Phoenix 1 vs Railway Union 1 - A much anticipated end to the 2023 Premier League/Championship season. After a brilliant escape, Railway need to lit themselves against if they are going to play Premier League cricket in 2024. Phoenix have had a good while to prepare and were probably thinking outside of the box when they offered their ground to be the host of the play off - a definite advantage. Railway's form has been good, winning three of their last four (and four of their last six), with Phoenix not being too shabby either, winning their last six, and seven of their last eight. Who are the players to watch on each side? Amish Sidhu has been brilliant for Phoenix with 32 senior wickets this year at an average 9.25. In Phoenix's long and illustrious history, there have only been 13 better senior average in a season (minimum 30 wickets), with seven of those thirteen being the great Jimmy Boucher. Jed Wiggins has been their leading run scorer with 290 runs at 29, but Phoenix's strength is definitely their bowling - on top of Sidhu, White and Dockrell form a decent spin attack. Railway's Riley Mudford has now presumably left these sures (he didn't play against Leinster last week), so Ashil Prakash is their leading run scorer amongst those playing - with 283 runs at 18.20. Hamza Maan has become Railway's most potent weapon, currently with 28 wickets at 16.0 after taking 31 wickets last year. Matches between the teams are rare, with only four senior games in Phoenix since the start of 2011. Phoenix's only win in that period was in 2016, and it looks like there being only two survivors from that match - Kenny Carroll for Railway and Ben White for Phoenix. Kenny Carroll scored 107 as Railway made 244/9 from 50 overs, before fifties from Reinhardt Strydom (52), Nicolaas Pretorius (51) and Masud Ahmed (66*) saw Phoenix to a six wicket victory with 47 balls to spare.
Tyrrelstown 3 vs Adamstown 5 - A dead game in Division 13, with these two in 5th and 6th respectively, but safe from relegation, which has befallen North Kildare 5 and Gorey 1. However, both teams have had their best ever league season - Tyrrelstown's 101st beating their previous best of 105th last year, and Adamstown's 102nd beating their best of 103rd in 2021. Tyrrelstown still have two games left and are 15 points behind Halverstown with one game in hand. Three matches between the teams (going back to 2022) have all been won by Tyrrelstown. The only one played in Tyrrelstown Park was in August 2022. Shankar Gopalakrishnan scored 58* for Adamstown in a game reduced to 32 overs but he received no support as Adamstown made only 139/8. Runs from Karthick Natarajan (32), Mysura Reddy (30) and Purushotham Kalle (32*) got Tyrrelstown home in only 17.4 overs.
Clondalkin 2 vs North County 5 - A dead rubber in Division 14, with both sides guaranteed to finish mid-table. There is a bit of doubt as both sides could finish between 3rd and 6th. All will be known by the end of the weekend. Where ever Clondalkin finish, it will their best ever league season in their sixth year in the leagues. This year's league match on September 9th in Ringcommons was a great match. Consistent run making down the order by Clondalkin (Jai Wardhan 24, Waseem Ashraf 60, Sunit Sharma 24*) getting them to 201/8, with Mahad Gull taking 3-22 for North County, the sixth time he has taken three wickets or more for North County this year. Plenty of North COunty batters got starts, but no-one got past Srinivas Yerramsetti's 27 to leave County at 158/7. But Sherjeel Ilyas hit a 31 ball 52 to get County home by 2 wickets with 24 balls to spare. Jai Wardhan took 4-41 for Clondalkin, his best bowling in a 48 match career.
Civil Service 5 vs Railway Union 5 - Nothing to play for for Railway Union 5 in Division 15, as they are guaranteed to finish in third place. Civil Service still have two games to go but need to utilise those games to save their league season. 26 points from the two games would guarantee their safety (and would mean either Laois 3 or Tyrrelstown 4 would go down). Laois have finished their season, but Tyrrelstown have one game left - against Civil Service tomorrow. If Service get less than 26 points, a win over Tyrrelstown will be enough. Three previous league games have been played between the teams, Railway leading 2-1, with Service winning both of the games at home. This year's reverse fixture was played last week with Railway winning by 7 wickets. Service struggled form the word go - 38/5, 68/7 and 93 all out with number eight Sathya Narayanan top scoring with 18. Basit Sofi led the way for the Railway bowling with 3-23, his best bowling in Leinster in a 24 match career for Laois and Railway. Railway got home easily, Anudeep Kesiraju top scoring with 24, as they won with seven wickets and 155 balls to spare.
Ashbourne 2 vs Merrion 6 - A crunch game at the bottom of Division 14. Whoever loses today will be relegated. If the match is tied or rained off, then both sides will be relegated. But whoever wins today does have the chance of avoiding relegation, although with five games left in the division, everything else in up in the air. Today's winner will need as many points as possible, and then hope that either Leinster 5 or North County 5 lose their remaining matches/matches. Nigel Bainbridge top scored for Merrion with 24 batting at number 8 with Kiran Patel taking 3-34 and Harsh Prajapati 3-14 to dismiss Merrion for 129. Reni Sahadev scored 49 at the top of the order, and at 93/3 Ashbourne should have walked it. They then lost 5-32 with Oliver Molins taking 2-6 before Ashbourne got over the line with two wickets to spare.
Carlow 3 vs Dundalk 2 - Another game with lots riding on it, this time at the top of Division 19. There are still six games to go in Division 19, and remarkably it is too early to make definitive statements on points needed. Sandyford 4, Dundalk, Carlow and Ongar 2 all have a chance of the title and promotion, and it looks likely that anyone looking to be successful will have to remain all their remaining games - Carlow face Dundalk, Leinster, Castleknock and Ongar whilst Dundalk play Carlow and Sandyford. The early season league match between the teams was on May 21 with Dundalk winning by 135 runs. Avijot Singh top scored with 79 for Dundalk, his first fifty for the club. Muhammad Irfan and Arsalan Ahmed Khan both took three wickets but good batting all the way down the order got Dundalk to 243/8. Carlow then tumbled to 61/7 before 31 from Ramesh Adabala (batting at number 9) boosted Carlow to 108 all out. Jithin John took 4-17 and Binu Sekara Pillai took 3-21 to cause the damage. That was John's best bowling in Leinster, in a career that is now 19 matches long.
Athlone 3 vs Naas 2 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Mullingar 3 vs Lucan 3 (September 9)
Ongar 1 vs Leinster 5 - Leinster need 9 points to get to Division 14 safety, but if Merrion 6 beat Ashbourne 2, four points will be enough. If they fail with both, they may have to wait until the result of Merrion's match against North County 5 is played on September 23. Ongar are already confirmed as Division 14 champions in their first year in the leagues. The sides met for the first time in a great match on August 19 this year. No one scored more than Nitesh Khodke's 18 for Leinster, as they were bowled out for 112. But Ongar found the going equally tough, with Harshad Kadam's 3-17 starting Leinster off on the right track. At 43/5 Ongar were in trouble, but a crucial 38 from Adithya Annam got them to 92/7, and Anup Kishen's 12* eventually got them over the line for a one wicket win - Ongar's first one wicket win in their short history.
Swords 4 vs Rush 4 - No preview as waiting for scorecards of North Kildare 6 vs Clondalkin 3 (June 11) and North Kildare 6 vs Swords 4 (September 3)
Merrion 4 vs Tyrrelstown 1 - There are still four games to be played in Division 7, and this is as important as any of them. Tyrrelstown still have a chance of the league title. Two maximum point wins would take them to 220.5 points, which would mean Castleknock 1 would need 24 points from their last game (away to Phoenix on Sunday) to take the title. However with Tyrrelstown's last game against Kilkenny not being until September 23rd, we will have to wait to see how that pans out. However, promotion is easier to work out - Tyrrelstown need 22 points from their last two games. Merrion are at the bottom of the table, but can still escape. 34 points from their last two games will confirm them in Division 7 for next season - they play their last game against Kilkenny tomorrow, and there are multiple scenarios if they get less than those 34 points. All should be clearer tomorrow! These two met in the Division 8 final in the second Covid year of 2021. The Merrion bowling was impressive, with Siddharth Kalra (4-21), Denny David (3-32) and Oisin Bhoja (3-27) combining to dismiss Tyrrelstown for 113. At the time it was Kalra's best bowling in Leinster, but he has beaten it twice this year with 4-37 and 6-30 for Merrion 3. Merrion limped along to a certain extent, making 114/5 from 35.1 overs to seal the game, Andrew Kay top scoring with 21.
Mullingar 2 vs North Kildare 4 - For North Kildare, the equation in this Division 12 match is easy. If they take 25 points from the match, they will escape relegation, and Adamstown 4 will be relegated. Any less and North Kildare will join Phoenix 5 in the drop to Division 13. Mullingar know exactly what they have to do as well - score 39 points from their two remaining games - two wins - will be enough to see them promoted in second place. Mullingar are away to Terenure next Saturday in their last game of the season. The teams last met in the league in September 2022 in St Finian's College. Brandon Boshoff scored 73 for Mullingar, and Kuruvilla Ninan Puliyayil scored 20, but no one else got to double figures as Mullingar were dismissed for 149. It was Boshoff's first 50 for Mullingar, and he added a second one against Adamstown 4 this May. Sumit Savara took 3-26 for North Kildare. In reply North Kildare got home with 5 wickets and 59 balls to spare, thanks mainly to Satinder Singh's 64*
Wicklow County 1 vs Laois 2 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Laois 2 vs Railway Union 4 (September 9)
North Kildare 6 vs Wexford Wanderers 3 - No preview as waiting for scorecards of North Kildare 6 vs Clondalkin 3 (June 11) and North Kildare 6 vs Swords 4 (September 3)
North County 3 vs Swords 1 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Bagenalstown 1 vs Phoenix 4 (September 9)
Bagenalstown 1 vs Knockharley 2 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Bagenalstown 1 vs Phoenix 4 (September 9)
Sandyford 1 vs Adamstown 1 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Adamstown 1 vs Civil Service 2 (September 10)
Castleknock 3 vs Swords 3 - For Swords 3, this is a dead end of season game in Division 16. But for Castleknock, it is anything but as they hunt for the Division 16 title. Castleknock and The Hills 4 are the promoted sides, but the title is up for grabs. Castleknock need 10 points today to be crowned Division 16 champions - anything less and The Hills will be top. Two previous league games between the teams have been shared, with this year's encounter on Kuly 29 going the way of Swords by 51 runs. Farooq Hussain top scored for Swords with 56 (his fourth 50 for Swords 3, he didn't score any 50s in an 11 match spell with Castleknock in 2021), and good batting all the way down the order for Swords to a decent 208/9 from 40 overs. Sohail Khan took 4-44 for Castleknock (his second best bowling for Castleknock 3 after 4-15 against Terenure in August 2022). Castleknock then got off to a horrendous start, falling to 3-3, and although they recovered thanks to Hamza Moinuddin's 65 (his second 50 in Leinster this season, after not getting one so far after making his debut in 2018), the writing was on the wall from those first overs. Six Swords bowlers took wickets as Castleknock lost one of the three league games they have lost this year.