MERRION EDGE CLOSER TO THE SUMMIT - IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE & CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND-UP (JULY 20TH)

Merrion were the winners in a frustrating day around the province in the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League, as they took full advantage of Pembroke vs Malahide, and Phoenix vs Leinster being rained off to edge closer to the top of the table.

The Anglesea Road outfit won the toss and elected to bowl first, in a game reduced to 24 overs a side, with three wickets for Pete Francis helping restrict Clontarf to 153/6 in their 20 overs. David Vincent top scoring with 42 for the visitors, whilst both Mitchell Thompson and David Delany passed 30. The chase was sensational, as Stephen Doheny stroked an unbeaten 100 from just 62 balls in leading the home side to a full point victory with over eight overs to spare.

Meanwhile in the Championship, there were totally opposite fortunes as all four games saw results. Firstly, in Kilcock, The Hills batted first, however North Kildare had the upper hand as three wickets for Bakhtyar Nabi and Imran ul-Haq reduced the Skerries side to 103/9, Febin Manoj however made a 30* which would prove crucial, getting his side up to 149 all out. The home side were always just behind in the chase, and Sean McNicholl's 4/22 was the pick of The Hills bowlers, which also saw two wickets for each of Nicolaj Damgaard, Matthew Weldon and the batting hero Manoj, in securing 46 run victory on DLS.

In Terenure, a forty over game took place, with the home side bowling first after skipper Dylan Cleary won the toss, he led the way with the ball, taking 3/31 including the key wickets of Mark Andrianatos and Ross Durity, however excellent half centuries from Sunil Gautam and Nabeel Anjum saw the away side recover from 6/4 and 62/6 to post 184/9. The chase began with a flurry of boundaries, before Henry Dall fell for 22, however a century stand between Dónal Vaughan and Sid Nair put the home side well on top. Nair was dismissed for 54 with the score on 136, however Vaughan batted through to the end, finishing unbeaten on 75 as the home side secured a 7 wicket victory.

In Park Avenue, Railway Union batted first in a 20 over match, where Rob O'Brien's 42, supplemented by 20s from Hedayat Khogiani and Srihan Karpe helped them post 135/6 in their innings. Nasir Totakhil the pick of the bowlers for the away side taking 2/9, whilst there were also two wickets for Nathan McGuire. The chase was led by Rush's opener Josh Doyle, who put together 42 from just 30 deliveries at the top of the order to give them a solid base. Jack McGee was then unbeaten on 42 as the side romped to a 7 wicket victory with 19 balls to spare, in a result which sees them leapfrog their opponents.

Finally in Inch, North County batted first in a 38 over game, and made an excellent total of 262/7 in their innings. John Devane top scored with an unbeaten 73 batting at number five, whilst there were also runs for both openers, as skipper Niall McGovern made 37, along with Ciaran Sheridan who made 40. Civil Service's bowlers had to toil, and there were two wickets for each of Dhiraj Shetty, Vipul Kashyap and Mubasher Siddique. Service's chase was smothered from the outset, only Siddique passing 30 as they were all out for 116 inside 29 overs. Two wickets for each of Eddie Richardson, Alan Joseph Mathew, Sean Sludds and Abdul Ghaffar seeing the home side to an excellent 146 run victory.