Rush Top Order Blasts their way to victory

A strong top order batting display from Rush set up a convincing victory over Dublin University in the first LHW Financial Planning Senior League Cup match in College Park this season.

Rush won the toss and decided to field, seeking to limit the home side to a total that could be chased. Tight bowling from both ends made it difficult to score runs with any confidence.

Pick of the bowlers was Nathan McGuire with 4/10 from his allocation, including the only DUCC batsman to get set at the wicket. At one stage it looked like Diarmuid Tucker could drive the students to a total that they could bowl at, but after 34 off 38 balls he was well caught by Allan Eastwood.

That wicket was one of three in the over and this burst took all the wind out of the sails of the students. Determined efforts by Bisgood and Neville saw them set Rush a run-a-ball target of 120.

The chase was anything but run-a-ball. Nathan McGuire, Stephen Doheny, but especially Neil Rock set about the students at will. Consecutive sixes towards Nassau Street from Rock saw him score 38 off only 19 balls, but when he was well caught on the boundary by Max Neville, there was a distinct wobble in the middle order.

McGee and Abbasi came and went, leaving the old(er) heads of Gull and Barnes to take the singles and regain control of the innings. When Barnes fell to a sharp caught & bowled by skipper Michael Hogan, there was the chance of another wobble with two runs to get.

But former Irish International Allan Eastwood came to the middle and calmly hit his first ball for four to win the match.

This was a good all round performance from Rush, with tight bowling, aggressive batting and steely nerves to bring their first win of the season.

Elsewhere in Group A:

At Anglesea Road, Leinster set Merrion a target of 126, with 49 from Saqib Bahadur anchoring their innings. But in reply, Merrion had an anchor of their own, with John Anderson also scoring 49, backed up by Max Sorenson who got Merrion over the line with 4 overs to spare

At Sydney Parade Pembroke hosted North Kildare who deserve praise for their commitment in fulfilling their fixture notwithstanding the lock-down constraints which necessitated fielding a team of players from outside their home county. Batting first North Kildare made 69, with Ahmed Dar (19) the only man in double figures. Wickets were shared with Jack Balbirnie the highlight with 3/2 off his 2 overs. In reply, Pembroke found runs hard to come by, with Muzamil Sherzad taking 4/14 off his allocation. But Pembroke bat deep and got over the line with 5 overs to spare.

In Group B:

At Claremont Road, Balbriggan batted first, setting 118/9; Farooq Nasr was the only batsman to get set, 51 off 41. Wickets were shared around, with Anders (T), O'Reilly and Thompson all taking 2. In reply for YMCA Jack Tector blasted away with 74 off 33, ably backed up by Tim Tector who made 36 off 19. Of the bowlers only Abdul Sattar had any impact, and the target was reached with 9 overs to spare.

At The Vineyard, Malahide batted first and blasted their way to 190. Highlight was Greg Ford (64* off 40), but he was backed up by Alan Reynolds (46 off 22) and Alaistar Frost (38 off 23). In reply for The Hills Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin set a good foundation with 72 out of the first 121. But with only Levon Shields (41 off 34) contributing they were always behind the chase and ended 59 runs short.

In Terenure, Clontarf got first hit and set a competitive total of 141. This was anchored by Eoghan Delany with 41, following on from Robert Forrest opening with 37. In reply Terenure never got going at all. Ben McCabe took the first five wickets to fall, but didn't get a chance to bowl the last over of his allocation. By that stage Terenure were 27/5 and they could only manage 47 all out.

In Park Avenue, North County batted first, but Railway Union took regular wickets to restrict them to 89 all out. Pick of the bowlers were Prabhanshu Kumar (3/13) and Alex Stiles (3/15). The reply was anchored by 40 from Kenny Carroll, but it took until the 19th over to cross the finishing line.