IBI CORPORATE FINANCE MATCH DAY ONE - 'TARF ROMP TO CONVINCING WIN

It was a great start to the season in the Bullring this afternoon, as Clontarf saw major impact from their new men, as well as contributions from some more experienced members of the side helped them deliver a huge win against Balbriggan to kick things off in the league with a win.

Having been asked to bat first by their visitors, 'Tarf lost Mitchell Thompson for 11 early in the piece, that however was the only wicket which would fall prior to the drinks break, as their newest debutant Séamus Lynch & longest serving player Eoghan Delany, set about a really strong batting effort.

Lynch was circumspect to begin, however having made his way through the opening spells, then began to open his shoulders as the change bowlers took to the crease, including launching 22 from the opening over of Abdul Samad just after passing his half-century. His partnership with Delany ultimately worth 156 before the opener fell agonisingly short of a debut century finishing with 94 from just 76 balls, clearing the rope 6 times to go alongside 8 boundaries.

Delany was joined by Patrick Xie, and whilst he played his way in to the game, the number 3 passed his 50 and brought the score to 200, before being Jordan Hollard's second victim of the afternoon. This didn't stop the rot however, as Xie shared stands of 38 with John McNally (20) and 41 with David Delany, before being dismissed for a fine 55. The skipper eventually finishing not out on 39 as he took the side to 320/7 in their 50 overs. Jordan Hollard the pick of the bowlers, taking 2/37 in his 10 overs.

In response, David Delany removed Connor Fletcher early in the piece, and whilst Ghanim Dara and Cameron Rowe kept things ticking over, the visitors remained firmly behind the 8-ball, seeing themselves 115/5 at the halfway stage. This however saw Dylan Lues produce the most fruitful effort of the innings, adding 52 before being dismissed by Patrick Xie. Delany added a further two wickets in the 37th over to leave the home side on the brink, before Xie took the final wicket with the score on 207 as the home side ran out 113 run winners inside 40 overs.

Elsewhere, the first result of the game came from Rathmines, five wickets for Bilal Azhar, along with four for Jai Moondra skittling Cork County for 77, before Leinster chased the runs without fuss, winning by 9 wickets thanks to unbeaten runs from Tristen de Beer (34) and Monil Patel (26).

In the Phoenix Park, Merrion fell foul of no fewer than 7 LBWs, as some super-accurate leg-spin from Ben White saw him taking 4/16, whilst his effort was bettered by Theo Dempsey's seamers taking 4/14, Amish Sidhu also took two wickets as Merrion were all out for 128, before a solid chase from Phoenix, led by Eknoor Singh's unbeaten 37 as they ran out 6 wicket winners.

In The Vineyard, The Hills batted first and compiled 227 all out, thanks in the main to a Brandon Kruger half century, whilst four other batters made between 21 and 30 in a solid all-round effort. Nathan McGuire the pick with the ball for Rush taking 4/35. Rush’s chase saw them off to a rocky start, as at 24/4 and 129/7 they looked to be well beaten, as Sean McNicholl did the damage with the ball. Abidullah Taniwal top scored with 66, however ultimately McNicholl's 6/41 saw The Hills run out 27 run winners in the 43rd over of the innings.

Pembroke were indebted to a rear-guard 58* from Macdara Cosgrave to see them making 209 all out in North County as there were three wickets apiece for Usman Azhar and Alan Joseph Mathew. North County got off to a flying start, before Paul Lawson entered the attack and induced a wobble, however Niall McGovern and Alan Joseph Mathew added a fine century partnership to bring their side to victory, finishing with 40 and 47 respectively and securing a five wicket victory for the home side.

Finally in Malahide, Philippe le Roux's 66 guided his side to 182/8 in their 37 overs, with Hedayat Khogiani the other contributor with 34. Two wickets for each of Timcy Khanduja and Mohit Sane the pick of the Malahide bowlers. An excellent knock from Khanduja guided the home side for most of their chase before he was dismissed for 60, setting up a pulsating finish before Digamber Mishra's 3 quick wickets appeared to have put Railway on top, however Malahide scrambled home with a ball to spare to secure an opening day victory.