PEMBROKE MARCH ON AT THE TOP - SPRINT COATINGS DIVISION ONE ROUND-UP (JULY 18TH)

There were wins for Pembroke, Phoenix and Clontarf this evening, as the second half of the Sprint Coatings Division One season kicked off much the same as the first half ended.

The fixture between The Hills and Malahide was a No Result, meaning just three fixtures took place this evening, and it was business as usual for the team at the top in our featured game.

Pembroke won the toss and bowled first, returning to the tactic which saw them reel off 6 wins in their opening 6 games of the season. Joanna Loughran was the first wicket to fall for the home side, trapped LBW by a Lou Lou Little delivery which kept markedly low. That was followed by a 41 run partnership between Ava Canning and Rebecca Rolfe, with the former adding 23 before skying Anna Beale to deep mid-wicket, where Little took a steepling catch.

That brought Jenny Sparrow to the crease, and she and Rolfe added a further 57 in an excellent partnership spanning just 37 balls. However, when Sparrow was bowled for 16, Beale quickly added the wickets of Isabel Saeed-Maguire and Orla Bagnall, before Rolfe was run out for 47, as the innings petered out to 128/6 from their 20 overs. Beale finishing the pick of the bowlers with 3/15 from her four overs.

The chase got off to a rapid start, as after Ava Canning took the early wicket of Clare Shillington for 5, Little and Sarah Forbes added an excellent 60 run partnership inside 6 overs to put Pembroke firmly on the front foot. This saw Shauna Kavanagh join Forbes at the crease.

This pair added a further 41, with the Pembroke keeper/captain making 17 as they continued to tick the scoreboard over nicely to keep the run rate required to a more than manageable rate. When Kavanagh eventually fell, the score was 106 and the in-form Eimear Mullen joined Forbes at the crease. With the pair knocking off the 23 runs needed for victory in just 21 balls, with Forbes unbeaten on 34 in another straightforward 7 wicket win.

Elsewhere, in the Phoenix Park, Gaby Lewis repeated the dose of her heroics on Tuesday night, this time in the chase, as Phoenix hunted down Merrion's total of 122/5 in just 14.5 overs, Lewis finishing 85* from just 52 balls. Earlier in the evening, Merrion had seen a very similar innings to theirs of Tuesday night, as Leah Paul and Celeste Raack made 46 and 43 respectively to take the score to 102/1, before a poor finish saw them making just 21/4 in the final 23 balls.

Finally, in Castle Avenue, Clontarf totally overpowered Balbriggan with a brilliant bowling performance. Sinead Thomson and Alyssa Pasley both took three wickets apiece, for just six and seven runs respectively, whilst there were two more excellent spells from both Freya Sargent who took 2/7, and Alice Walsh who's two wickets came without costing a run. Clontarf's chase took just 9.3 overs, with the top score of 12* from Susan Lawless, as Claudia Green stood head and shoulders above for Balbriggan taking 2/11 from her four overs, as the home side won out with 8 wickets to spare.