The Hills 4 vs Malahide 6 - No preview as waiting for scorecards of Terenure 4 vs Knockharley 3 (August 12) and Castleknock 3 vs Wicklow County 2 (August 13)
Merrion 2 vs Malahide 2 - Plenty of matches still to be played in the 2nd XI Premier League, but Malahide don't have much wriggle room if they are to lift the title. THey are 43 points behind second place Merrion with a game in hand and with five games still to play. It's not an impossible gap to close, but a loss today would surely leave them with too much to do. Merrion are 12 points behind leaders Pembroke but with a game in hand. If they win their remaining four games, they will be champions. The sides gave met five times in Anglesea Road in the last thirteen seasons, with Malahide doing well with a couple of wins. In May 2019, Peter Saville (5-15) and Agnibesh Paul (4-38) combined to dismiss Merrion for only 146. It could have been worse with Merrion at 35/5, but runs for Timcy Khanduja (30), Chriag Poddar (24) and Ross Shivmangal (26) gave Merrion something ot bowl at. Malahide gave them no chance though, as David O'Halloran (28), Cameron Shoebridge (26), Agnibesh Paul (26), Callum Riches (37) and Nick Turner (14) got home in 27.4 overs.
Balbriggan 2 vs Cork Harlequins 1 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Cork Harlequins 1 vs Phoenix 2 (August 12)
Adamstown 2 vs Castleknock 1 - The final of the 2023 LHK Insurance YMCA Salver between two Division 7 sides, Adamstown 2 (who are currently in 6th place) and Castleknock 1, the current leaders. Neither team has a T20 title to list on their honour's board, so it will be a first for one of them. The head to head between the two tells a mixed story. Up until the start of this season, Adamstown had won three of the four matches between the teams, which included two YMCA Salver matches. But the two league matches this season have both gone the way of Castleknock by fairly large margins - 5 wickets and 158 runs. Suhas Yellur has dominated Adamstown's run scoring in the Salver this year with 173 runs at 34.60, with Bradley Fernandes their top wicket taker with 9 wickets at 7.0 in the four matches he has played. For Castleknock, their batting in the competition is led by Anjum Kayani with 220 runs at 36.67, with their leading wicket taker being Masrat Naveed Aslam with 12 wickets at 10.58.
North County 2 vs Leinster 2 - 7th in the 2nd XI Premier League hosts 5th. For Leinster, a victory should seal their safety for another season. County have four games left to get to safety, and although Clontarf are only two points ahead of them in sixth place, they have three games in hand. That means Leinster are probably their closest challengers and they need to close a 36 point gap having played the same amount of games - hence the importance of today for North County. County's win last year at home in the league was their first home win against Leinster since May 2016. Lat August's game saw John Devane make 49 for North County, but their 176 all out (Shaaz Ahmed 3-42) didn't look that good in the normally run laden Inch. But Leinster found it equally tough, edging their way to 62/3 before a four wicket burst from Digamber Mishra (4-27) reduced Leinster to 99/7. There was a late flurry of runs from Matthew Tonge (39), Shaaz Ahmed (24) and Karthikeyan Jawahar (20*) but Leinster were to finish an agonising 13 runs short.
Railway Union 2 vs YMCA 2 - YMCA are getting close to needing miracles in the 2nd XI Premier League, 55 points from safety with a game in hand on Leinster. They probably need three wins from their last five matches and perhaps four. Railway still have a chance to win the league, which would only be for the second time in their history - the first being in 1967. They need to make up 22 points on Pembroke as well as playing Merrion, a must win match. That could equate to having to win all four of their remaining matches. Last year's league match in Park Avenue was a classic of its type. Sam Streek blitzed through the Railway top order with 4-19 to leave Railway in tatters at 26/4. It didn't then get much easier as Padraic Flanagan (3-26) and Cillian McDonnell (3-15) polished off the tail to bowl Railway out for 73. It was Railway's second lowest innings total at home (since 2010) after their 67 all out against Laois 1 in July 2017. The total proved to be more than enough as YMCA found it even harder. Fakhar Zaman took 3-7, Sean O'Brien 3-11 and Stuart de Klerk 3-0 as YM were bundled out for 49. It was their lowest all out total on record, ignoring the controversial match against Leinster in 2017 when YM had only six players.
Phoenix 2 vs Knockharley 1 - No preview as waiting on scorecard of Cork Harlequins 1 vs Phoenix 2 (August 12)
Wexford Wanderers 1 vs The Hills 2 - No preview as waiting on scorecard of Cork Harlequins 1 vs Phoenix 2 (August 12)
Finglas 1 vs Rush 3 - Rush look to be safe from relegation in Division 11, but unfortunately, their promotion chances look fairly slim as well. If Rush win both of their last two matches, Tyrrelstown and North County would have to lose nearly all their remaining matches to give Rush a chance. Finglas are on top with a healthy 20 point lead. Their main challengers are North County 4 who are 35 points behind but with two games in hand. The only previous league match between the teams was on June 10 this year, with Finglas winning by 4 wickets. Ankur Ghogale took 5-33 for Finglas (his best bowling in his short 14 game career, making him only the fourth player to take 5 wickets in an innings for Finglas 1, after Deepu Jose, Joy Samuel and Jitendra Chavan) ,as Rush were bowled out for only 121. Callum Armstrong then took the first five wicket haul of his career (5-13, the third best recorded for Rush 3) but Finglas eased home in only 18.3 action packed overs, Rahul Balachandran scoring 51 from 41 balls.
Tyrrelstown 5 vs Ongar 2 - No preview as waiting on scorecard of Merrion 7 vs Ongar 2 (August 7)
Laois 1 vs Adamstown 1 - Adamstown hold a 23 point lead over Sandyford 1 in Division 5, but Adamstown have played an extra game. The pair play in an end of season decider on September 16th. Laois have four games remaining, and have little chance of promotion, but four wins will leave them there and thereabouts. The four previous matches between these two have all been since 2021, with Laois leading 3-1. Adamstown's only previous win was in Stradbally in May 2022. Hamid Ali top scored for Adamstown with 52, with Kamran Sabrie leading the way for Laois with 4-23, the 14th time he has taken four wickets or more for Laois in a 137 match career stretching back to 2014. Adamstown made 158 all out and Laois instantly found themselves in trouble at 11/2. Pomin Ponselvan caused the initial damage with 3-26, to be followed up by Prabhanshu Kamal's 4-11 as only Mathew Auret (44) and Jawad Amin (30) stood up to be counted, as Laois were bowled out for 130.
Carlow 3 vs Leinster 6 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Merrion 7 vs Ongar 2 (August 7)
Mullingar 2 vs Lucan 2 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Phoenix 5 vs Greystones 2 (August 13)
Castleknock 3 vs Pembroke 5 - No preview as waiting on scorecard of Castleknock 3 vs Wicklow County 2 (August 13)
North Kildare 5 vs Dundalk 1 - Dundalk cannot be confirmed as Division 13 champions this weekend, but they gave a great chance to extend their lead at the top, traveling to 7th place North Kildare today. They are currently 63 points short of the title, so if results go their way, they may be able to start the celebrations at home to Wexford Wanderers 2 on September 3. North Kildare are up against it, but do have five games left to save their season. They need to be winning at least two (and perhaps three) of their last matches to get to safety. Three matches between the two teams since 2022 have all gone the way of the home team - and by big margins each time. Dundalk have won the last two by 232 runs and 155 runs, whilst the game of May 2022 in The Maws was won by North Kildare by 96 runs. This year's match on July 29 looks the most relevant - Sakhi Jan scored 125 (only the third century scored by a Dundalk 1 player and the first not to be scored by M MudassaR Zahid) as Dundalk made 280/6. North Kildare then fell away to 48 all out as Syed Ibnan Ali Shah took 7-27,a multitude of records being broken in the process. They were the best bowling figures to be recorded in Hiney Park, beating the 6-22 by Usman Khalid of North Kildare 4 in July 2022. The 48 all out was the lowest total recorded by North Kildare 5 as well as the lowest recorded in Hiney Park. And the 232 run victory was the highest margin by runs by Dundalk 1 and the the worst loss for North Kildare 5.
Sandyford 2 vs North Kildare 4 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Phoenix 5 vs Greystones 2 (August 13)
Terenure 4 vs Adamstown 6 - No preview as waiting on scorecard of Terenure 4 vs Knockharley 3 (August 12)
Clontarf 7 vs Pembroke 6 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Carlow 4 vs Adamstown 8 (August 13)
Clondalkin 1 vs Swords 1 - Two teams who have the potential to be much higher up the Division 8 table are both in trouble of relegation. Clondalkin are down in 7th place, 26 points from safety, but crucially they have three games in hand on many teams and with seven games still to be played, should be way up the table if they win perhaps four more. Swords only have four games left, and hence their capacity to rise is much lower. They may need to win two of their remaining four to get to safety. Their only previous meeting was in May this year, with Swords winning the revere league fixture by 6 wickets. Md Khurshid Anowar made 52 at number 3 (extending his record as Clondalkin's most frequent 50 maker with 13) and Raja Imran Ali made exactly 50 to get Clondalkin to 160 all out. However Ebin Paiva (43), Jithin Sreedharan (28) and Jobby Thomas (77* - his highest score for Swords 1) made short work of the chase, winning in 36 overs.
Clontarf 6 vs Tyrrelstown 4 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Laois 3 vs Railway Union 5 (August 13)
Civil Service 5 vs Greystones 3 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Laois 3 vs Railway Union 5 (August 13)
Naas 2 vs Kilkenny 2 - No preview as waiting for scorecards of Balbriggan 4 vs Athlone 3 (August 12) and Balbriggan 4 vs DLR County 2 (August 13)
Greystones 2 vs Terenure 3 - No preview as waiting on scorecard of Phoenix 5 vs Greystones 2 (August 13)
Knockharley 3 vs Wicklow County 2 - No preview as waiting on scorecard of Castleknock 3 vs Wicklow County 2 (August 13)
Swords 4 vs North County 6 - No preview as waiting for scorecards of North Kildare 6 vs Clondalkin 3 (June 11), Clondalkin 3 vs Sandyford 3 (August 5) and North Kildare 6 vs Sandyford 3 (August 13)
Civil Service 2 vs Clontarf 2 - A David vs Goliath clash in the final of the 2023 LHK Insurance Tillain Cup finals. Eight times winner of the Tillain Cup Clontarf 2 face a Civil Service 2 side who won the Whelan Cup in 2003 and 2005, but who only played in the Tillain Cup for the first time in 2020. In 2021 it was Civil Service 1 who were back in the Tillain Cup, getting to the final before losing to …..Clontarf 2. And as recently as 2018, there was a 55 place (approx seven divisions) difference between the teams in the league. So Service go into the match as massive underdogs, but they are there on merit, after five of their seven games in the competition so far this year, with wins over 2nd XI Premier League teams Malahide 2, YMCA 2 and North County 2. Remarkably, the only previous meeting between the teams went Civil Service's way - in the 2020 Tillain Cup. Clontarf were always struggling, with all the Service bowlers contributing. Dhiraj Shetty had 3-2 from 10 balls, closing out the innings with the last three innings as Tarf were bowled out for 85. It wasn't that easy for Service, , But 38 from Keith Webster set the tone, as Service got home by 5 wickets with 25 balls to spare.