IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE & CHAMPIONSHIP

SATURDAY 17.6.2023

LEINSTER UNBEATEN AND GO TOP IN PREMIER LEAGUE (17.6.2023)

PREMIER LEAGUE – WINS FOR LEINSTER, MERRION, BALBRIGGAN & YMCA

Clontarf v Balbriggan (Castle Avenue, 41 over game)

Clontarf 182-7 off 41 overs (Ruan Cronje 62*, David Delany 35, Luke Thomson 25*; Sam Willemse 3-23)

Balbriggan 183-4 off 31.0 overs (Greg Ford 74*, Dylan Lues38, Matt Pollard 36*; David Delany 2-26)

Balbriggan won by 6 wkts

In a game reduced to 41 overs at Castle Avenue, Balbriggan made early in-roads with the ball reducing Clontarf to 32-4 at the end of the 14th over. Sam Willemse did the early damage removing captain Eoghan Delany and then John McNally and then Kashif Ali removed Ireland International Fionn Hand in only his first over. David Delany (35) and Ruan Cronje then set about building a total and when Delany was dismissed, Cronje combined with Luke Thomson in a determined effort to set Balbriggan a meaningful chase of 183 to win. Cronje finished unbeaten on 62* whilst Thomson made a valuable 25* in an unbeaten 8^th wicket partnership of 57 off the last 7 overs. It was a solid performance in the field by Balbriggan with Sam Willemse providing the most impact, taking 3-23 off his 8 overs including both the Delany brothers.

Balbriggan opener Dylan Lues (38 off 34) then led the chase for the visitors before Clontarf countered well to leave Balbriggan in a challenging position at 71-4 (including 2 wickets for David Delany). Balbriggan captain Greg Ford and Matt Pollard then combined to add a match-winning unbeaten 5th wicket partnership of 112 with Ford finishing on 74* off 57 balls and Pollard on 36* off 44 balls.

Balbriggan continue to show their strength with a convincing win at Castle Avenue.

Greg Ford who led defending Champions (Balbriggan) to victory at Castle Avenue

Merrion v The Hills (Anglesea Road, 46 over game)

The Hills 160 All Out off 32.1 overs (Nicolaj Laegsgaard 40, Yaseen Sherzad 23; Muhammed Sinan 3-49, Tom Stanton 2-19, Oisin Bhoja 2-34, Sam Harbinson 2-41)

Merrion 164-6 off 45.4 overs (John Anderson 55, Dom Joyce 34*, Franco Marais 29; Nicolaj Laegsgaard 2-20, Sean McNicholl 2-23)

Merrion won by 4 wkts

Put in to bat at Anglesea Road, The Hills found the going tough against a tight Merrion bowling attack. The in-form Danish player, Nicolaj Damgaard Laegsgaard made the only meaningful contribution, plundering 40 off just 23 balls at the same venue where he had scored a blistering hundred some weeks ago to take The Hills into the AMC Final. Mohammed Sinan did the early damage but there were also useful contributions with the ball from young Oisin Bhoja (2-34), the ever reliable Tom Stanton (2-19) and overseas professional Sam Harbinson (2-41).

Merrion almost immediately found themselves in some bother with the chase as they lost both openers (including last week’s centurion in the ISC) and the in-form Harbinson with the score on just 18-3 after 11 overs at tea. Merrion continued to struggle after the tea break losing Jack Carty with the score on just 27. As he has done so many times, John Anderson then set about calming rebuilding the innings with good support from Franco Marais as they put on 71 for the 5^th wicket in just over 17 overs. John Anderson was eventually dismissed by Tomas Rooney-Murphy for a crucial 55 runs which also took him past 9,000 senior runs (during his years with Merrion and previously Railway Union) – a fine achievement for one of the greats. 

Captain Dom Joyce was then joined by the veteran (ex The Hills) Max Sorensen who used their vast experience to guide Merrion to a crucial 4-wicket win, Joyce finishing unbeaten on 34*.

John Anderson passed 9,000 senior runs in Merrion’s win over The Hills at Anglesea Road

Malahide v YMCA (The Village, 38 over game)

YMCA 169 All Out off 38 overs (Henry Thompson 42, Adam Rosslee 22; Cameron Shoebridge 3-22, Michael Frost 2-18, Peter Chase 2-38, Jimmy Newland 2-41)

Malahide 161 All Out off 37.4 overs (Matt Ford 51, Ali Frost 36; Olly Riley 4-25, Reuben Wilson 3-33, Mikey O’Reilly 2-24)

YMCA won by 8 runs 

Batting first at The Village, YM struggled to put together a match-defining partnership, losing both Tectors relatively early in the piece to Peter Chase who took 2-15 from his opening 5-over spell. Michael Frost then chipped in with the wickets of overseas player, Adam Rosslee and Tom Anders to leave YM on 100-5 at the half-way stage in their innings.Henry Thompson was then sixth out with the total on 121 having contributed a solid 42 off 67 balls. Mikey O’Reilly (24) contributed some valuable late order runs as YM set Malahide 170 for victory at 4.47 per over.

The wickets were shared for Malahide by 4 bowlers, Chase and Frost doing the early damage well supported by Newland and Shoebridge in restricting YM to what looked like an under-par score.

Mikey O’Reilly’s excellent season so far continued with a penetrative opening spell for YM as he removed first Jamie Grassi and then the in-form Younas Ahmadzai to leave Malahide 14-2 inside the first 3 overs and with much work to do. Fellow opening bowler Reuben Wilson then removed the dangerous Hunter Kindley – Malahide were now 23-3 off 8.Matt Ford (51 off 46 balls) and Ali Frost then combined to compile an 85-run 4th wicket partnership for Malahide. Wilson then struck again to dismiss Ford followed quickly by the veteran Malahide keeper, Fintan McAllister leave Malahide struggling again on 108-5 off 25.4 overs. Olly Riley then chipped in with the important wickets of the set batsman (Ali Frost) and Andrew Sheridan – Malahide were now 129-7, still 41 needed off 7 overs with just 3 wickets in-hand.

The Malahide innings fell away badly in the closing overs in the face of some disciplined YM bowling and fielding with the wickets shared between their younger cohort of O’Reilly, Wilson and Riley. Peter Chase and Jimmy Newland provided a late Malahide rally adding 22 for the 9th wicket before Chase was run out in the final over with 9 still needed for victory off just 2 balls.

A good result for YM by the narrowest margin of the day at this level against one of the stronger sides in this very competitive league.

Reuben Wilson who took key wickets for YM at Malahide today

Leinster v Railway Union (Observatory Lane, 39 over game)

Leinster 194-8 off 39 overs (Monil Patel 55, Peter Francis 54,Joey Carroll 28; Sean O’Brien 2-31, Hamza Maan 2-41)

Railway Union 71 All Out off 21.4 overs (Devender Ranolia 3-14, Bilal Azhar 2-8, Saqib Bahadur 2-10, Peter Francis 2-22)     

Leinster won by 123 runs

Early wickets for the visitors brought the in-form Leinster duo of Monil Patel and Joey Carroll together with the score on just 25-2 off the first 10 overs. Patel and Carroll put on 75 for the third wicket before Carroll (28) became the first of 2 wickets in 2 balls for Hamza Maan. Patel fell for another well-made half-century before Peter Francis (54 off 47 balls) ensured continued momentum in the latter overs of the innings to set Railway 195 to win at exactly 5 per over.

Hamza Maan finished with 2-41 whilst young Sean O’Brian chipped in with 2-31.  

In reply, Railway got off to the worst possible start as Peter Francis removed both Kenny Carroll and the free-scoring Riley Mudford whilst Bilal Azhar dismissed both Ashil Prakash and Punya Mehra to leave Railway reeling at 29-4 inside the sixth over. Saqib Bahadur then got in on the act removing Railway captain Liam McCarthy and Brandon Kruger in quick succession - Railway had slumped to 37-6 off the first 10 overs. The Railway innings never recovered as they slumped to 71 all out with Saqib Bahadur and Mark Tonge finishing off their innings.

Another big win for Leinster as their unbeaten return to the Premier League continues (3 from 3).

CHAMPIONSHIP – WINS FOR NORTH COUNTY, PHOENIX, CORK & PEMBROKE

Cork County v Civil Service (The Mardyke)

Cork County 250-8 off 50 overs (Abubakar Saddique 60,Syed Mohammed Aiman 37, Byron McDonough 28, Eshan O’Sullivan 27, Stefano Di Bartolomeo 23; Mubasher Siddique4-38)

Civil Service 192-9 off 50 overs (Mubasher Siddique 39, Rohith Gunaseelan 27*, Vivekanandan Srinivasan 22*, Arjun Chandrasekar 22; Byron McDonough 4-21, Nabeel Anjum 4-40)

Cork County won by 58 runs 

Cork County hosted Civil Service at The Mardyke and posted a very competitive total of 250 off their allocated overs. There were a number of decent contributions with the bat, the stand-out performer being Abubaker Saddique who made 60 having come in at number 4 – best of the bowlers for Service was their reliable opening bowler, Mubasher Siddique who finished with 4-38 off his ten overs. 

Bryon McDonough then produced a brilliant opening spell for Cork removing the entire Civil Service top order to leave them 33-4 off the first 8.4 overs. Mubasher Siddique then set about trying to rebuild the innings with support from Dhiraj Shetty (21) – the pair put on 62 for the fifth wicket before Siddique departed for a well made 39 to complete a good all-round individual performance. Nabeel Anjum then mimicked the earlier contribution of McDonough as he picked up the next 4 wickets to fall. Arjun Chandrasekar (at 7) and last pair Vivekanandan Srinivasan & Rohith Gunaseelan continued to provide resistance and in doing so extended the Civil Service total to 192-9 off their full 50 overs. 

A comprehensive first win for Cork County as Civil Service still look to open their account at Championship level.

Terenure v Phoenix (Terenure, 45 over game)

Terenure 152 All Out off 44.2 overs (Sid Nair 33, Darshit Shetty 27*, Seamus Lynch 25; Jed Wiggins 3-20, Anish Rana 2-29, Amish Sidhu 2-37)

Phoenix 155-7 off 27.5 overs (Stephen Black 59; Bhavic Tukrel 2-32, Seamus Lynch 2-32, Raghav Grover 2-36)

Phoenix won by 3 wkts 

The hosts relative frailty with the bat continued in today’s clash with Phoenix as wickets fell at regular intervals. Seamus Lynch was the only one of the top 5 to get a start as the Phoenix bowlers established a firm grip on the game from an early stage. Sid Nair (coming in at 7) scored 33 whilst Darshit Shetty (coming in at 9) scored a valuable unbeaten 27 to leave Terenure something (albeit modest) to defend. Amish Sidhu performed well for Phoenix taking early wickets and was then well supported by Anish Rana and Jed Wiggins in closing out the Terenure innings.

In reply, Phoenix opener Stephen Black (59 off 63) anchored the Phoenix chase whilst wickets fell with some regularity at the other end. Tyrone Kane then contributed a quick-fire 24 off just 15 balls before departing, quickly followed by James Maginnis to leave Phoenix needing a further 25 runs with 4wickets in-hand. The Terenure bowlers fought back well to make this match a much closer contest than it had appeared earlier in the Phoenix chase with Bhavic Tukrel (2-32), Seamus Lynch (2-32) and Raghav Grover (2-36) all taking wickets along the way.

Adam Chester kept his nerve to see Phoenix home by 3 wickets – they will be relieved to leave Dublin 6W with the W after a challenging chase and go into round 4 unbeaten.

North Kildare v North County (The Maws)

North Kildare 116 All Out off 30.2 overs (Josh Uddin 30, Syed Ali Rizvi 22; Eddie Richardson 4-31, Ashish Jain 2-16)

North County 117-4 off 24.1 overs (Eddie Richardson 34, Jono Andrews 26*; Husnain Maroof 2-49)

North County won 6 wkts

All six bowlers used by North County got their name on the score-sheet as North Kildare struggled to 116 all out with almost 20 overs unused. The primary contribution with the bat for the home side came from Josh Uddin who scored 30 having come in a number 5. As is so often the case, Eddie Richardson was the mainstay with the ball for County with 4-31 off his 9.2 overs.

In reply, Husnain Maroof made early in-roads with the ball for North Kildare removing both John Devane and Luke Whelan before the experienced duo of Eddie Richardson and Jono Andrews put the game beyond doubt as they put on 53 for the 4^th wicket with Richardson falling for a vital 34 with North County just needing 8 more runs to win. Andrews finished unbeaten on 26*.

A good result for North County underpinned by another fine all-round performance from Eddie Richardson.

Another fine all-round performance from Eddie Richardson as North County won at The Maws

Rush v Pembroke (Kenure, 44 over game)

Pembroke 314-7 off 44 overs (Theo Lawson 73, JJ Garth 57, Fiachra Tucker 51*, Gavin Hoey 51, Danny Hogan 27; Nathan McGuire 3-51, Asher Abbasi 2-67)

Rush 240 All Out off 33.4 overs (Neil Rock 97, Muhammad Saad Waseem 35, Nathan McGuire 26; Paul Lawson 4-45, Nick Stapleton 3-39, Piyush Sharma 2-39)

Pembroke won by 74 runs

Batting first at Kenure, JJ Garth continued his excellent form for Pembroke before falling for 57 with the score on 88-2 off 16.1 overs. Theo Lawson (73) and Gavin Hoey (51) then combined very effectively to put on 85 for the fifth wicket before Fiachra Tucker launched a late innings assault on the Rush bowlers to take the total well over 300 and finish himself unbeaten on 51 off just 20 balls (including 6 X6s). Tucker was well supported by Danny Hogan who was dismissed in the last over of the innings for a quick-fire 27 off only 16 balls. Best of the bowling for Rush was Nathan McGuire with 3-51 in an otherwise challenging day in the field for the hosts.

Nathan McGuire (26) and Muhammad Saad Waseem (35) combined to put on 48 for the second wicket after Rush had lost key man, Lew Johnson to the bowling of Nick Stapleton with just 22 runs on the board. Neil Rock then took the chase to Pembroke despite struggling for support at the other end.The Rush captain went on to complete a brilliant 97 off just 51 balls (6 X 4s, 8 x 6s) before falling leg before wicket to Paul Lawson with Rush 200-6 off just 26.2 overs. The Rush chase largely petered out with the departure of Rock to finish 74 runs short on 240 all out. The wickets for Pembroke were shared across the attack, Paul Lawson leading the way with 4, 3 for Stapleton and Sharma finishing with 2.

Pembroke remain unbeaten after 3 rounds in the Championship.

Theo Lawson top-scored for Pembroke today in their 74-run win at Kenure