Phoenix 2 vs Wexford Wanderers 1 - A dead end of season match in Division 4. Phoenix are currently in 30th spot in the league, a position they finished in in 1993, 2012 and 2021 but which they have never been worse than. For Wexford Wanderers, this has been their best ever season, however they finish today. Last week's reverse fixture in Wexford was the first time the teams have ever played each other. James Harmse top scored for Wexford with 31 but 5-21 from Sushil Kumar dismissed the home side for 134. It was Kumar's best bowling for Phoenix 2 in his 18th match for them. When Phoenix were reduced to 4-2 it looked like Wexford had a great chance. But a brilliant67 ball 88* from Johit Munjal, supported by Haseeb Khan's 76 ball 20* got Phoenix home by 6 wickets. Munjal's knock was the highest score against Wexford Wanderers 1 in Wexford for over ten years, when Syed Mehdi scored 100 for Balbriggan 2 in August 2013.
Merrion 2 vs Railway Union 2 - Malahide's crushing win over North County in the 2nd XI Premier League yesterday keeps their very slim hopes of the title alive. 228 points is the magic number that Railway Union need to get to, but there is some discussion as to whether their current points tally on the Cricket Leinster site is correct. They need either 23 or 21 points to get to 228 and hopefully the exact amount can be confirmed by CL as soon as possible. For Merrion the match is dead and they can enjoy the sun/rain. Merrion have won all three of the league games we have on record in Anglesea Road, The last time they met was in August 2021. There were 50s for Sean Stanton (51) and Niranjan Shankar (52) as they made 240/7. Railway struggled against Merrion's young spin attack, with Peter Forkin (2-17), Daniel Forkin (2-21) and JJ Walsh (3-35) all helping Merrion to their 106 run win.
Balbriggan 2 vs Knockharley 1 - A triumphant year for Balbriggan 2 in Division 4 who are already champions with one game to go. As recently as 2009, Balbriggan 2 were the 22nd ranked 2nd team in the province, playing in Junior A with (amongst others) Leinster 7. Next season they will take their place amongst the top eight in the province in the 2nd XI Premier League. It has been a tough year for Knockharley 1, and they will play 2024 in Division 5 for the first time since 2019. The teams played two Division 7 league games in 2013 (both won by Knockharley) and then last week's reverse fixture, which Balbriggan won by 5 wickets. Syed Haris took 5-31 for Balbriggan, his sixth five wicket haul for Balbriggan 2, in 96 matches for the team. Tayyab Rashid was the standout for Knockharley, with 34 as they were bowled out for 85. Balbriggan got off to a bad start at 19/3, before Bilal Iqbal (27) and Vivek Singh (23) steadied the ship, Brigg winning by five wickets in only 21.2 overs.
YMCA 2 vs North County 2 - North County's big loss to Malahide yesterday has consigned North County to relegation, with YMCA also unable to escape the drop. It will be a funereal atmosphere in Claremont Road. North County did win in Claremont Road in this year's Tillain Cup, but in the league they have lost all the matches we have on record - six matches dating back to 2012. The closest game was probably a low-scoring affair in June 2016. Jay Shelat was the stand out bowler for YM with 3-11, and with only Darren Bertram getting to 20, County were bowled out for 63. It was their fifth lowest total on record but an improvement on their previous trip to Claremont Road in 2014, when they were bowled out for 46. But County bounced back, and at 49/6, the match could have gone either way, before Nithin Thambi and Murali Rajendran added the required 15 runs.
Clontarf 2 vs Malahide 2 - Clontarf's status in the 2nd XI Premier League for 2024 is finally confirmed afterNorth County's loss yesterday. Malahide can still get to 227 points, and must get maximum points in their last match today, There is some confusion over Railway Union's points total, and what ever Malahide do today, Railway can move past them against Merrion today. Malahide's last league win in Castle Avenue was back in May 2016. No Clontarf batter got to 20 as Joe Jennings took 5-22 and Cameron Shoebridge 4-31 - Clontarf were all out for 102. Richard Wing then top scored with 29 as Malahide limped home, winning by 5 wickets with nearly 30 overs to spare.
Civil Service 3 vs Tyrrelstown 1 - Adamstown 2's 100 run win over Greystones 1 in Division 7 yesterday has made Tyrrelstown's task a little bit clearer. They must score a minimum of 34 points from their remaining three games in order to be promoted (although that may still not be enough. If they get 65 points from those three games, they will be champions. And anywhere in between has varying possibilities attached to it. Civil Service really need to win today to be safe. If they lose, they are going to be relying on the results of Phoenix 3 and Merrion 4. The reverse match on May 14 was reduced to 35 overs due to rain. Roshin Raviprasad top scored with 40* and Abhijith Mathew 34 as Tyrrelstown made 175/7. Rohith Gunaseelan took 3-44 for Service. In reply Rajkumar Koka took 4-18, but despite that, Civil Service were always there and thereabouts. However, apart from opener Raj Negandhi (39), no batter got going, and Service ended up beingbowled out for 159.
Dundalk 2 vs Ongar 2 - The Division 19 title and promotion places are very much still up for grabs, with these two teams having a major part to play. They both still have three games to play in this nine team league, and only four points separate Dundalk in second from Ongar in third. Leaders Sandyford 4 are ten points ahead of Dundalk, so the teams can't really afford to slip up, and the losers today will be struggling (although not officially dead and buried). The sides have still not managed to meet yet this season. Jithin John continues to hang on as Dundalk's leading run scorer with 262 runs at 65.50 and is still their leading wicket taker as well with 18 wickets at 11.28. Ongar's leading run scorer is Rajkiran Pucchakayala with 327 runs at 27.25 and Arun Reddy Katheri has taken 26 wickets at 12.08.
Castleknock 4 vs Sandyford 4 - No preview as waiting for result of Castleknock 4 vs Leinster 6 (yesterday)
Adamstown 1 vs Civil Service 2 - Sandyford's 24 point win over Malahide yesterday in Division 5 mean that Adamstown are still not crowned as champions. 22 points will enough today for them to lift their first league title since winning Division 7 in 2014. Any chances that Civil Service had of promotion have now disappeared. The reverse league game on May 14 saw a decent win for Adamstown, by 5 wickets. Junaid Altaf scored his first 55 for Civil Service since moving from Clontarf (55), but they could only make 144 all out, Chandra Mouleeswaran Venkataraman taking 3-19 for Adamstown. There were a few wobbles as Adamstown fell to 93/5 but Rohit Gulati made 36* at number 7 to get Adamstown home with 117 balls to spare.
The Hills 4 vs Terenure 4 - No preview as waiting for result of Malahide 6 vs The Hills 4 (yesterday)
Rush 2 vs Laois 1 - Oddly, Laois 1 may be down in 6th place in Division 5, but they are the only team outside of the top two to have a chance of promotion. However, it is very slim, and they will need to have maximum points in their last three games, and hope Sandyford capitulate in their last two. But really this is a match that is all about relegation. Both sides are on 139 points, but whereas this is Rush's last match, Laois have three to go. Rush have to win well today and then hope Laois fall apart. It has been a disappointing season for Rush, and whatever happens today, they are going to end up with their worst league finish since 2017. Laois are looking to get back to their pre-covid levels, and this could be their lowest league finish since 1998.
Longford 1 vs Leinster 3 - Longford's win over Mullingar yesterday confirmed the top two in Division 6 as Longford 1 and Terenure 2 - in that order. Leinster's win in Carlow makes them safe, and so this is a dead match. However, all is not that rosy for Longford as it is the lowest they have finished in the league since 2015. Leinster haven't beaten Longford in either of their two previous meetings, and have never played in Newtownforbes. They played this year on June 11th, Daire Cassidy making 53 for Leinster (his third 50 for the club). With plenty of support (Aneesh Kohli made 36) they got to 200 all out, with Longford legend Danish Javed taking 4-17. Adnan Khan's 74 then provided the backbone of Longford' reply, and they won by 4 wickets with 53 balls to spare.
Pembroke 3 vs Terenure 2 - Congrats to Terenure 2 who were confirmed yesterday as runners-up in Division 6, and next year they will play in Division 5 for the first time since 2015. Leinster 3's win yesterday means Pembroke are locked in a battle with Railway Union 3 for the second relegation place. The equation is simple for Pembroke - they must get at least seven points - which means a tie or a win. None of Terenure's four previous visits to Sydney Parade against Pembroke 3 have resulted in a victory. Their last league game was in July 2015. Oisin Farrell took 3-53 for Terenure, but runs for Diarmaid Tucker (42) and Jeremy Dunleavy (66* got Pembroke to a useful 247/9). Terenure struggled from the start with no one passing 20 and Jonathan Garth taking 3-35. Terenure were bowled out for 94.
Kilkenny 3 vs North Kildare 6 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of North Kildare 6 vs Clondalkin 3 (June 11)
Ashbourne 1 vs North Kildare 3 - Nothing more is to be decided in Division 9, with North Kildare 3 crowned as champions (after winning Division 10 last year) and Ashbourne finishing in either 3rd or 4th, depending on today's result, the final game in Division 9. It is the highest North Kildare have ever finished in the league in their 38th season. Their 65th place beats 67th that they finished in 2005 and 2006, when they finished 6th in Intermediate B. As these two teams have risen through the leagues together, there have been a good few league meetings, with the head to head tied 2-2. The only league game played in Ashbourne was in August 2016. Terry Bruton (2nd place on the Ashbourne all time run scorers list with 1649 at 21.70) hit 45 and Jobin Thomas (leading all time run scorer for Ashbourne with 2231 runs at 30.15) 71 as AShbourne made 214/9, Muddasir Zeb taking 3-56 for North Kildare. North Kildare were soon in trouble at 27-3, and only Zeb's 23 really stood out. Jobin Thomas completed a fine game with 3-17 as Ashbourne won by 124 runs.
Sandyford 2 vs Mullingar 2 - A crucial game in Division 12, which will have an impact on Lucan 2's season as well as Mullingar's. Sandyford are champions for 2023, their fifth league title and first since winning Division 13 in 2021. But Mullingar are the one team everyone else is watching. They have three games remaining, and could get to 246 if they won all three with maximum points. That is a total that Lucan cannot match. However a Mullingar loss today coupled with a Lucan win would see Lucan promoted. The sides' last meeting in Marlay Park in the league was back in September 2015 in a Division 9 match. Adeel Haider was the only Mullingar player to pass 20 with 50, Arun Kumar taking 4-29 as Mullingar were bowled out for 129. Kumar played for Sandyford from 2014-2016 taking 50 wickets at 16.90, mainly for Sandyford 1. Sandyford got there fairly easily, with Ravinder Singh top scoring with 38* as they won by 6 wickets with 54 balls to spare.
Knockharley 3 vs Adamstown 6 - No preview as waiting for result of Malahide 6 vs The Hills 4 (yesterday)
Athlone 3 vs Kilkenny 2 - No preview as waiting on results of Kilkenny 2 vs Naas 2 (yesterday), Mullingar 3 vs Lucan 3 (yesterday).
Laois 3 vs Carlow 2 - The 2023 Division 15 champions travel to Laois in the nice position of not needing a particular number of points. However, they are two matches away from having an unbeaten league season - a fine achievement. Laois 3 are still in the middle of a relegation battle and urgently need a win today. They will be looking at the results of the Civil Service and Tyrrelstown keenly. One previous match between the sides, in May this year, which resulted in a nine wicket win for Carlow. Ahsan Pervaiz top scored for Laois with 35, but wickets for six Carlow bowlers dismissed Laois for 102. Robert O'Driscoll (45*) and Mainul Chowdhury (31) made short work of the Laois bowling, knocking off the runs for the loss of one wicket in 15.4 overs.
Finglas 2 vs North Kildare 5 - Finglas have two games left in Division 13 in which to try and grab the second promotion spot. Wexford Wanderers 2 and Tyrrelstown 3 also have the same aim, and it looks like Finglas will need to win both of their matches (they are away to Halverstown on September 17) and hope results go their way. North Kildare need a lot of luck at the other end of the table. They need to win today, and then hope Adamstown fail to win either of their last two. The only previous league game between the teams was on June 10th this year on the second pitch in The Maws. Finglas were bowled out for 145 in 29.5 overs and it could have been much worse were it not for Sreejith Sreekumar, who hit 32 from number 8. North Kildare struggled as well, with Jojo George taking 3-26. But with Paramveer Singh scoring 27, and Mohammed Muzammil hitting 42, they edged home by 3 wickets in 30 overs.
Tyrrelstown 4 vs Athlone 2 - Athlone have been confirmed as runners-up in Division 15, and will play in Division 15 next year, cementing their best ever season in the league. Tyrrelstown have two more games remaining (they play Civil Service on the 17th), and two wins will save them from relegation. One win and they are into a dogfight with Laois and Civil Service. The three previous matches between the teams have all been played in Doon, with Tyrrelstown winning twice. Athlone's one win was on July 2 this year. Vasanth Kumar scored 54 for Athlone at the top of the order (his first 50 for Athlone in his 15 match career) but they found themselves in trouble at 123/7 before a rearguard action of 27 from Manish Choudhary, 23* from Philip Sharp and 37* from Saqib Ghafoor got Athlone to 214. Deepak Tripathi hit 54 for Tyrrelstown (his first 50 in a 27 match Cricket Leinster career for Merrion and Tyrrelstown) before Tyrrelstown's innings followed a similar path to Athlone's. Lower order runs (Nithish Kumar Duda was the best with 30) helped Tyrrelstown a bit, but Nishanth Ramdass's 3-24 across the middle of the innings made the difference, Tyrrelstown being bowled out for 172.
Greystones 2 vs Adamstown 4 - Greystones are solidly mid-table in Division 12, and will finish in 5th place - 93rd in the league, their best finish since 2017. Adamstown are in an exciting scrap to avoid relegation, and need to finish above both Phoenix 5 and North Kildare 4. They are 20 points ahead of North Kildare, but will go down if they finish on the same points as North Kildare. North Kildare must win (against Mullingar on September 16), and even then Adamstown need to get one more than the number of bonus points that North Kildare get (so if North Kildare get a win with three bonus points, Adamstown need four points). Then they also need to finish ahead of Phoenix and simply simply match the number of points Phoenix get today at Lucan. Unless Adamstown get 25 points today, they will not know their fate for another week. In a historical context, Adamstown 4 will have had their worst league season since 2018.
Lucan 2 vs Phoenix 5 - Lucan will be promoted today if they win and Mullingar lose to leaders Sandyford. They finished 90th in the league in both 2019 and 2021 and will do the same today should they get promoted. Phoenix are stuck in a three way relegation fight. They must score more points than Adamstown achieve against Greystones, and then if North Kildare win against Mullingar next week, match the number of bonus points North Kildare get (or better). The pair's league match in Castleknock College on July 1st, saw a great Phoenix rearguard. From 97/6, they were indebted to Dinesh Sagi (34), Joshua Gargan (50*) (in what was his first 50 for Phoenix, he added a second last week) and Vignesh Kannan (22) in getting them to 196 all out. Shalitha Wijethilaka took 3-44, the 5th time he has taken at least three wickets this season. But that was as good as it got for Phoenix. By the time they took their first wicket, the match was nearly over. Sameer Handa (88) and Veerender Voskula (72) added 164 for the first wicket. It broke the record for the highest 1st wicket stand for the club, which was 148 by Gaurav Kumar and Anudeep Yalamuru for Lucan 2 vs Merrion 7 in September 2018. Lucan won by 7 wickets with 78 balls remaining.
North County 6 vs Rush 4 - No preview as waiting on scorecards of North Kildare 6 vs Clondalkin 3 (June 11), Clondalkin 3 vs Wexford Wanderers 3 (September 2) and North Kildare 6 vs Swords 4 (September 3)
Railway Union 5 vs Civil Service 5 - Railway Union's dreams in Division 15 are over, and they will have to settle for third place (assuming they stay above Greystones 3). Civil Service are still in the midst of a relegation fight, and with three games to go, there is still a lot of cricket to be played. There are only 14 points behind Laois 3 in 5th and Civil Service in 7th, and every point is vital. Two previous league games have been played by this pair, both in 2022 and both in Civil Service. In the first early season match on April 18 2022, Civil Service scored 178/4 from 30 overs with Danio Joseph scoring 52*, Manish Mohan 35 and Jimmy Sharma 37. Joseph has had a long and successful career in Leinster, currently with 128 matches across 13 seasons - but that is his only 50. Railway got to 63/1 and were looking good until Sony Sebastian started a spell, ending up with figures of 5-18. As the time it was his career best, although he took 5-15 later in the season for Civil Service 5 against Finglas 2. Before this match, his last five wicket haul had been 5-19 for Dundrum 1 against Wicklow County 2 in May 2011. After Sebastian's spell, Railway didn't have much else, and finished on 143/9 from their 30 overs.
Clondalkin 1 vs North County 3 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Swords 1 vs Knockharley 2 (September 2)
Swords 3 vs Wicklow County 2 - No preview as waiting for result of Malahide 6 vs The Hills 4 (yesterday)
Adamstown 8 vs Clontarf 7 - No preview as waiting on scorecard of Pembroke 6 vs Carlow 4 (September 5)
Malahide 6 vs Pembroke 5 - No preview as waiting for result of Malahide 6 vs The Hills 4 (yesterday)
Sandyford 1 vs North Kildare 2 - Sandyford's 8 wicket win over Malahide yesterday has almost confirmed their Division 5 promotion. Four points today will confirm it, but if Laois slip up at all, less than four will suffice. Their title aspirations are not too shabby either - two wins (they play leaders Adamstown next Saturday) and they will be champions. North Kildare could still be dragged back into the relegation spots, and could do with another win - they also play Laois next Sunday. North Kildare last one in Marlay Park in September 2021. Sadaf Raza top scored with 35 as a decent North Kildare batting performance got to 155 all out. Narasimha Dixit and Bhupinder Nizer both taking three wickets for Sandyford. Mohammad Zaman was then the star for North Kildare, as he took 5-21 to help dismiss Sandyford for 127. It has been Zaman's only 5 wicket haul in a 63 match Cricket Leinster career for Wexford Wanderers, Balbriggan, North Kildare and Rush.
Mullingar W1 vs Greystones W1 - No preview as waiting on multiple scorecards from Division 4