been left short in some places and been forced to use part time options, with Rajath Parashurama and Asadullah Ahmadzai being the latest to try their hand. With the bat, Nilesh Joshi, Muhammad Safeen and Ahmadzai all managed decent starts in the top three slots, however it was Arjun Chandrasekar at number 7 who put together an excellent 88 from just 62 balls that saw the side to a very good total of 300 in just 47 overs, if the line-up can continue in that vein, they will be certain to cause sides more trouble as the season goes on.

Rush meanwhile will be relishing the return to Kenure, having suffered defeat in Cork County last week. Their batting line-up has not fired as well as it could away from home, and they will enjoy a return to familiar surroundings. Their top 5 including skipper Nathan McGuire, Llew Johnson, Muhammad Waseem, Neil Rock and Cian Egerton are a formidable force of ball striking quality as well as the ability to make big scores, and having seen the damage Terenure did to Civil Service’s bowling attack last weekend, they will have to fancy their chances of piling up a big score of their own in this fixture. Jack McGee and Jarred Barnes will round off their top 7, with Barnes then likely to take the new ball in tandem with fellow tall seamer Allan Eastwood, the side is full of bowling options with Andrew Doheny and Alex Neary, as well as Egerton all bowling seamers, whilst the skipper McGuire and Brandon Morris are the two spin options in the side.

Having been the constant source of wickets for them so far this season, Civil Service will be looking to Naveed Khan to once again make early inroads for the side. The key wicket for him to take will be Llew Johnson, who’s clean ball striking could well see Rush put themselves right on the front foot from the outset.

KEY BATTLE: Llew Johnson vs Naveed Khan