The women’s Storm Division 1 20-over league has been hit hard by the weather with most teams only having played a handful of matches each at this relatively late stage in the season.
Looks can be deceiving as Clontarf lead the table with a 96.5% rating but they have only played one match which was against third from bottom North Kildare. Below them are Rush with one loss and The Hills lie in bottom place not having played a match.
In second place are Leinster who have played the most matches – three – winning two of those coming out with a percentage of 76.88. Their single loss was to third-placed Merrion, who have 63.33%.
That leaves Pembroke, somewhat surprisingly, lying in fourth position with just one win from two matches at a percentage of 40.
A breakdown of each club’s season so far
Clontarf’s professional this year, New Zealand international Kate Broadmore, made an immediate impact in their only game so far this term against North Kildare scoring an unbeaten 59, ably assisted by Laura Cullen (19). North Kildare were unable to chase the 131 posted by the away team, falling 26 short on 105 all out.
It was Laura Erskine who did the most damage with the ball for Tarf, taking four wickets in her 3.3 overs for 24 runs. The rest of the wickets were spread out with Cullen, Olivia Golden and Broadmore taking two apiece.
Leinster have beaten Merrion and Rush once each in the league but lost their most recent match against Merrion.
Their win over Merrion was a comfortable affair with the Anglesea Road side stuttering to 113 for six. Indeed, it looked like they might not make it past 90 as they slumped to 75 for five wickets. But Arlene Stanton blasted an entertaining 21 before eventually being bowled by Laura Delany.
The total was not high enough to trouble a strong Leinster batting side and Laura Delany bossed this half of the game as well (she bowled four overs for 18, claiming three wickets). Her unbeaten 52 was the innings Leinster built their win around and Rebecca Rolfe (21) and Sharon Smyth’s (15) contributions meant Suzanne Kenealy had only to score one run to win the game as her team ran in eight wicket-winners.
A more emphatic victory followed when the Rathmines outfit kept Rush to 74 for seven and chased it without losing a wicket. Top wicket taker was again Delany as she claimed three and then she and Rolfe each scored 33 to add to the nine extras which took them past Rush’s total.
The only loss The Rathmines outfit have suffered was to Merrion when the Sandymount side scored 131 for seven. Delany again bowled well, her four overs going for 18, but this time she was unable to take any wickets.
Alice Donnelly blasted 37 when she came in at number 8 but it was too late as Leinster had fallen to 56 for five, Delany and Rolfe both out early for 12 and four respectively. Sharon Smyth offered some resistance with her 29 but with time running out and the home team needing over a run a ball to win, Merrion played a patient game and ended up winning by a comfortable margin of 21.
Last year’s Storm Division One winners Merrion began their season badly with that loss to Leinster mentioned above. Top performers in that game for the Anglesea road outfit were Melissa Scott-Hayward (22) and Arlene Stanton (21), while on the bowling side Isobel Joyce kept it tight with her four overs for just 10 runs.
Cecelia Joyce (44) and Hannah de Burgh Whyte (39) made sure that the same low scoring did not scupper Merrion’s chances of winning against Pembroke the next week and a respectable total of 124 for three was, perhaps, a bit low considering the wickets in hand. Tight bowling did for the Broke as they lost only three wickets as well but fell 15 runs short. Isobel Joyce and de Burgh Whyte kept the runs down early on with figures of four overs for 17 and 18 respectively while Arlene Stanton finished the game out well with her four overs going for just 20. Silean Flinter’s quick fielding could be considered the difference between the teams as her accurate throw did for Kim Garth who had been posing a threat until that point.
In Merrion’s final match so far against Leinster mentioned above, the top scorer for the Anglesea Road team was Isobel Joyce (73). On the bowling side, Joyce’s figures of 4-0-1-8 got Merrion off to a great start and Julianne Morrissey kept things tight at the other end, her four overs going for just 17 – impressive considering she was hit for two fours in her first over! She also claimed two wickets.
Sorcha Breslin impressed with her first bowling spell in the top Division, claiming two wickets for 27 from her four overs at the backend of the innings while Ruby Neville showed she has a cool head when she took two skyers in quick succession.
Pembroke have won one match out of two. They started with a win against North Kildare, keeping them to 59 for just four wickets. Kim Garth followed her figures of four overs for 11 runs with an unbeaten 32 while Emma Flanagan scored 15 and extras did the rest.
Next up was Merrion, mentioned above. Louise McCarthy impressed with her figures of 4-0-1-13 and Kim Garth again bowled well with figures of 4-0-1-18. But slow batting cost them and any hope of passing Merrion’s total was lost when Garth was run out for 38.
North Kildare have completed two Storm Division 1 matches, both losses. The first was the loss to Pembroke mentioned above. Top performers for North Kildare were J Lowry and Jenny Gray with 13 each as they made just 59 from their 20 overs. Anne O’Connor bowled two overs for just four runs, but 59 was not a high enough total to give the bowlers anything to bowl at.
Their second match was against Clontarf which was mentioned above. Top performers for North Kildare were Lucy Small with her impressive 44 runs and I Gowing who bowled her four overs for just five runs.
Rush have managed just one match which was against Leinster who won by 10 wickets. Carole McGuire scored 25 and Clodagh Conway 18 to help bring the score to 74/7. Leinster made short work of it, though, and passed the total in just 8.5 overs.