Jamie Grassi and Aaron Cawley Lead Phoenix to Home Semi-Final

On a low, slow pitch in Rathmines Jamie Grassi and Aaron Cawley played crucial roles in delivering Phoenix a comfortable 50-run victory over Leinster in the LHW Financial Planning Senior League Cup on Saturday. In the process they topped Group A and secured a home semi-final next weekend.

Patience and graft are not words that have always been quickly associated with Phoenix opener Jamie Grassi, however on Saturday he dug in and determined to prize his wicket.

Early on George Dockrell (3-26) held both Grassi (59) and Jeremy Lawlor (27) in check. Once his two overs were seen off though, Grassi began to find the gaps, first at square leg and next over point, before hitting his first six to long-on in the eighth over.

Lawlor was the first wicket to fall leaving the score 54/1 at the beginning of the 13^th over. This was swiftly followed by Grassi’s second maximum, a brilliant straight drive before Adam Chester was the second wicket to fall.

What followed was remarkable in the context of the game. Grassi and Cawley (20) put on a 48-run partnership off just 26 deliveries. This made all the difference as they upped the tempo brilliantly.

Leinster took four wickets in the final two overs, Dockrell taking a return catch to remove Grassi before ending the 19^th with two more before Tristan de Beer took a stupendous catch, diving full-length at long-off, to dismiss James Maginnis off the last ball of the innings.

Despite the late flurry of wickets, 125/6 seemed about par, if not above, given the conditions.

Phoenix took wickets in batches throughout the Leinster reply and never really looked in danger of being chased down. Theo Dempsey (2-14) took two in two balls to end the fourth over to leave the home side 12/2.

Monil Patel (17) and George Dockrell (10) were the prize wickets and they fell in the space of six balls, holing out to long-on and firing to mid-wicket respectively. When Ben White (2-15) took two in two balls himself in the 9^th over, Leinster were 42/6 and the result was as good as decided.

It was left to Grassi and Cawley (2-2) to put the exclamation points on the performance. First, Grassi had a direct hit run out from point to the non-striker’s end to leave Leinster nine down.

Then Cawley, who had already bowled a maiden and picked up Dockrell’s wicket, bowled Azhar and wrapped up proceedings.

Theo Dempsey, Ben White and Jeremy Lawlor were important factors in Phoenix victory today, however through sheer force of personality Cawley, and particularly Grassi, draw focus to their contributions.

After this 50-run victory, Phoenix will take some beating in the semi-final.

Elsewhere in Group A

Pembroke also qualified for the semi-finals with a 4-wicket win over Dublin University at Sydney Parade. Paul Lawson’s (45*), six off the final ball with four required, got Pembroke there after Lorcan Tucker’s 45 had helped them recover after the evergreen Conor Hoey had taken 3-13 and Nic Pretorius’ unbeaten 54 that had set Pembroke 127 for victory.

In the third match, Rush finished their season with a 10-wicket victory over North Kildare at Kenure. Eoghan Conway took 3-10 and ran out Monty Singh (30) as North Kildare set a target of just 70. Neil Rock 44* and Nathan McGuire 14* knocked the runs off in 6 overs.

Group B

Railway Union topped the group after a 40-run victory over The Hills. Kevin O’Brien and Glenn Querl both made 26 as Railway Union scored 120/9. Prabanshu Kamal (3-22) led the way with the ball as The Hills were restricted to 80/8 off their allocation.

YMCA also qualified for the semi-finals after 6-wicket victory over Terenure. Mikey O’Reilly took 3-15 as Terenure made 123/8 off their 20 overs including 35 to Donal Vaughan. Harry Tector with 64 off 32 was the main man for YMCA as they had over five overs to spare in victory.

Malahide had a 4-run win over Balbriggan in a low-scoring match in Malahide. Greg Ford top-scored with 48 of Malahide’s 104/9, Abdul Sattar taking 4-16 for the visitors. Ghanim Dara’s 28 and Nathan Rooney’s 23 weren’t quite enough as Malahide restricted Balbriggan to 100/7 off 20 overs.

There was no play possible between North County and Clontarf at Inch.

The semi-finals of the LHW Financial Planning Leinster Senior League Cup will take place on Saturday September 5^th and will see Railway Union host Pembroke and Phoenix welcome YMCA to the Park.

LHW Financial Planning Leinster Senior League Cup 20-over

Group A

Leinster v Phoenix, Observatory Lane, Saturday August 29^th      

Phoenix 125/6 20 Overs (J Grassi 59, J Lawlor 27; G Dockrell 3-26)

Leinster 75 a/o 17.1 Overs (M Patel 17; A Cawley 2.1-1-2-2, T Dempsey 2-14, B White 2-15)

Phoenix won by 50 runs