IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW – AUGUST 30TH!

The penultimate round of fixtures in the IBI Corporate Finance Championship sees the potential for both ends of the table to be wrapped up with a week to spare, as a 4-bonus-point win for North County over The Hills would guarantee, regardless of other results, that North County would win the Championship, whilst simply a loss for The Hills would mean they are the side to be relegated to the First Team League for 2026.

Balbriggan will look to keep up the heat on North County, knowing that the league could still be alive going into the final weekend if they can score at least three more points than North County in this round. They’ll host Cork County in Jack Harper Park in pursuit of this victory. Finally Rush and Malahide will face off in Kenure, with the winner of that game mathematically killing off any chance of relegation regardless of results elsewhere.

With the inclement weather currently forecasted this weekend, it’s worth noting that three no results would see both North County picking up an unassailable lead at the top of the table, whilst The Hills would be condemned to the bottom spot.

THE HILLS VS NORTH COUNTY

The only place to kick off this weekend’s action is The Vineyard, where the derby could have major implications on the rest of the season. The Hills won this tie earlier in the season, thanks to runs from Matthew Weldon, who made 93, before an excellent all-round bowling performance saw the Milverton side run out 59 run winners.

Their bowlers will need to be on-song this weekend, with the leader of the pack Sean McNicholl set to deliver a particularly crucial new-ball spell. He’ll be looking to arrest some major concerns in recent weeks, where The Hills have taken just 8 wickets across three matches. Cian Nulty is likely to open the bowling alongside him, with Weldon’s left-arm seam another quick option, Shazil Ahmed came back into the side last weekend, whilst a return to the bowling crease for Muzamil Sherzad has doubtless been a welcome sight for the Milverton faithful. Their top-order benefitted from change again last weekend, with James Cusack coming into the side and top-scoring, they will hope to see him continue in that vein, laying a solid platform along with Hassan Shahid and Sherzad at the top of the order. In the middle, Ollie Horlock and Nathan Rooney are the two key men who are most likely to produce game-changing performances, whilst Weldon is a likely candidate to fill the number 6 slot.

North County meanwhile bounced back from their loss to Balbriggan in week 2 with a full-point victory against Cork County, built around a solid batting effort from Suliman Safi and Jamie Grassi. That pair, for different reasons, are crucial to how this side’s batting progresses in most games, with the general rule for the side being to bat around Safi, whilst Grassi provides some momentum through the middle overs with his ability to find the boundary regularly, and therefore up the tempo. Hunter Kindley and John Devane are the likely opening pair, whilst Eddie Richardson and Niall McGovern make up the remainder of the top 6, which has found itself in general being able to produce sufficient totals to put themselves into positions to win games. On the bowling front, Richardson was without regular opening partner Abdul Ghaffar last weekend, and although Kindley proved an adequate replacement, a return for him would be a welcome addition. Having gone with a spin-heavy unit last time around, including Johan George, Brandon Morris and Alan Joseph Mathew, it’s likely that Sean Sludds and Jake Devane will play a bigger role this time around.

Suliman Safi has been the main man for North County with the bat for much of this season, and they will be desperate for him to keep up his good form. If he can see off the opening spell of Sean McNicholl, it will put his side into an excellent position.

KEY BATTLE: Sean McNicholl vs Suliman Safi

BALBRIGGAN VS CORK COUNTY

Second placed Balbriggan need to outdo North County this weekend to keep the pressure up on their near neighbours this season. They come into the game close to full strength, however may be without Matt Hollard, who is due to return to South Africa before the playing season ends. That would leave something of a hole in their bowling unit, however Seb de Oliveira could relish the opportunity to spearhead the attack this weekend. He will likely be supported by Andrew Darroch and Kashif Ali, whilst beyond that they will be looking to a triumvirate of off-break options including Farooq Nasr, Dylan Lues and Jordan Hollard. On the batting front, whilst the side faltered last weekend, they will no doubt be looking to the likes of Chris de Freitas and Cameron Rowe to lead the way, with that duo having been vital in most of their victories this term. Jordan Hollard was the main resistance in last weekend’s loss, and is doubtless looking to prove that his Irish Cup heroics were no flash in the pan. Connor Fletcher and Greg Ford are two men who are searching for form somewhat, and will aim to get themselves into the list of key contributors again this weekend.

Cork County welcome back their hero of two weeks ago in Brian Upman for this game, and he adds some ballast to a middle order that also includes Mark Andrianatos and Raj Undre, with the side now looking to be a more formidable force than what they started out as at the beginning of the season. They will be set up by Ross Durity at the top of the order, whilst Thorne Prophet and Sunil Gautam add plenty of depth to the unit. Bakhtyar Nabi’s return to the side is likely to prove to be key this weekend, with his bowling missed badly in last week’s defeat. Zubair Khan will likely share the opening duties with Prophet, whilst Tiago Oelofse has proven to be an important cog in the past couple of games. The spinners are led by the returning Nabi, however in his recent absence, Ehsan O’Sullivan has really stepped up to the mark, with skipper Diarmuid Carey’s left arm orthodox rounding out an attack that, in spite of Andrianatos not bowling of late, still retains plenty of options.

This tie could come down to whether Cork County can manage to take the big wickets of the Balbriggan middle order. Left-hander Chris de Freitas is their premier batter, however the leading bowler for the Leesiders in recent weeks is off-spinner Ehsan O’Sullivan, and he could prove to be a good match-up against the Leinster Lightning man.

KEY BATTLE: Chris de Freitas vs Ehsan O’Sullivan

RUSH VS MALAHIDE

These two sides played out something of a nail-biter earlier in the season, with Rush running out three wicket winners. Their batting was key that day, and it’s two men who made runs in that game who have been in excellent form for much of the season since. Finn McGee was not out at the end of that innings, and his form since the split has been excellent, averaging in excess of 80 in that time. Abid Taniwal has been the star man in the side over the course of the season, making 80 in that win over Malahide, and his destructive tendencies make him a major threat with bat in hand in Kenure. Jack McGee was in the runs last weekend with what proved to be a match-winning century, whilst Nathan McGuire is their other game-changer in the middle order that could blast them out of sight throughout the middle-overs. Nasir Totakhil and Craig May will round out the middle order and are both players who can add useful contributions. With the ball, it was a case of more of the same last time around as their opening duo of Jarred Barnes and Allan Eastwood both claimed three wickets apiece, continuing their fine seasons, and they are set to be supported by the likes of Asher Abbasi and Alex Neary, who provide right and left arm seam options respectively, whilst the spin will once again come from the ever-reliable pairing of the slow left-armer Nasir Totakhil, off-spinner McGuire.

Malahide meanwhile will be aiming to secure their place in the league next season, regardless of other results, with a win here. They have been utterly reliant on Robbie Foulkes at the top of the order for much of the season, and more runs for him in this game would be massive for the side. Adam Doyle has made a couple of important contributions in their last couple of victories, whilst other men in the batting unit they’ll be hoping for contributions from include Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin and Matt Ford, with that duo bringing plenty of experience to the middle order and needing to stand up on one more occasion to drag their side away from the dreaded relegation spot. The all-rounders in the side will include Jeremy Martins, Andy Sheridan and Alex Brown, with Martins having added a vital contribution in last weekend’s victory over Balbriggan. With the ball, Ravi Kumar has proved a huge addition in recent weeks, moving up from the second team and claiming 5/38 across his two ten over spells in the last two fixtures, he’s set to share opening duties with either James Newland or Kelvin Donnelly, and there’s back-up from Martins, as well as Foulkes. The spin in the side comes from the left-arm orthodox of Mike Frost, whilst other options could include the leg-breaks of Timcy Khanduja.

Jack McGee has been the man in form for Rush in the past couple of games, and if he can manage the opening spell of Malahide’s new golden arm in the shape of Ravi Kumar, it could set Rush on the road to victory.

KEY BATTLE: Jack McGee vs Ravi Kumar

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

SATURDAY, AUGUST 31^ST, ALL 12 NOON STARTS

At The Vineyard, The Hills vs North County

At Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan vs Cork County

At Kenure, Rush vs Malahide