SPRINT COATINGS DIVISION ONE REVIEW – MATCH DAY ONE

An eventful opening night in Sprint Coatings Division One saw wins for Merrion, The Hills, Clontarf and Pembroke, as the season burst into life with some spectacular performances across the competition.

The feature game of the evening was the clash of Merrion and Phoenix at Anglesea Road, where Phoenix skipper Ali Keenan won the toss and sent debutant Gaby Lewis to open her Phoenix career alongside Nevedha Saravanarajan. The pair added 44 off the PowerPlay, Lewis surviving a scare when on just two as she nicked Síbha Bhoja wide of Ally Boucher behind the stumps. The first over out of the PowerPlay was bowled by Maddie Blazely and the Merrion debutant account for Gaby Lewis with just the 4^th ball of her Merrion career, Aoife Brennan taking the catch at cover at the second attempt.

That brought another debutant, Siúin Woods, to the crease with the score on 53, and she and Saravanarajan moved the score along nicely, passing 100 in the 14^th over, and bringing up their 50 partnership in the next. It would go no further however as a mix-up saw both batters essentially ending up at the same end and Woods run out by half the track for 19, bringing a third debutant, Alice Tector to the crease at number 4. This partnership was the first not to pass 50, as Tector was bowled by Síbha Bhoja off the final ball of the 19^th over.

Saravanarajan passed 50 with the next delivery, a fortuitous five wides brough the score past 130, however it was an otherwise tight final over from Niamh MacNulty saw the score finish on 131/3 at the end of Phoenix’s 20 overs. Merrion skipper Celeste Raack opened the batting alongside Isabel Light, before the latter was run out by a direct hit from Gaby Lewis. Raack and Annabel Squires then added a partnership that passed 50 in the 9^th over. The partnership was worth 77 before being broken by Arisha Foysal in the 14^th over.

Squires however grew in the absence of her skipper, running hard between the wickets and finding a willing companion in Aoife Brennan, with the pair clearly intent on taking the game as deep as possible. After the 18^th over was brilliantly bowled for just one by Darcey Dalwood, Squires passed her half-century in the penultimate over of proceedings, setting the side up to need 9 from the final 6 balls.

Aoife Brennan dispatched the 4^th ball of the over to the boundary to secure victory with two balls to spare by 8 wickets.

In Malahide, The Hills’ batted first and their Aussie duo of Tahlia Dunne and Elise Noble set about putting them right onto the front foot to kick off the season, blasting boundaries to all parts of the international ground, their boundary worth 85 before Noble was dismissed by Maria Kerrison. Dunne however continued to muscle the ball around the park, punishing any errant Malahide bowling to ultimately finish unbeaten on 77 from just 57 deliveries, with The Hills making their way to 150/3 in 20 overs. Malahide’s chase never got going, as Aimee and Jane Maguire took a wicket apiece, before a run out for Aimee Maguire left The Hills 17/3. Lara McBride’s 4/10 from four overs helped to knock over the home side for just 62, giving an 88 run victory for The Hills to open the season.

Balbriggan’s baptism of fire into Sprint Coatings Division One was just that, after Claudia Green had taken two wickets in two balls early in the piece to dismiss Genevieve Morrissey and Julie McNally, a big partnership dominated by Christina Coulter-Reilly saw her and Freya Sargent taking the score to 80/2 at the halfway stage, by which time Coulter-Reilly had brought up the first half-century in the league this season. Sargent was dismissed with the score on 118, the pair adding 94 for the 3^rd wicket before Robyn Claxton broke the partnership. However that just brought Robyn Searle to the crease alongside Coulter-Reilly, and the pair kept moving along at a rate of knots, adding an unbeaten stand of 72 from just 36 balls. This saw Coulter-Reilly passing 100 and ultimately finishing 110 not out from 74 deliveries, as ‘Tarf racked up 190/3 from their 20 overs.

Sinead Thomson’s opening spell saw two wickets fall in quick succession, accounting for Jessica Butler and Anna Gaging, quickly followed by a rapid fire spell of 3/2 in two overs from Freya Sargent which reduced the home side to 33/6 at the halfway stage. To their credit, Balbriggan refused to lie down, and finished their 20 overs on 57/9, Sargent finishing with figures of 4/4 from three overs having returned to dismiss Marisa Curtis.

Leinster batted first in Syndey Parade and after a solid opening from Sophie MacMahon making 22 took the score to 53/2, Clare Webber was joined by Ellen Ridgeway, with the Newcastle native dominating their stand of 53 before Ridgeway fell to the bowling of Robyn Lewis in the 16^th over. Webber however brought up the third half-century of the evening in the 17^th over of the innings. A late flurry of wickets taken by Kim Li McDonald saw Leinster’s good start restricted to just 127/8 from their 20 overs.

In response, Prendergast and Robyn Lewis strode to the middle to begin the chase, intent on making short work of the total. Before Lewis had faced 6 balls, Prendergast had brough up her half-century off just 13, with the pair seemingly looking to finish the game before the Power Play had ended. Prendergast was however dismissed for 59 from just 17 balls in the 5^th over, however the 80 run opening stand had more than set Pembroke up. An unbeaten partnership of 50 between Lewis and Shauna Kavanagh saw Pembroke to their target off the first ball of the 11^th over.