SKELLIG SIX 18 LEINSTER SENIOR CUP QUARTER-FINALS

SUNDAY 11.6.2023

EXCITING DAY IN THE SKELLIG SIX 18 SENIOR CUP QUARTER-FINALS (11.6.2023)

Malahide v Clontarf (Malahide)

Malahide 267 All Out off 48.4 overs (Younas Ahmadzai 128, Michael Frost 42*, Jimmy Newland 22; Mick Granger 3-49, Ruan Cronje 2-42, John McNally 2-38)

Clontarf 269-6 off 45.5 overs (Bobbo Forrest 99, David Delany 57*, Eoghan Delany 39, John McNally 30; Ali Frost 2-32, Michael Frost 2-45)     

Clontarf won by 4 wkts and will face Railway Union at Park Avenue on 23rd July

Opener Younas Ahmadzai played a brilliant hand for Malahide as wickets fell at regular intervals around him. The other meaningful contributions for Malahide with the bat came from ex North County all-rounder Andrew Sheridan (21), Jimmy Newland (22) and Michael Frost who finished on 42*. 27-year old Ahmadzai completed a brilliant century, scoring 128 off just 107 balls including 17 X 4s and 3 X 6s.

The Clontarf bowlers stuck to their task well with Mick Granger taking 3-49, Ruan Cronje 2-42 and young John McNally finishing with 2-38. Clontart will have also beendelighted to welcome back David Delany who won both the Marchant Cup (top batsman) and the Samuels Cup (top all-rounder) in 2022. David came on first change and took the wicket of Alistair Frost (1-30 off 6).

Chasing 268 for a place in the semi-finals, Clontarf lost Andrew Delany (one of three brothers in the top 5 of the order) early on to former Irish International Peter Chase. As he did on Saturday in the League, captain Eoghan Delany made a solid contribution (39 off 44 balls), building a useful 61-run second wicket partnership with John McNally (30). Bobbo Forrest and David Delany then took up the challenge of the chase adding 143 runs for the 5th wicket in just 20 overs to swing the game decisively back in Clontarf’s favour.

The Malahide bowling attack had no answers once Forrest and Delany launched their counter-attack and it was a real shame that Forrest fell agonisingly one short of what would have been a brilliant 100 – that said, he can be very proud of his match-winning contribution today. David Delany showed his class and maturity to see the team home for an unbeaten 57 off 78 balls.

Michael Frost had earlier dismissed Eoghan Delany and Cronje to achieve figures of 2-45 off his 10 overs whilst Ali Frost (as the 8th bowler used) took a couple of late wickets to limit the scale of Clontarf’s winning margin.

Railway Union v Rush (Park Avenue)

Rush 199 All Out off 44.3 overs (Neil Rock 74, Lew Johnson 32; Hamza Maan 2-6, Brandon Kruger 2-27, Fakhar Zaman 2-32)

Railway Union 203-5 off 32.3 overs (Riley Mudford 66,Kenny Carroll 59, Liam McCarthy 52*;                    Jarred Barnes 2-33)

Railway Union won by 5 wkts to secure a home semi-final on 23rd July

Having been put in to bat at Park Avenue, Rush made a fast start with Lew Johnson scoring 32 off just 18 balls. The primary innings for the visitors came from the bat of IrelandInternational, Neil Rock who scored 74 (8 X 4s, 1 X 6) before falling to the bowling of Fakhar Zaman with the score on 156-7 with still 18 overs left to bat. Some useful late order contributions from Andrew Doheny, Brandon Morris and Jarred Barnes enabled Rush to set Railway a target of 200 for a place in the semi-finals. It was a decent all round performance by Railway in the field with Hamza Maan, Brandon Kruger and Fakhar Zaman sharing six wickets for 65 runs.

Not surprisingly, it was Kenny Carroll and Riley Mudford who set about the chase for Railway with the pair combiningvery effectively to put on 99 for the second wicket In just 13.4 overs. Alex Neary eventually dismissed Mudford after he had contributed 66 off just 45 balls (including 5 X 4s and 5 X 6s). With the departure of Mudford, Carroll continued to anchor the innings completing his half-century off 74 balls. 

Jarred Barnes contributed well with ball for Rush removing Akhil Prakash and Brandon Kruger for a return of 2-33 to keep Rush in with a shout as Railway slipped to 128-4 at one stage before Carroll (59) and Liam McCarthy combined to secure a well-deserved home win with over 17 overs to spare. McCarthy was particularly destructive at the end finishing unbeaten on 52* (8 X 4s, 2 X 6s).

North County v Leinster (Inch)

North County 240 All Out off 49 overs (John Devane 110, Jono Andrews 36, Niall McGovern 35; Mark Tonge 4-38)                   

Leinster 241-2 off 33.5 overs (Monil Patel 111*, Joey Carroll54 retired hurt, Bilal Azhar 31)

Leinster won by 8 wkts to secure a semi-final clash at The Vineyard on 23rd July

Batting first at home, North County accumulated at a steady rate and benefited from a fine opening stand of 92 between Niall McGovern (35) and John Devane, followed by a 3^rdwicket stand of 77     between Devane and the veteran Jono Andrews (36). Devane went on to complete a fine centuryguiding his team to a very competitive total. 

So a great day for 19-year old John Devane (110 off 150 balls) who achieved his first senior century. Before today he had a highest senior score of 38 against Leinster in Inch last season. It is the 8th time he has passed 50 for North County, but his first century in the Open Competitions at any level.

Another young man making a name for himself was Mark Tonge who made sure Leinster stayed in the hunt by removing McGovern and then the North County middle-order to achieve figures of 5-42    off 7 overs, his career best bowling figures and his first senior five wicket haul. 

This restricted North County to a total of 240 which at one stage looked like being considerably more when the home side was 204-3 off 43.

Bilal Azhar (31) got Leinster’s reply off to a solid start before Monil Patel and Joey Carroll combined to deliver a match-winning partnership of 126 off just 16 overs before Carroll was forced to retire hurt having made 54 (2 X 4s, 5 X 6s). Patel continued to power on, now with the support of Saqib Bahadur (19*). Patel sealed the win for Leinster with a magnificent, unbeaten 111* off just 86 balls and which included 14 X 4s and 2 X 6s)

North County’s bowlers struggled to apply any pressure and in the end Leinster ran out easy winners by 8 wickets with 16 overs to spare.

The Hills v Pembroke (The Vineyard)

The Hills 247 All Out off 45.2 overs (Bhavesh Lakhotia 63, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin 47; Paul Lawson 5-33, Piyush Sharma 2-25, Nick Stapleton 2-34)

Pembroke 178 All Out off 40.4 overs (JJ Garth 34, Macdara Cosgrave 32, Paul Lawson 27, Nick Stapleton 25; Nicolaj Laegsgaard 2-29, Cian Nulty 2-35, Jonathan Tall 2-40, Sean MacNicholl 2-49)

The Hills won by 69 runs and progress to a home semi-final on 23rd July.

Despite the early loss of Nicolaj Laegsgaard, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin (47) and Bhavesh Lakhotia (63) combined to put on 95 for the second wicket before Paul Lawson changed the game as he ran through The Hills batting line-up,dismissing McLoughlin-Gavin, Murray Commins, Mark Donegan, Andy Kavanagh and Tomas Rooney-Murphy in quick succession to leave The Hills reeling at 162-7 off 34.4overs. 

It seemed that the home side’s innings might quickly fall away but Nathan Rooney (batting at 6) and Cian Nulty (at 9) had other ideas and launched a counter-offensive putting on 81 for the 8th wicket in just 8.3 overs. Nulty was dismissed for 28 whilst Rooney powered his way to a vital half-century, finishing unbeaten on 58* (5 X 4s, 4 X 6s) off just 37 balls before he ran out of partners. This was Rooney’s 14th senior 50 (and first for The Hills). Paul Lawson was the stand-out bowler for Pembroke with 5-33 well supported by Nick Stapleton and Piyush Sharma with a brace each.

Set 248 to win, a number of the Pembroke batsmen got starts but with no major innings, The Hills were able to apply consistent pressure with a fine all-round bowling and fielding performance. Paul Lawson added some late runs as Pembroke closed on 178 all out. 

The Hills won by 69 runs with all bowlers contributing to this success - Nicolaj Laegsgaard, Cian Nulty, Jonathan Tall and Sean MacNicholl all took wickets in a reasonably straight-forward win for the home side.

SKELLIG SIX 18 LEINSTER SENIOR CUP SEMI-FINALS (TO BE PLAYED ON SUNDAY 23RD JULY)

The Hills v Leinster (The Vineyard)

Railway v Clontarf (Park Avenue)

The Final will be played on Saturday 5th August 2023 in Sydney Parade. The match will be live-streamed on the CL YouTube channel with commentary throughout the day. The CL President (Pat Banahan) will also be hosting a CL Patron’s Lunch in the Pembroke pavilion.

The trophy (which dates back to 1935) will be presented by June O’Connell, CEO Skellig Six 18 to the captain of the winning team. Our thanks to June & all the team at Skellig Six 18 for their support for the development of club cricket across Leinster.