CAMPHER AND THOMPSON POWER 'TARF TO VICTORY - SATURDAY'S ROUND-UP!

This afternoon's featured action in the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League saw Clontarf the victors in the top of the table clash against Pembroke, as they ran out 57 run winners in a run-fest in Sydney Parade.

The men from the Bullring batted first, and were quick off the mark, Mitchell Thompson and David Delany doing things at a rapid pace in accounting for the early loss of Séamus Lynch. When Delany was dismissed, Curtis Campher joined opener Thompson at the crease, and the pair proceeded to run up an excellent stand, taking the score from 54 to 258 before losing the third wicket of the innings.

Campher was that wicket, dismissed for 124, and whilst Pembroke were able to restrict 'Tarf briefly, Mitchell Thompson then powered on, reaching his unbeaten total of 127 from 141 balls and teeing up a huge total of 347/7 in 50 overs.

The Pembroke effort didn't start brilliantly, however firstly a strong stand for the fourth wicket between Lorcan Tucker (44) and Harry Tector (50) pulled them into the game, before a fine spell by David Vincent, taking 2/38, restricted the score to 145/6. The second big stand was between the top-scoring Gavin Hoey and Paul Lawson, with the pair adding 79 for the 8th wicket before Hoey was dismissed for 69.

When Lawson followed for 34, Pembroke's chance of keeping up with the rate had gone, however the final margin of 57 runs saw them taking three bonus points, which could prove crucial in splitting these teams come the end of the season.

Elsewhere, in Phoenix, Raghav Grover's 5/37 helped skittle Leinster out for 159, before unbeaten half centuries from Eknoor Singh and George Dockrell added to an earlier 45 from skipper Shane Getkate to secure victory by 8 wickets.

Finally, in Park Avenue, Railway Union made their way to 236 all out thanks to 62 from Philippe le Roux, as Melvin Devaraj's 3/47, as well as two-fors for Modgill, Blaxall-Hill and Stanton, helped Merrion keep the side to a modest total. Merrion then made short work of it, as in spite of a very rocky start, Connor Blaxall-Hill's unbeaten 131 saw him sharing an unbroken stand of 215 with John Anderson (59*) and secure a comfortable 7-wicket win.

In the Championship, Cork County were indebted to an unbeaten 100 from Mark Andrianatos, and 88 for Raj Undre as they made 284/6 against Malahide. In spite of 80s for Robbie Foulkes and Matt Ford, this proved to be 6 too many, as Cork were also indebted to a slew of two-fors, with Bakhtyar Nabi, Zubair Khan, Raj Undre and Tiago Oelofse, in securing a 6 run victory.

The highest scoring game of the day saw Abid Taniwal's 110, accompanied by 98* for Finn McGee leading Rush to 324/6 in their 50 overs, before North County one-upped them, as Suliman Safi's 149*, alongside 91 for Eddie Richardson helped guide their side to a 4 wicket win with 10 balls to spare.

Finally, the most remarkable game of the day was the first to finish, where Matt Hollard delivered an outrageous set of figures. He took 6/6, alongside an equally astounding spell of 3/0 from three overs for Andrew Darroch, as The Hills were all out for just 19 against Balbriggan, a score which the home side blasted off, in spite of losing two wickets, in just 14 balls, hitting five scoring shots. This took Hollard's season tally against The Hills to 11 wickets, adding to a five wicket-haul in the Vineyard earlier in the season.