IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW – JUNE 10TH

We enter week two of the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League with a league-table make up that would almost be exactly the same as what many fans were expecting to see after the first round.

The Hills lead the way having demolished Railway Union in Park Avenue, whilst Malahide’s victory over Clontarf was led by a century from Younas Ahmadzai, with Chris de Freitas being the ton-maker in Balbriggan’s successful chase against Merrion. Lastly Leinster gained just one bonus point in seeing off YMCA, who in reality never threatened to chase the Rathmines side’s 254.

The league table after Round One

MERRION VS RAILWAY UNION

The first game of the day on Saturday sees Railway Union travel to Anglesea Road for an 11am start. The away side are in desperate need of a good performance in this game, after an abject collapse last time out on their home turf. Riley Mudford was the shining light in that game, with his unbeaten half-century helping prevent the scoreline becoming something silly. They will be hoping the likes of Kenny Carroll, Ashil Prakash and the skipper Liam McCarthy in the middle order can provide contributions to allow them to make a telling impact upon this game. Runs on the board make life so much easier for bowlers, and Railway’s attack in particular, the spin of Alan Joseph Mathew, Hamza Maan, Fakhar Zaman and Kruger are all very potent options, however they will not have the opportunity to exercise those skills if the batting line-up doesn’t fire. The seam bowling options include McCarthy, Esmat Ibrahimi and Zaman Safi in a line-up where producing 50 overs of bowling will be no issue at all.

Merrion meanwhile in stark contrast come into this weekend having piled up a good score in round one and then failing to defend it! Their batting line-up as ever looks very intimidating with Stephen Doheny, John Anderson, Jack Carty and in-form overseas man Sam Harbinson, that’s before even mentioning Swapnil Modgil, skipper Dom Joyce or the hard-hitting Max Sorensen that will all feature prominently in the side as well. With the ball, there’s a return for Hugh Kennedy who will likely share the new ball with Muhammed Sinan, whilst there’s further seam available in the shape of Harbinson and Sorensen. Tom Stanton’s left-arm spin will be vital this weekend, with him being the only frontline spinner selected in the side this weekend, in a change in tact from the dual spin plan which has been employed by Joyce for much of the opening to this campaign.

Railway’s batting faltered badly around Mudford last weekend, he therefore is clearly the most important wicket for the away side, it could therefore come down to a trans-Tasman battle with Merrion overseas Sam Harbinson. If Mudford can get on top, it will massively help Railway’s chances of making a big score.

KEY BATTLE: Sam Harbinson vs Riley Mudford

MALAHIDE VS LEINSTER

Two of the league’s unbeaten sides face off in The Village, as Leinster visit Malahide. The away side were the only team in the league to bat first and win last weekend, with their 254 all out coming with no small thanks to the two key men at 3 and 4, as Monil Patel and Joey Carroll managed 99 and 82 respectively. The next highest scorer however did manage just 14, and they will need much more from the likes of Michael Hogan, Saqib Bahadur, Pete Francis and Bilal Azhar if they are to have the firepower to see off Malahide this weekend. With the ball the side is full of options, Carroll didn’t even make it to the bowling crease last weekend, with the seam provided by Francis, Azhar and Mark Tonge, whilst the return of Avril Shukla to the team meant a triumvirate of spinners including himself, Bahadur and left-armer Dev Ranolia, with each of them providing 10 solid overs.

Malahide’s incredible batting line-up managed to hunt down Clontarf’s 251 last weekend, thanks in no small measure to two of their most explosive players being in the runs, Younas Ahmadzai was better than run-a-ball for his 101, whilst Matt Ford’s unbeaten 53 came off just 57 balls. Ford however isn’t in the side this weekend, meaning they’ll need to look elsewhere for another big contribution with bat in hand. Ali Frost and Hunter Kindley are two men capable of playing anchor roles in the 50 over format, whilst Jamie Grassi and Andrew Sheridan could take on more powerful hitting jobs in their respective positions. With the ball, skipper James Newland leads the attack, with more seam options provided from Cameron Shoebridge and David O’Halloran, with the potential for either Frost or Sheridan to pitch in there too, with Kindley rounding off the bowling unit.

Monil Patel was in the runs not once, but twice last weekend and exemplified just how important he is to them in both those victories, he is likely to face some part of James Newland’s opening spell in tomorrow’s fixture, if the Malahide skipper can dismiss Patel, it will be a massive moment in the game for the home side.

KEY BATTLE: James Newland vs Monil Patel

THE HILLS VS CLONTARF

Beaten T20 finalists The Hills weren’t long putting the result behind them last weekend, as they walloped Railway Union to get their season off to the perfect start. Tómas Rooney-Murphy was destroyer in chief with the ball last weekend, and in a bowling attack which also features Sean McNicholl and Cian Nulty as seam options, along with the left-arm spin twins of Nicolaj Laegsgaard and Jonathan Tall, they possess a nicely balanced attack which will be tough for most sides to get on top of. With the bat, Laegsgaard’s monster hitting leads the way at the top of the order, where he is accompanied by Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin. Bhavesh Lakhotia has returned to the side in the number three slot, freeing Murray Commins up to bat at 4 and play with a bit more freedom. With Mark Donegan at 5 and Nathan Rooney at 6, the Skerries men’s batting line-up looks nothing but imposing.

Clontarf’s defeat last weekend saw a nightmare scenario for the side, skipper Eoghan Delany has been quite clear about the side’s plan of making 250 and defending it, however this could result in a stick or twist dilemma this weekend, as they face up against what is arguably the only batting line-up more equipped to emulate Malahide’s feat last weekend! Perhaps an issue in not scoring many more than 251 last weekend could be that none of the top 5 in the side really kicked on, scores between 22 and 54 from each of the main cogs in the batting unit means each of David Vincent, Delany, John McNally, Ruan Cronje and Aaron McGeehan did the hard work to get themselves in, but a failure to capitalise on a good start is never helpful for momentum in a team. With the ball, the team potentially looks short of a seamer, Mick Granger is leading the line with support from teenagers McNally and Liam Gilhooly, however beyond those three, it’s down to the spin attack of Cillian McDonnell, Cronje and Sameer Dutt to bowl tight overs.

Clearly Clontarf cannot allow the opposition’s most explosive player to get off to a flier this weekend, and with Nicolaj Laegsgaard fresh off 50 last time out, his confidence is sure to be sky-high. ‘Tarf will hope that their left-arm spinner Cillian McDonnell can provide the wicket of the big Dane, it will be a big boost to the Castle Avenue side’s tactics.

KEY BATTLE: Nicolaj Laegsgaard vs Cillian McDonnell

BALBRIGGAN VS YMCA

Finally we go to Jack Harper Park, where the reverse of the fixture which sealed Balbriggan’s league title, and YMCA’s safety in the Premier League last season will play out weather permitting. Balbriggan are without Connor Fletcher for this fixture, meaning Vivek Singh is called into the side to keep wicket. This is obviously a major loss to the home side’s batting line-up, however with the likes of Ghanim Dara, Cameron Rowe, Farooq Nasr, skipper Greg Ford and the in-form Chris de Freitas in the top 5, they will be confident of being able to account for their star-batter’s absence. With the ball, Matt Pollard and Sam Willemse will be keen to make early inroads into the YM batting line-up, having seen how many runs a side can make if they get beyond that early spell last weekend. They are supported by Kashif Ali and Andy Darroch, whilst the spin of Nasr and Dylan Lues has become an even more potent duo this season.

YMCA’s batting line-up failed to power home from a decent start last weekend, with the writing on the wall from quite a distance from the finish line. Jack and Tim Tector at the top of the order are important for setting a base, and whilst Ash Burton, Jamie Forbes and Tom Anders all got something of a start in the game last weekend, the amount of time they took to get themselves in really meant they needed one of them to kick-on having gotten that start. Adam Rosslee played a good anchor role from number four, however he was also dismissed at a vital stage in the chase. Only the boundary hitter Ehtesham Ahmed could manage to get going in any way in this game and his runs at number 7 could quickly become vital to this YM side turning 200s into 250s in this campaign. With the ball, they boast an excellent attack, Reuben Wilson and Mikey O’Reilly, assuming the latter is no worse for the niggle which kept him out of Thursday’s final IP20 fixture, will lead the way, with more seam options available in the form of Olly Riley and Tom Anders. Ash Burton is the left-arm seam option, with James Forbes likely to be trusted as the lone frontline spinner in the attack again this weekend, in spite of the tactic not working out last week. Tim Tector offers the part-time option should similar things happen again.

Chris de Freitas had an excellent weekend last week, with an unbeaten century followed up by a half-century on Sunday, in the absence of Fletcher, he becomes the most coveted wicket in the line-up. Assuming the top order sees off YM’s opening bowlers, there’s a good chance the left-hander could fall straight in against James Forbes, who will have a serious job on his hands to try keep the Balbriggan number 5 quiet.

KEY BATTLE: Chris de Freitas vs James Forbes