SPRINT COATINGS DIVISION ONE – ROUND 4 PREVIEW

The fourth round of fixtures in Sprint Coatings Women’s Division One is, in the main, set to be played out this evening, after the good news of the Ireland Women’s fixture with the Lancashire Women’s side on Thursday, three of the four fixtures have been refixed to begin at 6pm tonight.

The first of these ties sees Phoenix travel to play Malahide. They were one of the sides in the driving seat on Thursday evening last week, when the weather put paid to their chances of a win over Pembroke. Georgina Dempsey was in great form that night, as she had moved to an unbeaten 54 out of their 84/0 from 10 overs, if Lara Maritz’s form continues, this pair could well take the game away from Malahide. With the ball, Ashlee King is also fresh into this evening’s fixture off the back of a five-wicket haul in the Super Series yesterday.

On the other hand, Malahide’s opening pair of Caoimhe McCann and Amy Hunter also showed all through last year that they were well able to build partnerships and run up big totals against all oppositions in the league. They haven’t quite fired as yet this season, but if they can manage to get on top against Phoenix’s top three seamers, they’ll have given themselves every chance of turning them over and earning a first win of the season.

KEY BATTLE: Ashlee King vs Amy Hunter

Next up is YMCA’s second attempt to get their campaign underway, after rain saw their visit to The Hills on Thursday ended before a ball was bowled – this time they travel to Clontarf, who after a good opening night win in the cup, have suffered two defeats to Leinster and Phoenix in the meantime. Losing to those two sides is no disgrace by any stretch of the imagination, and with both their batting and bowling based on being steady whilst maybe not explosive, ‘Tarf will have to fancy their chances if they can nab a couple of early YM wickets.

The Sandymount side have some star names, not least Gaby Lewis who’s recent form for Ireland and in the Super Series has been excellent. She leads the batting alongside Sarah Forbes and Robyn Lewis, all three of them have scored heavily in recent seasons and their boundary hitting ability suits t20, how many runs they score between them will go a long way to deciding the outcome of this game. With the ball, Lucy O’Reilly is the key bowler for YM, her four overs lead their attack and will set the tone with the ball, if she can take early wickets, they’ll hope to smother ‘Tarf’s batting.

KEY BATTLE: Gaby Lewis vs Emma Butler

The featured game of the evening is between Pembroke and Merrion at Sydney Parade, both sides got on the field on Thursday night in their no-results, and whilst neither game was over by any stretch of the imagination, neither side could be too unhappy about the game finding a premature conclusion.

Pembroke have bundles of experience to call upon, with Mary Waldron returning to their side to complement Clare Shillington and Shauna Kavanagh with the bat. Their opening day win was built off contributions from three of their top 6, and with Orla Prendergast and Hannah and LouLou Little most likely to occupy the other three spots, their batting line-up looks particularly strong. Meanwhile with the ball, Hannah Little and Prendergast delivered excellent opening spells on the opening night, but after them there were plenty of extras bowled and this is something they will need to tighten up on significantly if they are to keep Merrion’s batting under control.

Their visitors get a long way towards matching their opposition by way of representative players, their top three of Paul, Stokell and Delaney all current internationals, as well as leg-spinner Celeste Raack and former international Cecelia Joyce means they have plenty of talent and experience to call upon. Their bowling has in the main this season been tight, with Leah Paul’s left-arm spin being particularly dangerous, while young seamer Niamh McNulty has shown plenty of promise with the new ball. Julianne Morrissey’s off-breaks are the final economical piece in a very polished attack. Their battle with the Pembroke middle-order will go a long way to deciding the outcome of this match.

KEY BATTLE: Rachel Delaney vs Shauna Kavanagh

SPRINT COATINGS DIVISION 1 – 28.6

At Malahide – Malahide vs Phoenix, 6pm

At Castle Avenue – Clontarf vs YMCA, 6pm

At Sydney Parade – Pembroke vs Merrion, 6pm