IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW – 18TH JUNE
This Saturday sees the third round of fixtures in the IBI Corporate Finance Cricket Leinster Premier League take place, with the league beginning to take shape, the next couple of weeks are sure to give us an idea of which teams will be in contention at the sharp end of the season, and which teams are going to be fighting it out at the bottom of the table.
BALBRIGGAN VS CLONTARF
Kicking off in Balbriggan, where Clontarf are the visitors and after the trajectory of the two side’s white ball campaigns very few people would have expected the home side to be the ones with a 100% record hosting ‘Tarf with two losses to their name, but as we head into this game, Brigg sit atop the table having dropped just two bonus points so far.
That excellent start to the season has been fuelled by their bowling attack finding some brilliant form, across their two games so far Balbriggan have conceded just 160 runs in taking 20 wickets, Kashif Ali has starred across those two innings’ taking 9 wickets for the cost of just 24 runs so far with the left-arm seamer appearing rejuvenated by the beginning of the red ball campaign. Ryan Hadley and Andrew Darroch also form a formidable opening pair with pace and bounce their forte. With the bat, the home side will be massively encouraged by how they put together last weekend’s innings, with three 50+ partnerships helping them put together a very good score, Greg Ford’s form is a major player in that, whilst the move to bat Chris de Freitas at number three again paid dividends as he produced a half-century.
Clontarf meanwhile go into this game desperate to get their league campaign up and running, the side have faced off against two of the league’s stronger outfits in the last two weeks in 2021 holders and runners-up Merrion and Pembroke, and as a result come into this game with just 8 bonus points to show for their efforts. Last week’s game was a topsy-turvy innings, with essentially all of ‘Tarf’s runs coming in a partnership between Ruan Cronje and John McNally for the 5th wicket. Cronje’s excellent form has been the pillar upon which Clontarf had built their previous winning run and his middle-order runs will be vital in this contest against Balbriggan’s strong attack. The batting efforts of the InterProvincial trio of David Delany, Fionn Hand and PJ Moor will again be important, with Delany in particular having had a successful day out against Balbriggan in the league cup game earlier in the season.
Kashif Ali’s spells in the middle overs have been what have boosted the home side’s form significantly so far this season, and they will again hope to see him taking a hatful of wickets against Clontarf’s middle order. Ruan Cronje at number four is an obvious blockade towards that plan, the South African’s form has been imperious however if Ali can get the better of him, Brigg will have given themselves a good chance of knocking ‘Tarf over cheaply and continuing their good run of form.
KEY BATTLE: Kashif Ali vs Ruan Cronje
MERRION VS MALAHIDE
The winless Malahide will pitch up to Anglesea Road this weekend to face a Merrion side who will no doubt have taken plenty of confidence from their bounce-back victory against Clontarf last weekend.
Malahide have struggled at the beginning of the season in spite of good form from a couple of their batsmen, however this weekend sees Matt Ford return to the side, along with Ali Frost making his first appearance of the season. David O’Halloran is also in the side again and his bowling alongside Cameron Shoebridge will be vital this weekend in the absence of James Newland. With the bat, Ryan Hackney has been in flying form until last weekend, making consistent runs and proving very hard to dismiss, something which is a vital asset to the side in allowing batters at the other end the chance to get set, this has seen Fintan McAllister and Callum Riches get the chance to put together some good innings, whilst the return of Ford and Frost will add more depth to the side and allow them to be more attacking in general.
This fixture last season saw unbeaten centuries for Stephen Doheny and John Anderson in a remarkable run chase, and Merrion will no doubt be hoping that their main men at the top of the order can produce some similar efforts again this weekend. Doheny will be full of confidence thanks to his recent call-up for the T20 series against India, and his opening partner Jack Carty is also in good touch, both of them will aim to put pressure on Malahide’s PowerPlay bowling with some strong early hitting, whilst Swapnil Modgil and Mike Lewis will be the men in the middle order who will look to capitalise on any momentum built at the top of the innings. With the ball, Muhammad Sinan’s opening burst will be as important as ever, whilst Jack Carty’s swing bowling could prove to be beneficial in this game. Amish Sidhu and Tom Stanton’s left-arm spin will obviously be the more important middle overs for the home side again, with both in the wickets already in the opening couple of games.
Ryan Hackney is the key to the Malahide batting line-up at the moment, and he will face a fiery opening spell from Muhammad Sinan at the top of the innings, if Sinan can get the better of the New South Welshman, Merrion will be well on their way to keeping Malahide’s batting quiet for the day.
KEY BATTLE: Muhammad Sinan vs Ryan Hackney
THE HILLS VS PEMBROKE
The newly crowned Senior League Cup Champions visit The Vineyard for what looks to be the tie of the round, with the away side having seen off Clontarf in their opening game, before falling just short last weekend against YMCA, whilst their hosts are joint top of the table having dropped just 2 bonus points this season.
Starting with the home side, big scores winning matches has never been a truer scenario with their opening couple of fixtures, as centuries from Dylan Blignaut and Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin have seen them run up scores that their oppositions couldn’t manage to chase. With the ball, they are consistent throughout, with each of the seamers in Blignaut, Tómas Rooney-Murphy and Matthew Weldon all bowlers who hit good areas all of the time. Athar Farooqi’s off-breaks are the main spin threat in the side, and are supported by Levon Shields’ leg spinners.
Pembroke meanwhile will come bouncing into this weekend off the back of their cup success last weekend. Their league side is boosted by the addition of Gavin Hoey, whilst Rob Kelly returns having missed last Sunday’s fixture after his heroics on Saturday evening. Their bowling centres around the opening spell of Poonish Mehta, however a question mark will hang over who will partner him with both Joe Prendergast and Ryan Hopkins missing out this weekend with niggles. Sumit Kumar and Piyush Sharma are the other seam options, whilst Paul Lawson and Donncha Tucker will be the two spinners who will need to do a job in the middle overs. With the bat, Theo Lawson has looked in excellent touch the last few weeks, whilst Diarmaid Tucker’s consistent run of scores at the top of the order seems sure to eventually glean a big score for himself. JJ Garth at number 3 will look to continue his good form having been in the runs in each of the semi-final and final of the Senior League Cup.
With Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin coming into this game already off the back of two centuries this season, the home side will be hoping to see his form continue this weekend, his battle with Poonish Mehta is set to be the key to the game, especially with Pembroke missing a regular opening bowler to come from the opposite end.
KEY BATTLE: Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin vs Poonish Mehta
YMCA VS PHOENIX
Finally in the Premier League, YMCA host Phoenix in Claremont Road, with the home side looking to make it three wins from three, whilst their visitors will be hoping that last weekend’s performance in spite of the defeat is something of a green shoot that they’ve left their batting woes of the opening weekend behind.
YMCA will be able to call upon international class in Harry Tector and Curtis Campher for this weekend, with the pair to be in their usual slots at number three and four, behind the opening qualities of Mitchell Thompson and Jack Tector, and preceding the 360 batting skills of Tim Tector. Rory Anders was in the runs last weekend in the absence of their star men at the IP20 festival and if he can reproduce that this weekend, it will help YM to put up some big runs. Reuben Wilson and Mikey O’Reilly make an excellent young opening pair with ball in hand, and with Anders, Tom Anders and Campher all also there to be called upon in the seam bowling department, they are better stocked in that scenario than they have been in times gone by. Harry Tector and Jamie Forbes will provide off-spin of both the right and left-arm varieties respectively in what is an all-round very well balanced attack.
The away side will be looking to see performances from their two IP stars in Tyrone Kane and George Dockrell propel them to a strong performance, with both players having missed last weekend’s fixture. In their absence Phoenix’s top order looked slightly threadbare, and runs from the middle and lower order were the main driving force behind them putting up a respectable total, Theo Dempsey’s clean ball-striking is a good asset for the side to have, but they will be hoping that with the return of their main men at the top, it can be used as a positive addition to the end of a well built innings, rather than relied upon for runs. With the ball, Kane and Dempsey will be supported in the seam line-up by opener Oliver Hald and Conor Sheil, whilst Dev Ranolia will supplement Dockrell’s left-arm spin, with Will Bennett and Ben White providing the leg-spinning options.
With some incredible performances in this fixture last year from the YMCA batsmen, it’s probably Mitchell Thompson who made a big hundred in that game who Phoenix will fear the most, the away side will be hoping that Oliver Hald’s new ball spell can be what gets them on top in the game early on.
KEY BATTLE: Mitchell Thompson vs Oliver Hald