IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW – MATCH DAY 5 (JUNE 29TH)

The return of league cricket means there are four fixtures to be fought out in the IBI Corporate Finance Championship this weekend, with a couple of vital fixtures in the context of the league title, and qualification for the Premier League of 2025 both set to take place.

There’s a top of the table clash in Inch, where two of the teams to have won three of their four games fight it out, with the winner of the tie guaranteed to finish the day on top of the league, as Railway Union travel to face North County. Meanwhile in Skerries, Rush visit The Hills, with the home side in fourth place having won two of their three completed fixtures so far. In the other half of the table, the battle for fifth is beginning to heat up, sixth visits fifth as Cork County make the trip to Kilcock to do battle with North Kildare, whilst in the Phoenix Park, the winless Terenure face the first game in a big double weekend, as they take on Civil Service.

North County vs Railway Union

Railway Union currently sit top of the table in the Championship, remaining the only side unbeaten in the league after the first four rounds of fixtures. Their side is still without Liam McCarthy this weekend, and in spite of Rob O’Brien also missing this game, their batting still has a strong look to it. Led by skipper Philippe le Roux who will bat in the middle order, Ashil Prakash and Kenny Carroll will likely line-up against the new ball and will have a tough task on their hands, however they will look to set a platform for the likes of le Roux, Hedayat Khogiani and Srihan Karpe in the middle. Following that trio, Mark Canniffe, Zaman Safi and Fakhar Zaman are three all-rounders who will be aiming to clear the ropes later on, and could capitalise on any good position which the side can get into. Peter le Roux continues behind the stumps having impressed in the T20 campaign. With the ball, Sean O’Brien and Piyush Sharma will lead the way for the seamers, with support from Safi and Canniffe, whilst the spin will come from Karpe, Zaman and potentially Prakash in a well-rounded attack.

North County on the other hand suffered an early defeat at the hands of North Kildare, and will be aiming to turn the tables on Railway here to give themselves a chance of cementing a position at the top of the table. The side is still without Simi Singh, however skipper Niall McGovern does return at the top of the order where he’ll likely be partnered by John Devane, as Suliman Safi slots back into number three having spent the T20 campaign opening the batting to great effect. Eddie Richardson, Shreehari Madyalkar and Alan Joseph Mathew will make up a strong middle order which has already produced plenty of runs so far this season, and will be looking to give the likes of Ashish Jain and Abdul Sattar a chance to really swing the willow in the final overs of the innings. With the ball, Richardson and Abdul Ghaffar will continue their strong partnership opening proceedings, with support in the seam bowling unit coming from Sean Sludds and Sattar, whilst Jain also offers a more part-time option. The main spinner in the team is Mathew, with Tanvir Hasan missing for this game, however Safi has shown himself to be a useful option in the past couple of weeks and could also offer some overs.

In the absence of Rob O’Brien and Liam McCarthy, Railway’s batting will need to get off to a good start if it is to run up a score capable of defeating North County. That’s where Ashil Prakash will need to get through the opening spell of Eddie Richardson to give his side a fighting chance with the bat.

KEY BATTLE: Eddie Richardson vs Ashil Prakash

The Hills vs Rush

The Hills have played some decent cricket in recent weeks without ever really being quite at full strength. This weekend they are missing skipper Tómas Rooney-Murphy, with Nicolaj Damgaard taking the reins. Whilst this does weaken the seam attack slightly, Sean McNicholl, Matthew Weldon and Cian Nulty do make up a strong triumvirate which should be able to cause Rush some problems early in the innings. There are also three spinners in the side in the shape of Damgaard’s left-arm, as well as the right-arm options of both Brandon Kruger and Febin Manoj, giving plenty of options for Damgaard to rotate through in the middle overs of the innings. Colm Cunneen takes the duties behind the stumps in the absence of Mubeen Ali this weekend too. With the bat, Damgaard will likely take a slot at the top of the order along with Andy Kavanagh who has threatened to make a big contribution over the past number of weeks, whilst Kruger and Yaseen Sherzad have both been in good touch of late. Nathan Rooney returns to the middle order and his ability to lift the tempo, particularly against spinners, is likely to be a huge boost to the side, whilst Muzamil Sherzad will also be a man who looks to clear the ropes.

Rush meanwhile are another side who have a big double weekend this time around, however they are sure to be taking aim at this fixture, with the chance to jump into contention for league honours available should they beat The Hills. They will be missing Allan Eastwood and Jack McGee from their side, however their bowling still looks strong, led by skipper Jarred Barnes and Alex Neary with the new ball last weekend, that pair both produced good spells and could put the side into a good position. It’s their spin however that holds the real strength in the side, left-armer Nasir Totakhil is an excellent operator who has consistently bowled economically and produced some brilliant spells to take clusters of wickets. The support for the Afghan comes from the opening batters, as Josh Doyle and Nathan McGuire both also offer very strong right-arm off-spin options that see them have 30 overs of spin available, which could prove to be vital in the context of the match-up with some of the big hitters in The Hills’ side. With the bat, Doyle and McGuire will be crucial to the side, whilst Hashir Sultan and gloveman Finn McGee will also be vital in the middle order.

The Hills’ batting unit will need Brandon Kruger to be on firing form this weekend, especially as he looks as if he will be needing to move up a slot in the absence of skipper Tómas Rooney-Murphy, even at number three he will more than likely be facing up against Nasir Totakhil, who’s spell will be a crucial part of the innings.

KEY BATTLE: Brandon Kruger vs Nasir Totakhil

North Kildare vs Cork County

Cork County’s first fixture in Cricket Leinster competitions for four weekends sees them facing a potential banana skin in the shape of North Kildare. They have what appears to now be a strong batting unit, led by skipper Ross Durity and ‘keeper Benjamin Marris at the top of the order, whilst overseas man Mark Andrianatos has been in good form of late, including earning a debut call-up for the Munster Reds side. Syed Aiman, Thorne Prophet and big-hitter Brian Upman continue a strong middle order, along with spin-bowling all-rounder Ehsan O’Sullivan who will be looking to showcase his abilities with the bat in this fixture no doubt. With the ball, their spinners appear to be the strength of the attack, as mentioned already O’Sullivan’s off-spin is a strong option, whilst Nabeel Anjum’s leg-breaks have shown the abilities to take wickets regularly with the spinners rounded off by the experienced Diarmuid Carey, who’s left-arm offies give the side a slightly different angle of attack. The seamers feature Andrianatos and Prophet who have generally opened the bowling as a pair, whilst they are supported by Sam Fenn’s swinging medium pace which could cause some problems on the generally slower Kilcock surface.

North Kildare meanwhile have been something of an enigma this season, a brilliant batting effort saw them defeat North County, however not once but twice their bowling has succumbed to a Civil Service bowler taking a seven-wicket haul. Their batting is led by Josh Uddin and Badeeu Zaman at the top of the order, whilst the likes of Waqar Azmat, Abid Taniwal, Husnain Maroof and Bakhtyar Nabi could appear in any position of the middle order respectively and all are capable of both occupying the crease for decent periods, or taking the game away from their oppositions. Last week saw a return for Yashraj Mate to their side, whilst Sayed Medhi Shah is another batting option which could feature prominently in a 50 over game. With the ball, the seamers are led by the pair of left-armers from Taniwal and Maroof, whilst there’s support in that area from Muhammad Zaman. Azhar Syed and Kiran Patil were two newer additions to the attack for last weekend’s T20s and both performed admirably and may well feature again, whilst Mate’s left-arm seam is another option which could be called upon. The main man however is Nabi, who’s off-spin has a particular knack for picking up bursts of wickets, and if he’s thrown the ball early in the piece it could see him to his best effect on home soil.

Whilst Nabi is a key bowler, the key period of the game is sure to be the opening throws of the Cork County batting innings, and that’s where Abid Taniwal’s opening spell to Ross Durity is likely to prove crucial, as if North Kildare can get themselves into the game early on, it could see the Leesiders scrambling.

KEY BATTLE: Abid Taniwal vs Ross Durity

Civil Service vs Terenure

A fixture which has only taken place once ever takes place, with Terenure’s only trip to Civil Service in Senior cricket having ended in defeat. They do however lead the overall head-to-head 2-1 having won both home fixtures, something which the home side are no doubt looking to level up this weekend. Service have put together plenty of strong batting efforts, and are indebted to the likes of Nilesh Joshi, Deepak Jayachandran and Asadullah Ahmadzai in their top order for getting themselves off to a good start. Whilst the middle order features the likes of the big hitting Junaid Altaf, Arjun Chandrasekar and Simranjeet Singh, who could all take the game away from their opposition with good scores. With ball in hand, their opening pair of Naveed Khan and Mubasher Siddique are an experienced pair of bowlers who know exactly how to build their spells on home turf and will be vitally important early on this weekend, whilst their spinners have had great success of late, Aamir Bafanda, Ahmadzai and most recently Vivek Srinivasan producing some really strong game-winning spells to put them into good positions. The seamers are rounded off by Digamber Mishra, who’s skills will likely see him also bowling at the death.

Terenure meanwhile will no doubt have this game front and centre in their minds in spite of All-Ireland duties on Sunday. They are only without Mark Thomas from a regular full-strength side as he is still not quite fully fit yet. The batting line-up will see Séamus Lynch and Gethin Kelleher at the top of the order, and both of those players were in the runs in spite of the loss last season so should be well placed to get the side off to a decent start. Henry Dall resumes his position at number three having recovered from his knock, whilst the middle order features the likes of Raghav Grover and Dónal Lynch who have both been in the runs of late, whilst Sid Nair also made a half-century in last week’s T20 action and looked as though he may be recovering some level of form. The bowling attack is led by Dylan Cleary and Kripesh Shetty, whilst Benjamin Dillon’s performances in the Alan Murray Cup has seen him earn a position in the seam attack, with all-rounder Grover rounding out that four pronged attack. The spinners feature Jinal Khatri’s leg-spin which have been a revelation in recent weeks, with support from Henry Dall who has also been in good form with the ball in 50 over cricket, and a final option potentially coming in the form of Sadiq Safi, who also bowls some useful off-spin.

Civil Service will know how important the opening spell of Terenure’s seamers will be, with Dylan Cleary having relentlessly bowled good spells to open up proceedings. The home side will therefore need Nilesh Joshi to be on-song if they are to get themselves into a good early position in this game.

KEY BATTLE: Nilesh Joshi vs Dylan Cleary

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

Match Day 5, Saturday June 29^th, all 12 noon

At Inch, North County vs Railway Union

At The Vineyard, The Hills vs Rush

At The Maws, North Kildare vs Cork County

At Civil Service, Civil Service vs Terenure