So finally the Premier League got off to a proper start. But the excitement of the single match on the first weekend outshone what mainly turned out to be one-sided affairs yesterday. In three instances the teams batting first were shot out for less than 100. Only YMCA bucked the trend and put in another excellent performance in defending a score of 205 against Phoenix.
But the story of the day was of the dominance of bowlers who took full advantage of April conditions. In Rathmines Joe Carroll put in a career best performance in taking 7/28 [his previous best was 7/35] in destroying Pembroke who were all out for 52*. Highlights [or perhaps the whole match] are on ‘Game of the Day’.
David Delany did most of the damage for Clontarf where he also put in a career best performance taking 4/24. He was ably supported by Sameer Dutt [3/8]. Clontarf were made to fight hard chasing down 84 and in the end lost six wickets as Max Sorensen [2/16] and Albert van der Merve [3/20] did their best to make life difficult for batsmen.
The third match, Merrion v North County in Anglesea Road, saw the visitors bowled out for 88. In this case it was very much a team effort with all six bowlers getting into the act. Merrion lost one wicket in reply with Jack Carty leading the team home with an undefeated 48. Anyone who want to see the highlights - including all the wickets - can CLICK HERE
The final game was another tense encounter for YMCA. This week they batted first and Harry Tector was again in the runs [67], with the second top scorer extras. Ben White [3/44] and Reinhardt Strydom [3/25] were the most successful bowlers.
Mid season 205 all out at Claremont Road would be counted a sub-par total but in April with most players having their first knock in the middle, it is a different matter. Jarred Barnes [3/22] made the initial breakthrough taking two early wickets but the main damage was done when Padraic Flanagan [3/30] took out the middle order. Simi Singh also slipped in with three wickets [3/26]. That the game was kept alive until the final overs was due to an excellent debut innings by overseas player Brad Kneebone who made 79*.
So the first [unofficial] table of the year looks like this.
| Round 2 | Played | Won | Tied | NR | Lost | Bonus | Total |
| YMCA | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 41 |
| Merrion | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 30 |
| Clontarf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 22 |
| Leinster | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | 19 |
| Phoenix | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| The Hills | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 |
| Pembroke | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| North County | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Leinster deducted 5 points for late submisison of starring |