On Thursday the first round of the t20 Senior Cup took place. With YMCA getting a 1st round bye into the semis, that left 3 other games to take place.
1st game - Pembroke traveled out to the Vineyard to take on the Hills. PCC won the toss and chose to field. The Hills got off to a slow start, losing wickets early and without Tracy Clinton playing, it was going to be a tough battle. Louise McCarthy and Kim Garth bowling well up front, making the most on a grass wicket. The Hills finished up on 60 for the loss off 5.
Kim Garth and Shauna Kavanagh saw PCC home in only 6 overs, batting very well together and showing a huge array of shots.
2nd game - Leinster won the toss and put Merrion into bat on a tired looking wicket. Hannah de Burgh Whyte and Cecelia Joyce opened for the d4 side. They started well, both content to pick up singles and wait for the bad ball. De Burgh Whyte(12) flashing at a wide ball to be caught at third man. Cecelia continued well to reach 37 with some classy shots before being caught at cow off the bowling of Sarah Ingram. 3 quick wickets of Isobel Joyce (caught and bowled Kerrison) , Lena Tice (caught and bowled Ingram) and Kate Mc Kenna (stumped Ingram) left Merrion in a sticky situation at 84-5. Youngsters Leah Paul and Ruby Neville came to the crease and played with maturity beyond their years to bring the score to 158 (with the help of some extras) off the twenty. Ruby finishing unbeaten on 30 and Leah on 24.
Leinster opened the batting with Laura Delany and Valmee Gee . They started very strong against the bowling of Tice and I.Joyce. Delany striking some beautiful boundaries through the covers. A mix up in the running let de Burgh Whyte run Gee out for 15, and the quick wickets of Kerrison(1) and Amy Kenealy(4), both bowled by Isobel Joyce left Leinster in the balance. Schoolgirl Rebecca Stokell came to join Delany and together they built a brilliant partnership. Stokell did well with some great drives down the ground and rotated the strike to get Delany back facing. Cecelia Joyce finally bowled the youngster and Sue Kenealy came to join Delany. The required rate was rising towards 10 and with the field spread, despite Leinster's best efforts. Laura Delany finished on 54 and Merrion held out and won by 28 runs.
3rd game - A tough day at the office for Malahide with Melissa Scott-Hayward knocking up 112 off 56 balls. North Kildare scored 191 and Malahide ended on 112.
Marianne Herbert reaching her maiden 50 and Tess Maritz getting 20, seeing a nice partnership of 65 in their chase.
The Semi Final Cup draws will take place next week with North Kildare, Pembroke, Merrion and YMCA all still in the competition.
Reminder - Please send in all match reports from all womens/girls games to ciarajmetcalfe@hotmail.com