IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 2 - PREVIEW (17TH AUGUST)

Something of a ‘moving week’ in the IBI Corporate Finance Championship last weekend saw North County beating Rush to give themselves essentially a game worth of wiggle room at the top of the table. Balbriggan leapfrogged Rush into second with a demolition job over The Hills, who in turn were overtaken by Cork County after they won a nail-biter against Malahide in The Mardyke.

All of that means that for the second week in a row, we have a set of fixtures that see 1^st vs 2^nd, 3^rd vs 4^th and 5^th vs 6^th in the table. In The Village, there’s the battle at the foot of the table between Malahide and The Hills, whilst in The Mardyke, Rush are the visitors to Cork County. Finally, at the top of the table, Balbriggan will visit North County, with that game starting at the slightly later time of 13:00.

MALAHIDE VS THE HILLS

The home side come into this game against the side just above them in the league desperate for a victory, having not tasted victory in the league since the fourth round of the season, on May 24^th, when they beat this opposition in a rain-affected game. The Hills meanwhile have claimed a couple of big scalps in the last few weeks, including turning Phoenix over in late July to lift themselves from the foot of the table.

This weekend sees the hosts ringing in the changes in an effort to reverse their recent run of form. The batting is led by Robbie Foulkes and Matt Ford, who both made 80s last weekend in spite of their loss. There’s an earlier than expected return from injury for Adam Doyle, who could feature in the top three, whilst Matthew Langan is likely to continue at the top alongside Foulkes. Alex Brown and Jeremy Martins will both feature in the middle order, whilst team manager Alan Reynolds returns to the side and it will be interesting to see where he slots himself into the batting unit. With the ball, skipper James Newland misses this weekend, as does Andy Sheridan. This sees Kelvin Donnelly likely to be partnered by Ravi Kumar, fresh off a fine spell in the Tillain Cup victory last weekend. Martins’ seamers will support that pair, whilst Foulkes is also likely to be called upon. The absence of their left-arm spinning trio of Mike Frost, Mohit Sane and Jonathan Tall means that Timcy Khanduja’s quick leg-breaks are likely to be their primary spin option.

The Hills meanwhile are almost certain to produce a big performance this weekend, with the team needing to bounce back from a scarcely believable result last time around. They welcome Matthew Weldon back to their side this weekend, with the all-rounder a vital cog in this side, having been the match winner against North County a few weeks ago, as well as his left-arm seam balancing the team out nicely. He bolsters a batting unit which is led as usual by Ollie Horlock at the top, alongside Muzamil Sherzad and number three Hassan Shahid. That trio have a vital role to play in setting the game up for the middle order, where Weldon joins the likes of Nathan Rooney and Edson Silva, both of whom can take the game away from their opposition if given the opportunity. Gloveman Andy Kavanagh is likely to round out the batting line-up before reaching the all-rounders. The return of Weldon means it’s likely that skipper Tómas Rooney-Murphy and Cian Nulty will both slide one place in the order, lengthening the side, and possibly allowing the flexibility of using Nulty’s power-hitting as a movable option in the side. That pair will be vital in the seam-bowling stakes, alongside Sean McNicholl, who’s opening spell is always a huge part of games involving this side. Other options could include the likes of Shazil Ahmed and Weldon’s left-arm, whilst generally the frontline spinner has been Febin Manoj, he’s been the side’s most economical bowler all season, and is backed up by the off-breaks of Horlock.

Malahide’s key batter all season has been Robbie Foulkes, he’s had a sensational league campaign and is only really missing a century to cap things off for his own season, his side will be hoping this weekend is the one for him, as they do desperately need to knock The Hills over in order to avoid becoming detached at the foot of the table. If Sean McNicholl can knock Foulkes over early on, it will give The Hills the in they need to panic the Malahide batting line-up.

KEY BATTLE: Robbie Foulkes vs Sean McNicholl

CORK COUNTY VS RUSH

Cork County were indebted to another brilliant performance by Mark Andrianatos last weekend in their victory over Malahide, their victories this season have seen him contributing 79*, 88 & 100. Rush on the other hand saw batting brilliance from Abid Taniwal (110) and Finn McGee (98*) falling just short against North County, who chased down in excess of 320 against them.

The home side will be hoping to return to full strength this weekend, as a win would put them into an extremely strong position to retain their place in the Premier League for next season. The batting, led as usual by Andrianatos, would in that case feature left-hander Ross Durity at the top, alongside Sunil Gautam, whilst Raj Undre was excellent at four last weekend, supporting their star-man Andrianatos, making 88. Benji Marris, Thorne Prophet and Brian Upman would all also feature in the side should it be at full strength, whilst the all-rounder Bakhtyar Nabi would see the side looking to have an extremely formidable batting line-up. On the bowling front, Zubair Khan and Darsh Shetty are frontline seamers in the side, whilst Andrianatos didn’t bowl last weekend, meaning they needed to look to Sam Fenn, along with Undre to cover off his overs. Nabi and skipper Diarmuid Carey offer 20 overs of strong spin bowling for the team.

Rush meanwhile will be acutely aware that their potential title challenge will need them to win their remaining four games this season. Doubtless they’ll take a lot of encouragement into this weekend’s tie off the back of an excellent batting performance last weekend. Jack McGee has settled in well at the top of the order in recent weeks, and it will be interesting to see if he is once again joined by skipper Jarred Barnes, whilst as mentioned already, Finn McGee made the most of his promotion to number three with an unbeaten 98. Those three are tasked with solidifying the foundations on which the middle order for the Kenure side can flourish. Nathan McGuire and Abid Taniwal have been excellent for much of the season, with one of them seeming to cash in every week. McGuire’s season has been astounding in many ways, as he is yet to be dismissed for a score between 30 and 129, and Rush will be hoping to see him go big once again this weekend. Nasir Totakhil at 6 rounds out the bulk of the batting unit, and he has proven to be a very solid operator there for much of the season. With the ball, Barnes and Allan Eastwood still provide a strong opening pair, as the side has adapted well without having Taniwal’s left-arm available for much of this season. The spin of Totahil and McGuire are likely to much prefer the spin-friendly conditions of The Mardyke this weekend compared to the free-flowing conditions of Inch last time out, whilst the bowling attack is likely to be rounded out by the left-arm of Alex Neary, with back-up potentially coming from Craig May.

Cork County’s batting has ground them to three victories so far this season, however they will be fully aware of the need to restrict Rush’s unit, which could put itself out of sight if it gets flowing in the middle overs. The form of Abid Taniwal has been key for Rush here, and if he can get on top of the spin of Bakhtyar Nabi, the away side will be well on their way to victory.

KEY BATTLE: Bahktyar Nabi vs Abid Taniwal

NORTH COUNTY VS BALBRIGGAN

Finally in Inch, the top two in the league face off, with the excellent bowling of Balbriggan taking on the red-hot batting of North County.

Suliman Safi led the way for the home side last weekend, with his sensational unbeaten 149 taking just 104 deliveries, as only he and Eddie Richardson (91) passed 20 as the side hunted down 324 with 10 balls to spare. That duo are likely to reprise their roles at number three and four again this weekend. Hunter Kindley is a man they will hope to see firing on all cylinders at the top of the order, and he could be partnered by Alan Joseph Mathew once again, with the experience of Jamie Grassi and Niall McGovern at five and six, providing the ability to clear the rope alongside the solidity of players who have opened the batting for several seasons at this level. With the ball, Richardson will lead the way alongside Abdul Ghaffar, whilst Hunter Kindley’s offered good control in the middle overs. Sean Sludds is the other seamer in the side, and will likely be called upon in the first change role as well. Mathew’s off-breaks will be the primary spinning option to the side, whilst the other option could see Brandon Morris also included, which would mean Safi’s offies are less likely to be made us of.

Balbriggan meanwhile will be forgiven for all of their attention this weekend being on Saturday’s Irish Cup Final, however they will be well aware of the opportunity to put themselves right into title contention alongside County with a win here. Cameron Rowe and Chris de Freitas will lead the way with the bat, and will hope to see gloveman Connor Fletcher launching them to a good start at the top of the order. The all-rounders will make up the bulk of the middle order, with the skipper Greg Ford followed by Dylan Lues, Jordan Hollard and Seb D’Oliveira, each of those have made contributions at points this season, and they will hope that one of this quartet can provide the destructive innings needed to win a game in Inch. With the ball, Matt Hollard and D’Oliveira will likely share the opening duties, and with Hollard currently in flying form, could see themselves providing one of the most important parts of the game. Andrew Darroch and Kashif Ali are the other seamers, whilst the off-spinning duo of Dylan Lues and Jordan Hollard are doubtless to play a huge role considering how hard Inch has been to defend as a spin bowler this season.

Hunter Kindley has found himself making starts without kicking on for much of this season, and North County will be hoping to see him catapult the side clear at the top of the table with a big performance. If he can get through the opening spell of Matt Hollard it will not only put him in a good position to make a big score, but will also free up the North County middle order to put their foot down against the change bowlers.

KEY BATTLE: Hunter Kindley vs Matt Hollard

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE CHAMPIONSHIP

ROUND 2 - SUNDAY, AUGUST 17TH

At The Village, Malahide vs The Hills, 12:00

At The Mardyke, Cork County vs Rush, 12:00

At Inch, North County vs Balbriggan, 13:00