IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW – ROUND 11 (AUGUST 18TH)

This Sunday sees a full round of fixtures in the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League, as the race at the top of the league begins to really kick into gear. Merrion will travel to Leinster, with the Anglesea Road outfit having seen their lead at the top of the table retained in spite of not playing in last weekend’s round of fixtures. Elsewhere, Pembroke play host to Phoenix, hoping for a repeat performance of the Senior Cup Final a couple of weeks ago to keep the pressure on the leaders. Finally in Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan plays host to Malahide in a tie which pits the bottom two against each other.

LEINSTER VS MERRION

Leinster’s first fixture for over a year where they aren’t Irish Senior Cup holders pits them against one of Saturday’s finalists in Merrion, and having won the last two league ties between the sides, the Rathmines outfit are sure to be carrying a bit of confidence. Those wins did however break a run of 11 in a row in all competitions between the sides for Merrion, and Leinster haven’t won a tie between the sides at Observatory Lane since July of 2014, so there’s still an uphill task ahead of them on form.

The home side’s batting will be led by the skipper Bilal Azhar at the top of the order, he was alongside Craig Mackay last weekend, and if he remains at the top of the order it will help make the batting line-up more formidable, whilst there’s support from Monil Patel, Joey Carroll, Gareth Delany and Saqib Bahadur through the middle order. Tom Johnson’s move to number 6 last weekend bore fruit as he was unbeaten with his 29 helping see the side to victory. With the ball, they didn’t feel the affects of Luke Callanan’s departure, as even without Jai Moondra, their four man seam attack of Azhar, Carroll, Mark Tonge and Devan Keenan did plenty of damage to get the side on top, and a return for Moondra would yet further that depth. Their spinners were led last week by Saqib Bahadur who took three wickets, which meant Tom Johnson’s left-arm was only needed to bowl five overs.

Merrion meanwhile are set to field the same team for both their Irish Cup Final and Premier League fixtures this weekend, with the skipper Sam Harbinson reticent to make many changes to his side which has been in good form in recent weeks. The batting is led at the top of the order by Stephen Doheny and Swapnil Modgill, whilst John Anderson at number three has been holding the side together as strongly as ever. Adam Rosslee is the real class angle in the middle order at number four, and he precedes Harbinson and Pete Francis, who will both seek to accelerate matters at the back end of the innings if their top four can lay a solid foundation. Mike Lewis and Jamie Forbes add yet more ballast in the lower middle order. With the ball, they are hampered by the loss of Mikey O’Reilly to injury, however with the return of Pete Francis to partner Max Sorensen with the new ball is a major boost to the balance of the side, and that pair will be supported by Melvin Devaraj and Harbinson in the seam department, whilst the frontline spinner is Tom Stanton’s left-arm orthodox option, with support coming in the form of Modgill’s off-breaks.

Leinster’s start with the ball has been key to them for this season, and that will pit Bilal Azhar up against Stephen Doheny at the top of the Merrion batting order. If Doheny can get off to a flier once again, it will allow the away side to put together a big score.

KEY BATTLE: Bilal Azhar vs Stephen Doheny

BALBRIGGAN VS MALAHIDE

This will be the sixth tie between the sides in the Premier League, having first faced off at this level in 2022 and the current scorecard between the teams sits at 3-2 in favour of this weekend’s hosts. Malahide however have won the last two fixtures, with each of the last three finishing with the chasing side victorious, whilst Balbriggan have been on the winning side in each of the past two fixtures.

The home side welcome back their hero from the opening day of the season, Cameron Rowe, who’s unbeaten century helped them to a rollicking 9-wicket win against this weekend’s opposition, and they’ll be hoping he’s on-song this time around on his return from injury. His return coupled with a return to form for Chris de Freitas will be a cause for hope for the home side, while they’ll be looking to the likes of Ghanim Dara and Bhavesh Lakhotia, as well as the all-round trio of Sebastian de Oliveira, Dylan Lues and Jordan Hollard to produce much of the acceleration through the middle overs. With the ball, the attack will be led by the left-arm of Kashif Ali, alongside de Oliveira’s seamers, with Lakhotia and Bilal Iqbal two more bowling options, however the spinners are where they will hope to make a real impact, as Lues and Hollard’s off-breaks have proven to be very potent and economical for much of the league campaign.

Malahide welcome back their skipper James Newland for this weekend’s fixture, and he comes into a side which will be looking to build on an improved performance last time out. The batting is led by Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin and Younas Ahmadzai, with support from Adam Doyle and Jeremy Martins in the middle order, with the lower-middle order including the big hitting Aaron Doyle and Andy Sheridan, with that 6 likely to need to provide the bulk of the runs if they are to produce a competitive score. With the ball, Newland’s return will see him sharing the new ball with Kelvin Donnelly, whilst Martins and Sheridan will shoulder the bulk of the middle overs seam bowling, providing excellent control. Their two spin options both come in the shape of left-arm spinners, with Mike Frost leading the way having seriously impressed in interpro cricket this season, whilst Mohit Sane has proved an able replacement on the occasions where Frost hasn’t been available and the pair working in tandem are likely to be a dangerous proposition for their hosts this time around.

With both an opening bowler and opening batter returning, there’s an area where both sides are set to improve and they’ll face off against one another. If James Newland can knock over Cameron Rowe cheaply early in the Balbriggan innings, it could prove to be crucial in the momentum of their batting efforts.

KEY BATTLE: Cameron Rowe vs James Newland

PEMBROKE VS PHOENIX

Pembroke and Phoenix face off for the first time since the Sandymount side delivered a comprehensive hammering to the ‘Nix in the Senior Cup Final on August 3^rd, and whilst they don’t have to look too far into the record books for their last win in Sydney Parade, coming just last August, Pembroke have something of an overall domination in the head-to-head between the sides, having won 14 of the last 20 fixtures in all competitions, including both ties so far this season.

Pembroke’s batting has been the key to this season’s two victories, making 320/9 and 323/8 in the respective 50 over fixtures, and their in-form batting line-up will once again be looking to produce a big effort to put them on the front foot. Their top three will feature Diarmaid Tucker, Tim Tector and JJ Garth, with both Garth and Tucker having occupied the number three slot this season it will be interesting to see who fills that position. Nick Stapleton will follow that trio, and his form has been key in recent fixtures, whilst Jack Tector and Fiachra Tucker have been consistent in their ability to build the innings towards a strong finish. Gavin Hoey’s return to the number 7 slot gives them the added firepower they need to really hammer home whatever early advantage they can gain. With the ball, the opening duo of Stapleton and Olly Riley will look to extract some early movement, with Riley in particular having bowled a brilliant spell in the opening salvo of the Senior Cup Final. Byron McDonough will follow that pair, whilst they will likely all precede a three-man spin attack which includes Paul Lawson’s off-spin, and the leg-breaks of both Hoey and Garth, giving the side the balance it needs to provide Phoenix with an extremely stiff task.

Phoenix are set to field a weakened side on Sunday, with their attentions firmly focussed on the Irish Cup Final on today in Cork. Of their usual side, early indications are that just left-arm spinners Amish Sidhu and Devender Ranolia, and top order batter Johit Munjal will feature in the XI, which is also set to feature a number of the players who were handed debuts during their Alan Murray Cup campaign, in which they were dumped out in the group stages at the hands of Leinster, having suffered defeats against both the Rathmines outfit and in Terenure.

With Amish Sidhu the only frontline bowler set to double up for Phoenix this weekend, his spell will be the key for the side. If JJ Garth can get on top of him early on in the piece, it could spell danger for the away side.

KEY BATTLE: JJ Garth vs Amish Sidhu

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE

MATCH DAY 11 – AUGUST 18^TH

ALL 12 NOON STARTS

At Observatory Lane, Leinster vs Merrion

At Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan vs Malahide

At Sydney Parade, Pembroke vs Phoenix