It was good to get through an afternoon without the need to get out the Duckworth/Lewis calculations. There were also some important results - Pembroke continued their good form with a full points win over Phoenix and Clontarf maintained pressure on the leaders by beating North County by 60 runs. In the third game, The Hills failed by 10 runs to overhaul Merrion’s score of 257.
In terms of individual performances it was good to see the bowlers wrest back some of the initiative. Youth players, Josh Little and Fiachra Tucker, had good games for Pembroke taking two and four wickets respectively. This set Pembroke up for an easy win over Phoenix with Daniel Solway and Theo Lawson both making half-centuries.
Batting first Clontarf posted 281/5 thanks to 50s from Alec Cusack [72] and Andrew Pointer [62], and this proved too much for North County. A run-a-ball 74 from Eddie Richardson was not enough and NC could only reach 221.
The most exciting match of the day in D1 was between The Hills and Merrion. The visitors got off to a good start with 73 before the second wicket fell. Adam Lockhart Krause made a solid 66 but it was down to the efforts of Tyrone Kane [102] that Merrion were able to reach 257 ao. Three wickets for Max Sorensen but 10 overs at less than 4 per over from Albert van der Merve was equally important. At 150 for 2 in the 36th over The Hills looked well on course to take the match. But thereafter wickets fell steadily and although the scoring rate never got out of hand, Merrion were able to exert sufficient pressure to keep in the game. A ten over spell in the middle of the inning from David Langford-Smith [2/31] proved decisive.
In D2 there were wins by nine wickets by Cork County [v North Kildare] and by five wickets by Leinster [v Malahide] - nothing much is known as Live Scores were not up and no scorecards posted. The third game between Balbriggan and Rush saw over 600 runs on the day - with centuries from Muhammad Farruhk and James Warsop for Balbriggan as they put up a massive 332/7. Despite the carnage Gull managed to take 4/47 in his 10 overs. A rapid opening stand of 173 between Stephen Doheny [73] and Lynal Jansen [86] at better than 8 runs per over meant that Rush were very much in the hunt. But the introduction of Kiel van Vollen Hoven [4/43] into the attack induced a middle order collapse. Despite some later hitting Rush fell 18 runs short.
For D2 the wins by Balbriggan and Leinster put them in strong positions to take the two promotion places. But of course with the second spot only bringing a play off against the 7th team in D1 there is a real incentive to win the league.
Listen in to East Coast Radio tonight around 9.00 to get a report on the weekend matches.