SPORTSHUB SENIOR LEAGUE CUP ROUND 4 PREVIEW – 24.6

T20 is very much a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it type of game, even in spite of taking 3 hours to play, but in coming to a preview of Round 4 this weekend, there’s a bit of a similar feel that if you’d blinked at any stage in the last three weeks, you’ll have missed an enthralling first half of the SportsHub Senior League Cup Group Stages!

Kicking off then this weekend in Group A with YMCA travelling to Rush for the second week in a row, this week however they are without their captain Jack Tector, who has been recalled into the Leinster Lightning squad this weekend, whilst his opening partner last week Andrew Blair-White also misses out due to work commitments. In spite of this, the Sandymount side are still a formidable outfit with a bowling attack that most clubs would be envious of, stand-in skipper JJ Cassidy will be able to call on the premier bowler in the league in 2020 in Mikey O’Reilly, alongside Cillian McDonnell who’s been extremely consistent this year so far. That’s before even mentioning former Munster Red Tom Anders, and Ireland U19 left-arm spinner Jamie Forbes.

That gives Rush plenty to think about already, their experienced seam attack of Jarred Barnes, Allan Eastwood and Ehtesham Ahmed will have to be on song to give them a chance of keeping YM’s batting under wraps, whilst they will then rely on Jack McGee to anchor their innings from number three, with plenty of boundary hitting ability all around him, his wicket will be vital to Rush in being able to build an innings. It’s highly likely that if YM can get an early wicket, they will be gung-ho to get McGee out and smother Rush’s boundary hitting.

KEY BATTLE: Mikey O’Reilly vs Jack McGee

The other game in Group A sees Leinster make the trip up the Rathgar Road to face Terenure, and their confidence will be high having delivered a strong all-round performance in last week’s victory over the same opposition. The visitors batting revolves around Joey Carroll at number 3, his stroke-play aligned with some good rotation of strike makes him a key cog in the Leinster wheel, one feels that if Terenure can get him early, they’ll have a greater chance to build dots than if they didn’t, Carroll was the only batsman last week to face more than 20 balls and have a strike rate greater than 100. With the ball for the visitors, their spinners bowled 12 overs last week, but will need to be radar accurate to do the same again this week with the shorter straight boundaries in Terenure not in their favour.

Terenure meanwhile have two changes to the side that lost at Observatory Lane, Bhavic Tukrel and Kenny McDonald are both out of the side with Sadiq Safi making his first appearance of the season. A challenge for the home side will be seeing someone score big runs in their top order, so far their top four have made contributions, but the highest score anyone has made is Dónal Lynch’s 36 against Rush in round 2. If one of their batters can make a large contribution it will go a long way to getting their bowling attack into the game. With the ball, McDonald has opened the innings well so far this season, whilst Tukrel’s middle overs bowling has caught the eye, replacing that pair won’t be easy, but if Zubair Khan can return to form alongside fellow seamers Diarmuid Lynch and Aidan Doyle, they will be the threat they require to get the early wickets needed to stunt Leinster’s batting.

KEY BATTLE: Diarmuid Lynch vs Joey Carroll

In Group B, one of the key games of the group as a whole takes place in Railway, as they welcome Clontarf to Park Avenue for a top of the table clash. Having lost the return fixture the previous week, ‘Tarf will be all too aware that they need a victory, as if they don’t reign Railway in this week, the home side will need just one more victory to secure their semi-final slot. Bobbo Forrest takes over as skipper this week for the visitors in the absence of Andrew Poynter, but they still boast a strong side with a seam attack featuring names who have won numerous trophies in the past decade in club cricket, their main threat however may well be their two youngsters. Ben McCabe’s left arm-seamers and David Vincent’s off-breaks are both sure to be big weapons in the ‘Tarf armoury, whilst Mick Granger is the X-factor in the line-up.

Railway are also without their usual skipper in Glenn Querl, meaning Kenny Carroll takes the armband, his runs will as usual be absolutely vital to the home side as they seek a victory that would help them put one foot into the semi-finals already. Eoin Barron’s return lately should help to account for the loss of Querl with the ball, whilst Prabhanshu Kamal’s leg-breaks will, as ever, be a vital four overs when the time comes for them to be used

KEY BATTLE: Kenny Carroll vs Ben McCabe

The other tie in the group sees Malahide visits Cork County, in a game where the away side have in a way become a victim of their own success, representative cricket claiming 4 of the side, whilst they are also without Peter Chase and James Newland. They do still however possess firepower with the bat, Alan Reynolds and captain Finto McAllister will need to be on form to see their side outscore a Cork side who have grown into the season thus far. With the ball, they’ll rely on Cameron Shoebridge to take wickets as the most experienced in a bowling attack bereft of it’s representative talents this weekend.

Cork on the other hand have no such representative call-ups to worry about, and will be hoping to repeat the dose of their 5 run victory in their visit to Malahide last weekend. Rudolph Pollard’s 4 wickets were key to that victory, and it’s likely again that himself, alongside spinner Abubakar Saddique will lead the way with the ball. With the bat meanwhile, Joubert Pienaar will be the most likely candidate alongside Pollard to produce big runs as the Leesiders go in search of a string of results to potentially propel themselves towards a semi-final berth.

KEY BATTLE: Rudolph Pollard vs Alan Reynolds

Moving on to Group C, the tighter of the two ties last week saw Balbriggan lose to Pembroke on DLS after an injury to a Balbriggan player saw a premature end to proceedings. The ‘Brig then travel to Pembroke with one simple aim, to win to keep their qualification chances alive. Their chances of winning this game will hinge on all-rounder Christopher de Freitas continuing his excellent form so far this season, but he will need support with the bat, from captain Rooney and keeper Fletcher, and with the ball, from Farooq Nasr and Duane Harper, if they can string a consistent 40 overs together, they have every chance of causing Pembroke problems.

Pembroke will again look to their top four to shoulder the bulk of the run-scoring this weekend, after Diarmaid Tucker and Rob Kelly’s opening stand was the main reason they were in the driving seat last week when DLS needed to intervene. With the ball, their spin attack led by Paul Lawson will need to retain it’s strong form so far this season, their spinners combined so far this season are yet to concede worse than a run a ball in a game, with their overall record standing at 42 overs for 215 runs, an economy of 5.11 per over. Those are remarkable figures and ultimately the basis on which the Sydney Parade men build their pressure with the ball, if they can replicate that form again this weekend, they’re sure to go a long way towards a fourth consecutive win.

KEY BATTLE: Paul Lawson vs Connor Fletcher

Meanwhile in Kilcock, Merrion travel to face a North Kildare side who will be smarting after last week’s poor showing at Anglesea Road. If Merrion have any thoughts that they might get an easy time of it this weekend, they’re sure to find a fired up NK side bursting to show them that last week’s performance was far from their best. For Merrion, John Anderson’s runs are as always, absolutely key to them, with his 93 the mainstay of an excellent 175/7 last weekend. Merrion will look to him, alongside their middle order of Joyce, Joyce and Sorensen to bulk up on runs and give their bowlers the best chance of winning the game.

For NK on the other hand, the shining light last week was Muzamil Sherzad’s 2/12 from his 4 overs, his spell of bowling by far and away the best on show for them at Merrion, and a repeat show would certainly give the Kilcock side a chance of keeping their visitors to an attainable total. With the bat, Monil Patel is a class operator who rarely fails twice in a row, so NK will hope that his first ball duck last week means he’s a big chance of turning around into a big innings this weekend. Himself and Josh Uddin will need to provide a base for which their middle order stroke-makers can play with freedom to give the home side their best chance in this game.

KEY BATTLE: Muzamil Sherzad vs John Anderson

Group D opens up with what is certainly a revenge mission for Phoenix as they travel to North County. Last week’s tie saw Phoenix get off to a flying start, only for their middle order to falter, causing them to lose by 8 runs in their pursuit of a modest target of just 127. They will be hoping that Emad Uddin’s form with the bat can continue in a similar boundary-laden way as last week, whilst their middle order led by captain Adam Chester just needs to get a foothold in the game to allow them to explode in the second half of their innings. With the ball, Conor Sheil really impressed last weekend, and his experience will again be vital to ‘Nix as they are again without a raft of interprovincial players this weekend.

On the other hand, North County’s stalwarts of Eddie Richardson and John Mooney will be the main men with both bat and ball if the Inch side are to do the double over Phoenix and potentially push themselves towards the qualification spots. Abdul Ghaffar’s 4/39 last week may appear expensive on the face of it, but wickets are the key in t20 cricket, and in tearing the guts out of Phoenix’s middle order he gave County just the foothold they needed. More of the same from him could well mean more of the same from the home side in the result column as well this weekend!

KEY BATTLE: John Mooney vs Adam Chester

The final game to mention this week is the featured game of the week – as The Hills travel to College Park to face Dublin University. The visiting side will again be without Murray Commins this weekend, but their batting is still very strong, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin and Mark Donegan have been in fine form so far this year, whilst in an all-round capacity Dylan Blignaut has been excellent so this season. He leads their bowling attack alongside Luke Clinton and skipper Tomas Rooney-Murphy’s ability to bowl unplayable spells will be another angle that the home side will hope goes in their favour this weekend.

For the Students, they are again without not only Nigel Jones, but also Gavin Hoey this weekend, as the all-rounder has been selected in the Leinster Lightning squad. They are however boosted by the return of skipper Sanil Gupta to the side, which should help alleviate the blow of losing Hoey. Another player into the side who they’ll hope can soften that blow is Conor Hoey, as the club’s all-time leading wicket taker returns to the side once again this weekend in a like-for-like replacement with his son Gavin in the bowling stakes. Nicolaas Pretorious’ unbeaten 54 proved to be match winning last weekend, and should he return to haunt The Hills twice in a week, there’s a great chance that Dublin University will be in the driving seat for qualification going into rounds 5 and 6.

KEY BATTLE: Dylan Blignaut vs Nicolaas Pretorious