Dundalk 1 vs Gorey 1 - Top plays bottom in Division 13 in a match that has no impact in the league with both teams already assured of their finishing places. Dundalk win their fourth ever league title after Division 11 (2011), Division 10 (2015) and Division 9 (2012). They need a few more promotions to get back to the levels of 2012. Gorey slip back to 104th in the league, but that is still a good performance - they were lower in 2018 and 2018 and will bounce back. In the reverse game this year on May 7, only Chaminda Peiris got into double figures for Gorey with 30* as they were bowled out for 64. Dundalk knocked the runs off in 18.2 overs for the loss of two wickets, Sakhi Jan top scoring with 33*.
Merrion 4 vs Kilkenny 1 - Merrion's excellent win over Tyrrelstown yesterday has cleared up a few issues in Division 7 - but not all of them! Merrion are only half a point behind Kilkenny, but Kilkenny still have two games left. Nine points today (a tie, a rained off match or a win) will enable Merrion to overtake Civil Service 3 and find safety. Coincidentally nine points will also be enough for Kilkenny to overtake Civil Service and play in Division 7 in 2024. The one previous match between the teams was on June 3 this year. Shoaib Tariq (58) and Shozab Ali Taj (also 58) added 108 for the 1st wicket (their 2nd highest 1st wicket partnership) but good bowling from Merrion pegged them back, with Himanshu Sharma taking 4-40, one of three four wicket hauls for him for Merrion 4. Kilkenny still made an excellent 258/8 from 45 overs. Merrion just couldn't impose their batting on Kilkenny and slowly slipped to 142-8, their chances disappearing. Nine, ten, Jack, all scored well with Vishal Singh (24), Himanshu Kamat (28) and Chetan Suttraway (26) doing their bit, but it was too late. Ketan Malik took 3-36 and Deepak Pandey 3-37 as Kilkenny closed out the game by 42 runs.
Phoenix 3 vs Castleknock 1 - Castleknock were confirmed as Division 7 champions yesterday when Tyrrelstown lost to Merrion. Today should be a fairly relaxed day as a result. Phoenix 3 are now in a bit of trouble. For example if today's match between Merrion 4 and Kilkenny 1 is rained off, Phoenix 3 will be relegated along with Civil Service 3. All Phoenix can do it get as many points as possible and hope Kilkenny collapse in their two remaining matches - or Merrion lose badly today. The four league games between the teams in Phoenix have gone the way of Castleknock 3-1. The last game was in September 2018, with the match played as an 18 over game. Deepak Jayachandran (61) and Afkar Ahmed (78*) added 156 for the second wicket, which is still the Castleknock 1 record partnership for the 2nd wicket. They finished on 176/2. Bilal Chauhan then took 3-20 and Sandar Rashid took 3-24 as Phoenix struggled, eventually making 140/7 with Abdullah Tariq top scoring with 45.
Sandyford 4 vs Ongar 2 - Two of the three teams who can still win the Division 19 title clash in Marlay Park. Ongar have to win both of their games (they play Carlow 3 next week) and then just cross their fingers that the others fail. Sandyford are 21 points behind Dundalk with two games to go and know that if they win both with 47 points they will be champions. The teams have already played three times this year, including the Adamstown Cup final. Ongar won that one, Sandyford took the league game in Ringcommons on June 24. The Sandyford innings total of 186/9 was built around Sathish Mohan's 62*, but only Jitesh Manayil's 28 really offered support. For Ongar, Sandesh Gowdru took 3-25 and Harshavardhan Buyya 3-39. Ongar possibly still had a chance at 91-3 but wickets for Puvanesh Senapathy (3-29) and Sathish Mohan (3-25) saw Ongar fall away to 147 all out.
Tyrrelstown 3 vs Wexford Wanderers 2 - Tyrrelstown's rained off match yesterday in Division 13 doesn't make too much difference to the league standings. The one unknown for Tyrrelstown is that they could improve their league position to 4th if they get four points today. Whichever happens, it will be Tyrrelstown 3's highest league position (101st) in their fourth season. Wexford Wanderers are in an excellent spot and will be promoted as long as Finglas 2 do not score ten or more points more than Wexford in their match against Halverstown. The only match between these teams to be played in Tyrrelstown was in May 2022, when Tyrrelstown won by 4 runs. Mathew (4-32) and Steven (2-13) Vuyk were the heroes for Wexford, as Tyrrelstown slowly fell to 145 all out. Purushotham Kalle's 50 batting at number 6 was the difference between Tyrrelstown having a poor total and one they could defend. Mathew Vuyk's 4-21 was his career best in a 36 match career since 2020. Kartheek Reddy Podduturi took 4-27 at the top of the order, but a Wexford recovery by Steven Vuyk (29) and Tony Murray (21) got them to 123-6. But that was as good as it got, as the lst four wickets went for 18 runs.
Clondalkin 3 vs North County 6 - No preview as waiting for scorecards of North Kildare 6 vs Clondalkin 3 (June 11) and North Kildare 6 vs Swords 4 (September 3)
Ashbourne 1 vs Civil Service 4 - The last Division 9 match of the season. Civil Service have had their best ever season, and will move up to 68th in the league (4th in Division 9) should they win today. The pair have never met in league cricket, with two 2021 Whelan Cup games both goiung the way of Civil Service. Vinu Jacob needs 105 runs from this innings to break Ronan White's 2013 record of most runs in a season for Service 4 (415). Sandeep Velaga needs just one wicket to break the Ashbourne 1 record for wickets in a season. He is currently level on 28 with Vipin Baby and Shahid Hameed (both 28 wickets in 2016)
North Kildare 6 vs Kilkenny 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)
Kilkenny 2 vs Mullingar 3 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Mullingar 3 vs Lucan 3 (September 9)
Swords 4 vs Finglas 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)
Greystones 3 vs Carlow 2 - Carlow 2 are the champions of Division 15 for 2023, their first ever league title in their sixth season as a league team. It is also their best ever finish in the league, 113th beating the 114th that they finished in 2016 and 2017. For Greystones, the match is a dead rubber, and they are already guaranteed to finish in 4th place. These two have played each other on eight occasions since 2016, with Carlow leading the head to head 6-2. The last league match in Greystones Druids was in May 2019. Rob Massey top scored with 33 for Greystones, but with only Paul Thompson (26) supporting him, Greystones could make only 104 all out. Mohammed Younus took 4-14 and Zahir Uddin 3-24. Younus took his second four wicket haul for Carlow on the day, then added 5-15 in August 2019, but hasn't even taken three wickets in a match since. Inzmam Haq led the way for Carlow with 50, as they won by 8 wickets in 20.4 overs. It was his only fifty in a 27 match career for Carlow between 2017 and 2019.
Carlow 3 vs Castleknock 4 - A bad result for Carlow yesterday as they were on the wrong side of a Division 19 25 point loss to Dundalk 2 which was enough to end their hopes of promotion. With Castleknock also mid-table, this is a match with nothing to play for. No previous league matches between the teams so a quick look at who has performed this season. For Carlow, no one has scored more than Dammar Budhathoki's 216 at 30.86 with their leading wicket taker being Younus Mohammed with 13 wickets at 11.15. For Castleknock, Mubeen Khan is the top run scorer with 329 runs at 36.56 and their leading wicket taker is Nadeem Muhammad with 19 wickets at 16.
Civil Service 5 vs Tyrrelstown 4 - A loser takes all play off in Division 15. Civil Service must score one more point than Tyrrelstown to stay up - otherwise they will be relegated. In effect that means they have to win as a tie or rained off match will not be enough. This has been Tyrrelstown's third season in the leagues, and what ever happens, they will have their best ever league place, 118th or 119th. The first ever league match between these two was on August 12 this year. It wasn't looking good for Tyrrelstown at 97/5, but lower order runs for Arun George Antheril (24), Ashwin Menon (25) and Ameer Hamza (36) got them to 214 all out. Civil Service started slipping behind the run rate from approximately the 15th over, and needed 140 from the last 20 overs with seven wickets in hand. Kamesh Munuswamy scored 52 for Service but they were still dropping behind the rate, eventually finishing on 163/9
North County 5 vs Slieve Bloom 1 - North County's rained off match against Clondalkin yesterday, means that County are now safe from relegation, with the two spots going to either Leinster, Ashbourne or Merrion. These two therefore play out a dead match in Inch. The only league game between these sides in Inch was Slieve Bloom's first ever match in Leinster. For North County Ciaran Morrison and Martin Mackey both scored 25, and Rob O'Byrne 50* as County made 161/9 in 40 overs. Seven North County bowlers then took wickets, with no one scoring more than Meil Myers' 18 as Slieve Bloom were bowled out for 98. Happier days were to come for Bloom!
North County 4 vs Merrion 5 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Merrion 5 vs Tyrrelstown 2 (August 27)
Finglas 1 vs Swords 2 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Merrion 5 vs Tyrrelstown 2 (August 27)
North Kildare 2 vs Laois 1 - No preview as waiting for scorecard of Adamstown 1 vs Civil Service 2 (September 10)
Halverstown 1 vs Finglas 2 - Finglas 2 still have a chance of promotion from Division 13. They are in third, 9.5 points behind Wexford Wanderers 2 in second place, with Wexford playing Tyrrelstown today. For Finglas to go up, Wexford must not win, and Finglas must. This is only Finglas 2's third year in the league, but it is by far their best season and will finish in 99th place if they stay where they are, compared to 112th last year. Finglas 2 have never played in Brannockstown, with their only game being on June 25 in Poppintree Park. 28s for Paolo Rosa and Vishnu Vardhan Reddy Yannam got Halverstown up to 125 all out, which Finglas chased down easily, losing four wickets and having 76 balls to spare, with Vivek Ojha (36*) and Rahul Gopinath (37) scoring the bulk of the runs at the top of the order.
Malahide 6 vs Wicklow County 2 - The Hills 4's win on Thursday was enough to bring Wicklow's promotion aspirations to an end for 2023. They will finish in 123rd in the league, one place better than in 2022. Malahide are already relegated to Division 17. The only previous match between the teams was this year's league encounter in Bray on May 28th. Wicklow's innings was built around 41 from Thejas Sreedharan and 46* from Vishal Arya, as Wicklow County got to 176/7. James Dickinson took 3-18 for Malahide. Sreedharan has already broken his own 2022 record for most runs in a Wicklow County 2 season, scoring 776 runs at 48.50. Malahide got off to a fantastic start, and were 78/0, thanks to Koushik Chandrashekar (37) and Sanjay Pahuja (46). But disaster then struck, as Malahide lost all 10 wickets for 52, including their worst ever 5 wicket collapse, going from 111/3 to 114/8. Sashi Kanth took 3-22 and Sreedharan 3-24 to hasten the host's victory.