SPORTSHUB LEINSTER SENIOR CUP – GAMEWEEK 2 PREVIEW

The second round of fixtures in the SportsHub Leinster Senior League Cup are set to be played tomorrow, Saturday 12^th June, with several interesting ties, and some already extremely important games to be played out.

With many sides set to play the next two rounds of fixtures without their InterProvincial players as the IP20 festivals commence in Pembroke followed by a weekend in the North West, all teams will be looking to make the most of having these players available this weekend.

In Group A the Cricket Leinster featured game of the round comes from Terenure where they welcome Rush. The Kenure men got off to a flier on Monday, blitzing 179/8 against a well respected Leinster side. Nathan McGuire was pivotal in that game, making 52 off just 33 balls at the top of the order, and whilst he failed to score last time out, Terenure will be all to aware of the damage ‘Pebbles’ (skipper Neil Rock) can do with the bat – he averages 77 in Terenure, higher than in any other ground which he’s played in Leinster bar Castle Avenue. With the ball, pace off worked well for Rush last week, Daniel Coffey’s medium pace yielded 4 wickets, whilst McGuire went for just 16 off his 4 overs of off-spin, they’ll be hoping to continue that good form into this week’s encounter, especially given they are without the experienced Allan Eastwood this weekend.

Terenure meanwhile were left smarting after a strong flourish to YMCA’s innings last week allowed them to score a total which proved to be 50 too many. A mixed bowling performance saw three bowlers going for 6.5 per over or less, with Aidan Doyle’s spell of 2/26 catching the eye in particular. Whilst with the bat they were smothered by some tight early YM bowling, highlighted by the fact that only number 7 Bhavic Tukrel managed to score at better than a run a ball. They enter this weekend with an unchanged side, and will hope that they can build on the positive efforts with the ball last week.

KEY BATTLE: Séamus Lynch vs Nathan McGuire

The other clash sees YMCA take on Leinster in Rathmines. Having fallen 31 runs short last week against Rush, Leinster will be looking to put in a strong performance to get themselves on to the front foot in the competition. Saqib Bahadur’s all-round performance last week was a glimpse at what he can do, and if he’s in form again Leinster will be looking to his batting to lead them in the absence of the injured Gareth Delany. He was accompanied at the top of the order by ex-YM man Aviral Shukla, who will no doubt be determined to put in a good show against his former club.

YMCA on the other hand were dominant in Terenure in spite of the unavailability of their international players – captain Jack Tector was involved in two early run outs, after which he batted supremely for his 43, whilst Bobby Gamble and Tom Anders showed good form in getting their side to a good score of 152/6, however it was their bowling which they will hope to recreate in the main this weekend, leg-spinner Mitchell Thompson was the only player to go at more than 6 per over, if they can bowl as well again this time around, they will surely be a long way towards a second win of the season.

KEY BATTLE: Saqib Bahadur vs Jack Tector

Group B sees Malahide host Clontarf in a tie between the two sides who won the opening games in this group. Malahide put in a fine all-round display in week one, Cameron Shoebridge’s 4/26 the pick of the bowling, while Keith Reynolds and Michael Frost both bowled extremely economically going for just 8 runs and taking three and one wickets respectively. Their explosive batting line-up is always important, and having seen each of their top 4 strike at 100+ on Monday in the run-chase, similar will be required if they are to get on top against a Clontarf side with a strong bowling line-up.

That ‘Tarf bowling attack has been boosted significantly by David Delany’s return to the bowling crease after a recent operation, however his spell last week was outshone by very good showings from Mick Granger, who took 3/22, whilst Munster Reds bowler Fionn Hand took 4/12 on his debut for the club – these three form the backbone of a very strong seam attack which is sure to play out an enthralling battle with the big hitters at the top of Malahide’s order. While Clontarf’s batting is as strong as ever, there aren’t many better balanced top threes in the competition than Moor, Forrest and Eoghan Delany, and those three will be crucial to their sides chances, whether chasing or setting a target.

KEY BATTLE: David Delany vs Cameron Shoebridge

The other Group B game sees Railway host Cork County. With both sides having lost their opening game, this is set to be a crucial tie for qualification stakes. Railway will look to their usual suspects to produce the goods with the bat, but will have been encouraged that even when Carroll and Querl failed to amass large scores last week that they saw contributions from elsewhere, most notably ‘keeper Ciaran Divney who was returning from a lengthy absence. As ever Prabhanshu Kamal’s leg-spin will be important, whilst an unnoticed benefit of Divney taking the gloves has meant they can now benefit from the services of Glenn Querl with ball in hand as well.

Cork were playing their first Open Comps game since September 2019 on Monday and their much changed outfit was overpowered by Clontarf, they’ll need captain Ross Durity to produce some strong performances as the most experienced player in their side at this level, while both Diarmuid Carey and Abubakar Saddique should find conditions in Park Avenue to their liking as well.

KEY BATTLE: Prabhanshu Kamal vs Abubakar Saddique

Group C sees a vital clash between the two winners of last week’s games, as Pembroke host Merrion at Sydney Parade. As was noted in last week’s preview, Theo Lawson was vital to Pembroke’s opening day win in North Kildare, making a 71* that dominated the scorecard, whilst their ability to crutch on years of experience at this level was evidenced in the 89 run unbeaten stand he shared with brother Paul for the 6^th wicket. They will be hoping to provide more support earlier in the innings this weekend against a more experienced bowling attack than they faced last weekend. With the ball, Scott Ruttle’s 4 wickets earmarks himself as the one for major praise here, however he was the most expensive of the 4 spinners on show for Pembroke with Paul Lawson (4.5) JJ Garth (3.75) and Fiachra Tucker (2.75) all posting miserly economy rates, they’ll be crucial again this weekend if they aim to restrict a strong Merrion batting line-up.

Merrion on the other hand rose from the dead against Balbriggan and they’ll be hoping that the tough battle they went through to get a result in that game will stand to them again this weekend. An outstanding three-wicket burst from James Hitchcock was the main driver in getting them back into the game last week, while Jack Carty’s recent call-up to the Munster Reds squad showed to be of real benefit to Merrion as the match-ready Australian also contributed 2/16 with the ball, to go with his earlier 54 at the top of the order – his performances will be particularly important in the coming weeks while Stephen Doheny remains unavailable. Their spinners of skipper Tom Stanton and Amish Sidhu will likely prove every bit as important to them as Pembroke’s spinners are to their attack.

KEY BATTLE: JJ Garth vs Amish Sidhu

Balbriggan travel to North Kildare in the other tie in the group, and after a strong showing in week one will have been left wondering what more they needed to do to win that game. Connor Fletcher, as he has been since his arrival at the club, was again to the fore with the bat for Balbriggan and it will be himself and Farooq Nasr yet again who Balbriggan look towards to make big runs, while in the middle order Greg Ford will be keen to find form ahead of the IP20 festivals. With ball in hand there were impressive debuts for Campbell Davies-Webb and Christopher de Freitas and they will be important again this weekend coming up against the equally youthful North Kildare attack.

NK started even more encouragingly in the field on Monday than Balbriggan had, reducing Pembroke to 52/5 before some fine batting from the Lawson brothers got the Sandymount men out of dodge. Abdul Aryan’s 2/26 accounting for both Tuckers catches the eye every bit as much as economic spells from Manjeet Singh and Waqar Azmat. If they can reproduce that bowling effort again this weekend they will put themselves right in the contest. With bat in hand, the senior level experience they have added in Monil Patel, Danny Coad and Azmat helped them stand up to an excellent Pembroke attack, and although they fell 23 runs short, they will put in worse batting performances and still win games.

KEY BATTLE: Muzamil Sherzad vs Christopher de Freitas

In Group D, Phoenix and The Hills face off in what is potentially a competition defining game for both sides. Phoenix will have not expected to lose the opening game of the season to Dublin University and now already find themselves in must-win territory in order to prevent The Hills flying clear of them in the group table. Their batting didn’t fire at all in week one, Aaron Cawley’s top score of 28 the only man to make more than 15. Opener Jamie Grassi and number 3 Tyrone Kane will be the two men they hope can provide impetus in their batting innings and allow captain Adam Chester along with the young middle order to play their natural, aggressive style. With the ball, the Munster Reds attack of Kane, Cawley and Theo Dempsey will be vital in attempting to keep a stylish Hills batting order under wraps.

The Skerries men meanwhile put in a superb all-round performance last week and skipper Tómas Rooney-Murphy will no doubt be looking for more of the same both personally, after his 3/19, and as a team, after they made very light work of chasing 138. Their Reds contingent of Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin and Murray Commins contributed 0 from 4 balls between them last week, and both men are sure to be determined to turn that around quickly, so don’t be surprised to see one or both in the runs come 5pm on Saturday evening. If they are, the top 5 looks formidable, Mark Donegan and Levon Shields laid the platform beautifully last week and in new-recruit Dylan Blignaut at number 5 they seem to have a genuine class all-rounder in their ranks.

KEY BATTLE: Dylan Blignaut vs Tyrone Kane

The final game of the preview sees Dublin University host North County, the College Park side are without player-coach Nigel Jones this week as well as regular captain Sanil Gupta, which means they will again call on 9 of the 11 from the team which comprehensively beat Phoenix on Monday. In the absence of Jones, there’s added responsibility on Nicolaas Pretorious and Gavin Hoey with the bat, whilst with the ball they’ll be hoping for more of the same from Max Neville and JJ Walsh, both of whom took wickets in last week’s victory.

North County on the other hand will be aiming to bounce back strongly after a tough loss in the local derby with The Hills last week. They’ll have been encouraged by Owen Graham’s continued progression with the ball, he was by far the pick of their bowlers with his 2/26 from four overs. With Sean Sludds, a similar type of bowler to Graham also producing decent figures of 1/19, it perhaps indicates that they will again be suited to the pitch in College Park this weekend. With bat in hand, they will look to their usual suspects in the middle order to build from a base and explode late in the innings. This will make opening pair Niall McGovern and John Devane very important to their chances this weekend.

KEY BATTLE: Max Neville vs Eddie Richardson

Sports Hub Senior League Cup Fixtures Saturday 12th June

Group A

1pm YMCA v Leinster, Observatory Lane

2pm Terenure v Rush, Terenure (full reporting coverage)

Group B

1pm Malahide v Clontarf, Malahide

2pm Railway Union v Cork County, Park Avenue

Group C

1pm Pembroke v Merrion, Sydney Parade

2pm North Kildare v Balbriggan, The Maws

Group D

1pm Phoenix v The Hills, Phoenix Park

2pm Dublin University v North County, College Park