IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW – 17TH JUNE

The third round of fixtures in the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League takes place this Saturday, and as we enter this weekend’s fixtures, just two teams, The Hills and Leinster, remain unbeaten, whilst Clontarf and Railway Union are seeking their first victory. The Hills sit atop the pile having had slightly more convincing margins of victory than Leinster, however the Rathmines side really announced themselves as challengers this season with a rapid-fire chase against Malahide last weekend.

This time around, Clontarf host holders Balbriggan, The Hills travel to Anglesea Road to face Merrion, Malahide are again at home this time against YMCA, whilst the final game sees Leinster host Railway Union.

CLONTARF VS BALBRIGGAN

The home side enter this game off the back of a pair of quite chastening losses in the league, before getting back onto something of the right track with a win in last weekend’s cup quarter final against Malahide. The key to that victory was the middle order partnership between ‘Bobbo’ Forrest and David Delany, who managed a tricky situation from 101/4 to the brink of victory. The ‘Tarf top order including skipper Eoghan Delany, David Vincent and teenager John McNally will be tasked with setting up the game for the excellent middle order, which on top of the two already mentioned features Ruan Cronje and Aaron McGeehan. With the ball, the Castle Avenue fateful will get to see Fionn Hand in action this weekend, he rejoins the seam unit alongside Mick Granger and Luke Thomson, whilst the obvious threat of David Delany’s rockets is another massive boost to the league side this week. ‘Tarf have three spinners to utilise in this weekend’s fixture, as Cillian McDonnell joins Vincent and Cronje in an excellent and varied attack.

The visitors got their season off to a flying start with a monster run chase, before they succumbed to an opposition century maker last weekend against YMCA. Balbriggan’s team is yet to be confirmed, however the balance will almost certainly be as it usually is, Ghanim Dara and Cameron Rowe lead the way with the bat, before a smorgasbord of talent follows them to the crease, the classy middle order features Farooq Nasr, Greg Ford, Chris de Freitas and gloveman Connor Fletcher, before the power hitters in Dylan Lues, Matt Pollard and Andy Darroch who will finish off the innings strongly. With the ball, Pollard has been leading the line very well, whilst Sam Willemse has laid down a strong marker with the new ball in the last few weeks. Darroch and Kashif Ali round off the seamers in the line-up, whilst the spin options come in the shape of the ever reliable Nasr, who generally plays second fiddle to the superb Lues.

This game is likely to centre around the middle of the Clontarf batting innings, with Forrest and Delany both appearing to be in excellent nick with the bat. David Delany has really grown into a finisher’s role in the past season or so, and as a result his wicket will be crucial. With the job being done by Dylan Lues with the ball for Balbriggan, it’s likely he’ll be the man they turn to in the hope of getting that very valuable wicket.

KEY BATTLE: David Delany vs Dylan Lues

MERRION VS THE HILLS

The unbeaten Hills travel to Anglesea Road on the crest of a wave, and with very happy memories of their last visit to Ballsbridge just three weekends ago. That was the venue for the Alan Murray Cup semi-final between the pair, a game in which The Hills’ Danish opener Nicolaj Laegsgaard provided some incredible hitting to launch the side into the final. The batting line-up which features Murray Commins, Mark Donegan, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin and Bhavesh Lakhotia also in the top 5 is full of strength, with those to be followed by some power hitting in the shape of skipper Andy Kavanagh, Nathan Rooney and Cian Nulty. The Hills have had two convincing run chases so far this year and their imposing batting line-up is no doubt set up to produce a big score at some stage soon. The bowling unit has also had some excellent success this year, Sean McNicholl and Tomas Rooney-Murphy will lead the way, whilst there’s further seam options in the shape of Yaseen Sherzad and Nulty. Laegsgaard is the sole spinner in the side this weekend, in the absence of Jonathan Tall.

The Merrion side which delivered a pair of comprehensive victories in last weekend’s games would be very tough to beat for The Hills this weekend. Overseas man Sam Harbinson has really begun to stamp his authority on games, finishing unbeaten on 72 in a fine chase against Railway Union last weekend. His batting in the 4 slot has done something which Merrion haven’t been brilliant at in previous years in winning a game where the top 3 fails to provide a bulk of runs. Jack Carty, Stephen Doheny and John Anderson occupy the top three places in the order, and it’s not often none of the three make runs, it’s likely a couple of them will need to contribute against this extremely strong opposition this weekend. With the ball, Harbinson has been excellent in the past few weeks, with support from fellow seamers Muhammed Sinan, Max Sorensen and Hugh Kennedy. Tom Stanton’s day as the lone spinner last weekend wasn’t as economical as he would’ve liked, so it remains to be seen whether he is the only option selected this weekend again remains to be seen.

After his innings in the last meeting between the pair, Nicolaaj Laegsgaard has quickly become a prized wicket for opposition bowlers, he will open the batting and is sure to be a target for Max Sorensen, who has seemed to regain some of his old spark with the new ball already this season.

KEY BATTLE: Max Sorensen vs Nicolaaj Laegsgaard

MALAHIDE VS YMCA

Both YMCA and The Village enter this game with batting line-ups in excellent form, firstly Malahide who have been able to set games up superbly for their destructive Younas Ahmadzai to take advantage of. Last weekend saw him entering the fray with the opportunity to build on a partnership in excess of 200 laid down by openers Jamie Grassi and Hunter Kindley, with the likes of Matt Ford and Andy Sheridan to follow in that middle order, the openers will no doubt be tasked again with ensuring a good start, to allow those players to really get after the bowlers in the second half of the innings. With the ball, the battery of seamers featuring James Newland, Cameron Shoebridge, David O’Halloran and Peter Chase are all bowlers with wicket taking ability, whilst the spin will come from Ford and potentially Mike Frost should he appear again in this weekend’s fixtures. Ali Frost, Aaron Doyle and gloveman Fintan McAllister are all likely to be enlisted in the middle order of what is a very strong Malahide side.

YMCA come into this fixture having produced an excellent run chase last weekend, after half a start from Tim Tector, his dismissal put the side on the back foot, however the Claremont Road side were indebted to their southern-hemisphere men, South African Adam Rosslee made 111 and Australian Ash Burton 43. Those two are obviously key to the batting line-up now in the middle order, and will likely need to reproduce their form again this week if they are to have a chance of producing a winning score against Malahide. With the ball, youngster Reuben Wilson will likely share the new ball with Mikey O’Reilly, allowing Burton to bowl in the middle overs instead an provide some more control. Tom and Rory Anders are the other seam options, whilst the side had been relying on Tim Tector as the spin option with James Forbes out of the side, if that remains the case there will be major pressure on the seamers to ensure the Malahide batting line-up doesn’t get away from YMCA.

After two massive knocks last weekend, Younas Ahmadzai has really cemented his place as a key wicket for the Malahide side. YMCA will be hoping their newest IP star can be the man to dismiss him, as Reuben Wilson will be thrown the new ball with the aim of taking early wickets.

KEY BATTLE: Younas Ahmadzai vs Reuben Wilson

LEINSTER VS RAILWAY UNION

The first meeting between the two newly promoted sides takes place this weekend with the pair having had vastly different openings to the season. Leinster are now two from two, and their batting line-up has also blasted them to a fantastic run chase in the senior cup quarter final last weekend. Monil Patel and Joey Carroll have been the main destroyers for the side, making big and important runs throughout the middle of their innings’, the have been supported by opener Bilal Azhar, who made a half-century in the league win last weekend, whilst Michael Hogan is another man at the top of the order who can produce quick starts and set the game up. With the ball, their attack has taken some level of punishment over the past few weeks, with the batting more than making up for it, the main wicket taking threats are new ball bowlers, Pete Francis and Azhar, whilst Joey Carroll and Mark Tonge provide seam support. Dev Ranolia and Saqib Bahadur are the spinners who have had varied success in recent weeks, and the pair bowling well together in tandem will be crucial in this week’s fixture.

Railway Union on the other hand have managed to shake off their recent reliance on Kenny Carroll’s runs thanks to the arrival of Kiwi Riley Mudford, he and Liam McCarthy alongside Carroll all made half-centuries in last weekend’s cup win against Rush, however they were the only men to make double figures in a chase of over 200, meaning they will be keen to see the likes of Ashil Prakash, Brandon Kruger and Punya Mehra also provide some big contributions to the side this weekend. With the ball, whilst the story often centres around “The Patch” spinners, McCarthy has been in excellent form and will look to nab some early wickets with his seam bowling, this week he’s supported by the returning Sean O’Brien. The spin will then come from Alan Joseph Mathew, Fakhar Zaman, Hamza Maan and Kruger in an attack which as always provides plenty of variation, the visiting side will be desperate to bowl Leinster out as cheaply as possible as they seek their first league win of the season.

With how explosive he’s been in the middle overs this season, and Railway’s reliance on spinners, Joey Carroll is likely to be Leinster’s main threat with bat in hand, if he gets on top of Hamza Maan early on, it will be a hammer blow to Railway’s hopes of getting stuck into Leinster’s middle order early.

KEY BATTLE: Joey Carroll vs Hamza Maan