WINS FOR THE HILLS, PEMBROKE, MERRION AND MALAHIDE - SPRINT COATINGS DIVISION ONE ROUND-UP (JULY 11TH)

It was a night of little to no change in Sprint Coatings Division One, as away from our featured action there were wins for the top two sides in the league, as Pembroke and Merrion both comprehensively defended their scores, whilst Malahide made it three in a row, as they defended 98 against Clontarf.

Starting off in Sydney Parade, Pembroke made 169/4 from their 20 overs, Sarah Forbes getting proceedings underway with 22 at the top of the order, before an unbeaten fifth wicket stand of 71 between Robyn Lewis and Eimear Mullen guided Pembroke to their final total. Lewis finished unbeaten on 51, with Mullen making 23, for Phoenix there were a wicket apiece for Arisha Foysal, Rhea Nair and Alison Black. Phoenix were never really in the chase, in spite of 37 at the top of the order from Alice Tector, the run rate required was always a tick too high, as an excellent spell from Zoe Bell saw her taking 2/25 and keeping Phoenix under wraps. Anna Beale also took two wickets, finishing with 2/27 as Phoenix could manage just 113/7, Zara Craig's 25 the only other score of note as Pembroke rolled on relentlessly with a 56 run win.

In Jack Harper Park, Merrion ran up 186/2, thanks primarily to Leah Paul's unbeaten 98, as she shared an opening stand of 110 with Ally Boucher, before the wicket-keeper was dismissed for 45 in the 14th over. Paul dominated from there out, adding 55 along with Annabel Squires who made 13 and allowed her opener most of the strike. Nina Kerr and Robyn Claxton the two wicket takers for Balbriggan. The second innings saw Claudia Green and Reena Devi dismissed early on by Niamh MacNulty, before Síbha Bhoja put her name into the wicket-takers column, eventually overtaking MacNulty as they finished their opening four over spells with figures of 2/6 and 3/11 respectively. Julianne Morrissey also got in on the act, taking 2/7 from her four overs, as Balbriggan could only manage 60 all out from the final ball of their innings as Merrion won by 126 runs.

Finally in Castle Avenue, an unbeaten 54 from overseas Christelle van der Schyff saw the away side making 98/6 from their 20 overs batting first, as Julie McNally was the pick of the bowlers taking 2/11 for the away side. The chase started inauspiciously, as Arlene Kelly took the wickets of Christina Coulter-Reilly and Freya Sargent in consecutive balls, and things were only to get worse for 'Tarf. An amazing spell of 5/3 from van der Schyff, including a hat-trick of wickets all bowled reduced the home side to 25/7 after 11 overs and a position they could never come back from. Van der Schyff finished her spell with 5/10 from four overs, as 'Tarf could only manage 54 all out and a 44 run win for the away side.

Finally our featured action saw Leinster winning the toss against The Hills, and electing to bowl first. This was initially vindicated by the early wickets of Lara McBride and Tahlia Dunne, however that brought Elise Noble and Jane Maguire together, and the pair added 31 before Maguire was dismissed to a ball which shot low to trap her LBW for 15 with the score on 60.

Noble was joined by Aimee Maguire, and the pair batted very nicely, getting well forward on a surface which was proving difficult to bat on. They added an excellent stand of 49 before Maguire played on to a delivery which barely trickled back onto the stumps to see her dismissed for a well played 20. One run was added before Rebecca Gough was run out, and Clíodhna O'Reardon followed the following ball, as Canning rounded off an excellent spell taking 3/7 from her four overs.

Noble batted on however, reaching her half-century in the 18th over from 46 balls, and eventually taking the score to 136/6 from their 20 overs, finishing unbeaten on 57.

Leinster's chase was dominated by Ava Canning, as after the early loss of Jenny Sparrow and Rebecca Rolfe, she helped the side to 60/3 at the halfway stage, scoring two thirds of the runs in doing so as good spells from Lara McBride and Jane Maguire kept The Hills just about on top after 10 overs.

Canning continued her brilliant innings to finish unbeaten on 59, however an excellent all-round effort from the away side saw Leinster restricted to just 107/7 from their 20 overs, and The Hills be 29 run winners.