IBI CORPORATE FINANCE FIRST TEAM LEAGUE PREVIEW – ROUND 4 (JUNE 7TH)

The first weekend of June sees the fourth round of fixtures in the IBI Corporate Finance First Team League taking place, with the league table remaining almost as close as could be imagined after three games.

Just 21 points separate top of the table The Hills and fifth placed Terenure, with each of the top four sides in the table sitting on two wins apiece. This weekend’s ties see the table toppers heading to Farmer’s Cross to take on the basement boys Cork Harlequins, whilst in Oak Hill, Knockharley make the trip to face off against Adamstown. Terenure visit The Maws to take on North Kildare in the final fixture of the round.

CORK HARLEQUINS VS THE HILLS

The first league game of the season in Farmer’s Cross sees league leaders The Hills travelling to take on a Cork Harlequins side that will be out to prove a point after a dismal start to the 2026 season. The visitors were indebted to a rapid 68 from Nathan Rooney last week in seeing off Terenure. He’s one of a number of extremely aggressive players in their unit, alongside their opening pair of the Sherzad brothers, Muzamil and Yaseen and Stefano di Bartolomeo. That quartet bat around Aussie Liam Blackford at number three and number four Joe Fletcher. With the ball, Matthew Weldon leads the way from the front, sharing the opening duties with Killian McGrane, whilst Tómas Rooney-Murphy and di Bartolomeo provide strong middle-overs seam bowling. Will Archer came into the side as the off-spinner last weekend and could continue that role in the absence of Febin Manoj, whilst both Sherzads are also operators who can take wickets in bunches when thrown the ball.

Harlequins will be looking to find a successful formula with the bat this weekend, and are sure to look to the likes of Adam Hickey, Callum Stevenson and wicketkeeper Dineth Sumanasinghe, who were all in the runs a few weeks ago against North Kildare, to find a way to convert their efforts into match-winning scores, whilst they also have the likes of Shivam Kislay and Sidharth Pushp who will also feature in the top 5. The skipper Seanan Jones will bat in the middle order, and he’ll lead the way with the ball, and the home side will be hoping that he is accompanied by fellow all-rounder Ryan Joyce this time around. Umer Hassan Khan is another decent seam option in the side, whilst the spin comes from the slow left-arm of Seneth Sumanasinghe, supported by Pushp who also bowls his left-arm orthodox. Adam Hickey is an off-spin option that Jones also regularly turns to.

Matthew Weldon will be hoping to recreate the form of his last trip to county Cork, when he took 6-for against Midleton in the National Cup. If he can knock over Dineth Sumanasinghe early on, The Hills will get a look at ‘Quins middle order before the hosts would like.

KEY BATTLE: Dineth Sumanasinghe vs Matthew Weldon

ADAMSTOWN VS KNOCKHARLEY

Adamstown’s first fixture of the season at Oak Hill last week will be one they look to put behind them as quickly as possible, as in spite of a fine century from Prashant Prabhu Damodaran, they fell 89 runs short against a fine North Kildare side. Sid Biju and Angad Bawa are a compact opening pair that will look to get their side off to a strong start, with Aryan Adelkar also having featured in the top three for much of this season. That trio will attempt to set the game up for Damodaran and Dinesh Antony Kidagan David to capitalise with the bat in the middle overs, with the latter having found himself making huge contributions on several occasions since their elevation to this level. Shreyas Rajesh and Nithin Namburu are two more batters capable of finding the rope regularly at the back-end of the innings. Shravon Biju will take the lead with the new ball, alongside Kidagan David, with both of that duo having taken two wickets each in last week’s game. The spin come from the off-breaks of Jaivir Singh Oberoi, and leg-breaks of Arvind Olaganathan, whilst there’s further seam-up options provided by Adelkar and Namburu.

Knockharley meanwhile will be looking to put themselves into a very strong position after four games of their debut season in the league. Their batting is led by Sayed Zubair, Brandon Kruger and Muhammad Nawaz at the top of the order, and in a similar vein to their opponents this weekend, they will be looking to set up the game for some attacking players in their middle order, including Mubeen Ali and Ehtesham Ahmed, whilst Kashif Ali has also shown some ability with bat in hand this season, making an unbeaten half-century against The Hills. With the ball, Ahmed Kayani and Syed Medhi lead the way, and both are capable of extracting early movement with the new ball. Jack Condie and Ehtesham Ahmed provide more useful medium-pacers, whilst there’s spin from Kashif Ali. Aabis Mirza and Sumit Singh are two newer faces in the line-up this weekend, and both will be hoping to make an impact with the ball in a well-rounded attack.

Off the back of his fine century last weekend, Prashant Prabhu Damodaran will be looking to propel Adamstown into a good position again this time around. It’s highly likely that he’ll find himself up against Kashif Ali’s left-arm offies at some point, and Knockharley will be hoping that their talisman can claim his wicket cheaply and put them on the front foot.

KEY BATTLE: Prashant Prabhu Damodaran vs Kashif Ali

NORTH KILDARE VS TERENURE

The hosts this weekend are heading into this fixture off the back of consecutive league victories, both of which saw them indebted to excellent showings from the captain Yash Kalasannavar and their new-found opener Asadullah Ahmadzai. The duo both made half-centuries in last weekend’s victory, before Kalasannavar completed the remarkable feat of taking 8 catches behind the stumps. Alongside that duo in the batting line-up, Moize Haider and Nicholas Hunter are both capable of putting the side on the front foot, whilst there’s plenty of aggression lower down in the shape of Adnan Ahmadzai and Josh Uddin, with the latter in particular rarely seeing his strike rate fall below 100. The bowling sees Nazmus Monon front up with the new ball, with spinners Asadullah Ahmadzai and Nurulain Boda two other options to open up who have the ability to keep proceedings tight. Adnan Ahmadzai and Akhilesh Sharma are the other seamers in a bowling unit that offers plenty of consistency, whilst the golden arm in the side belongs to Ali Elahi, who often finds a way to break partnerships.

Terenure meanwhile come into this game off the back of a disappointing defeat last weekend, and no doubt hoping to bounce back in a big way. There’s a rejig in the batting line-up this weekend as Henry Dall moves up a slot to join Mick Cotter in the absence of Tom Shand, whilst Sid Nair will reprise the number three role which he has featured in throughout last season. Zeeshan Mumtaz features in the middle order alongside the returning Dónal Lynch. With the ball, there’s a welcome return for Aamir Bafanda, who will lead a spinning triumvirate that also includes Vishnu Sadanandan and skipper Dall, whilst the seamers include new-ball bowlers Naveed Khan and Kripesh Shetty, alongside Bhavic Tukrel, with the side doubtless looking to take advantage of the regularly spin-friendly conditions in Kilcock.

Yash Kalasannavar has found himself the most important cog in the home side’s wheel once again this season, if he can get through the first spell of Terenure’s partnership-breaker Bhavic Tukrel, it could put North Kildare on the front foot.

KEY BATTLE: Yash Kalasannavar vs Bhavic Tukrel

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE FIRST TEAM LEAGUE

SUNDAY, JUNE 7^TH, ALL 12 NOON

At Farmer’s Cross, Cork Harlequins vs The Hills

At Oak Hill, Adamstown vs Knockharley

At The Maws, North Kildare vs Terenure