IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE & CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND UP 26.08.2023

Damp overnight conditions meant that it was largely a bowlers day in the Premier League and Championship. The return of rain through the day had a significant effect but Balbriggan, Pembroke, Phoenix, Rush and North County all managed to get crucial victories.

Balbriggan vs Malahide (reduced before start to 45 overs, then to 42 overs, then to 20 overs)

Malahide 94 all out in 29.3 overs (H Kindley 19, A Sheridan 17, S Willemse 4-20, M Pollard 2-23, D Lues 3-15, K Ali 1-24)

DLS Target 58 in 20 overs

Balbriggan 60/4 in 12.3 overs (F Nasr 14, C de Freitas 13, G Ford 18, K Donnelly 1-11, J Newland 1-15, C Shoebridge 1-xx, A Sheridan 1-16)

Balbriggan win by 6 wickets

In damp overnight conditions Balbriggan would have been happy to win the toss and stick Malahide in to bat. That joy was worthwhile as Malahide struggled against the bowling of Willemse and Lues, with no one being able to get settled at all.

Rain delayed the start of the second innings and reduced the match that innings to 42 overs, with the target at 90. After 7.4 overs the rain closed in again and a further interruption left a target equation of 58 runs in 20 overs.

Despite the loss of a few wickets, skipper Greg Ford kept his head for an underrated 18 not out to get them across the line for a vital victory.

Merrion vs YMCA (reduced before start to 44 overs)

Merrion 218/7 in 44 overs (J Anderson 84, S Harbinson 36, N Shankar 31, A Burton, 2-52, O Riley 3-25, T Anders 2-33)

YMCA 17/0 in 2.4 overs

Match Abandoned as a No Result

Batting conditions were challenging with runs hard to come by in Anglesea Road. Tom Anders took two of the top three to bring John Anderson to the middle and he gave a masterclass of how to bat in difficult conditions with 84 runs off 83 balls (8 fours and 2 sixes). Support from Sam Harbinson and Niranjan Shankar got the home team up to 218/7 off the reduced 44 overs.

The YMCA innings had reached 17/0 off 2.4 overs when the rain arrived and after considerable rainfall the match was abandoned as a No Result

The Hills vs Leinster (reduced before start to 43 overs)

The Hills 140 all out in 34 overs (C McLoughlin-Gavin 53, M Commins 30, S Bahadur 5-31, D Ranolia 3-29, M Tonge 1-32, P Francis 1-15)

Leinster 48/2 in 14 overs (M Hogan 29*, C Nulty 1-21, M Weldon 1-6)

Match Abandoned as a No Result

Leinster decided to bowl first and would have been concerned with the opening stand of 50 from McLoughlin-Gavin and Commins. But 50-0 turned into 129-5 and then 140 all out due to some excellent sustained bowling from the All Ireland Champions. Bahadur takes the plaudits with 5-31, supported by Ranolia with a crucial 3-29.

After 14 overs of the Leinster reply, with the score on 48/2 the rain closed in and no further play was possible.

Railway Union vs Clontarf (reduced before start to 42 overs, then to 39 overs)

Clontarf 183/8 in 39.4 overs (D Delany 40, E Delany 38, R Karunakaran 30, H Maan 2-56, B Kruger 2-27, Z Safi 1-36, L McCarthy 1-20, S O’Brien 1-38)

DLS Target 189 in 39 overs

Railway Union 2/2 in 1.2 overs

Match Abandoned – No Result

Clontarf elected to bat first and would have been very happy with their opening partnership of 70 after 17 overs. But two quick wickets stalled them and 70/2 became 183/9 as the Railway Union bowlers hunted as a pack. At that stage the rain returned and the innings was abandoned.

On resumption the target was 189 off 39 overs, but Railway were precariously placed at 2/2 off 1.2 overs when the rain returned again. There was no further play possible and the match was abandoned as a No Result.

Provisional Premier League Table:

Phoenix vs Cork County

Cork County 59 all out in 26 overs (S Di Bartolomeo 26, O Hald 3-19, A Rana 2-16, A Sidhu 5-4)

Phoenix 62/2 in 10.1 overs (L Shields 35, D Carey 1-5, K O’Sullivan 1-0)

Phoenix win by 8 wickets

Phoenix chose to bowl first in friendly conditions and Oliver Hald immediately got stuck into the Cork top order. At 34/4 things were bad enough but the introduction of Amish Sidhu was spectacular. An incredible spell of 5 wickets for only 4 runs tore the heart out of the Cork County middle order and left them all out for 59 with almost half the overs to spare.

The Phoenix reply was a formality and despite the loss of two wickets they chased the total in the 11^th over with no dramas. A comprehensive victory for Phoenix as they seek to return to the Premier League.

Rush vs North Kildare

Rush 246 all out in 44.5 overs (L Johnson 68, H Maroof 2-44, N Monon 3-37, B Nabi 3-36, S Shamim 1-44, A Sharma 1-40)

North Kildare 51 all out in 12.5 overs (A Eastwood 8-29, A Neary 2-12)

Rush win by 195 runs

Rush elected to bat first and struggled to put any partnerships together until Llew Johnson came to the middle. His fluid 68 off 54 balls (6 fours and 5 sixes) helped the home team to a total of 246, which they would have been very happy with.

But an inspired spell of aggressive seam bowling from Allan Eastwood meant that North Kildare had no opportunity to even attempt to chase the runs. Bowling 6.5 overs unchanged, Eastwood took 8/29 including 3 wickets in an over and 5 wickets in 12 balls. Fittingly it was he that wrapped up the last wicket for a very convincing victory for Rush.

Pembroke vs Terenure (reduced before start to 48 overs, then reduced to 41 overs, then to 34 overs, then to 31 overs, then to 25 overs)

Pembroke 310/8 in 48 overs (N Stapleton 153, F Tucker 56, D Cleary 4-56, R Grover 1-49, G Kelliher 1-44, L Harris 1-39)

DLS Target 294 in 41 overs, then

DLS Target 286 in 34 overs

DLS Target 285 in 31 overs

DLS Target 276 in 25 overs

Terenure 98/8 in 25 overs (D Vaughan 15, S Nair 23, P Lawson 3-28, G Hoey 3-22, F Tucker 2-15)

Pembroke win by 157 runs

An incredible 153 from 103 balls by Nick Stapelton was the driving force behind the Pembroke innings. His knock included 18 fours and 6 sixes and together with a half century from Fiachra Tucker left Pembroke very well placed at 310/8 after 50 overs.

The Terenure innings was beset with challenging weather and a series of interruptions. The spin trio of Lawson, Hoey and Tucker were always in control and when the match was abandoned for light & rain after 25 overs Pembroke were the winners by 157 runs.

North County vs Civil Service (reduced to 40 overs between innings, then to 20 overs)

North County 238 all out in 50 overs (A Mathew 72, J Devane 37, D Shetty 5-47, S Ravichandran 1-26, A Bafanda 2-38, V Srinivasan 1-21)

DLS Target score 216 off 40 overs, then

DLS Target score 137 in 20 overs

Civil Service 83/9 in 20 overs

North County win by 54 runs

Both teams would have been relatively happy at the end of the first innings, with an excellent 82 from Alan Joseph Mathew being balanced by a 5 wicket haul for Dhiraj Shetty. It was a good cricket contest but left Civil Service with a degree of scoreboard pressure for their reply.

The second innings was beset with poor weather and a series of interruptions. Civil Service were eventually set a target of 137 in 20 overs and batted valiantly to be 83/9 at the close. A 54 run win for the home side.

Provisional Championship table