IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW (AUGUST 22ND)

Week one post-split saw the cat thrown well and truly amongst the pigeons in the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League, as wins for Merrion, Railway and Malahide have seen the league really tighten up at the top, as now just 12 points separate the first three.

This weekend sees Merrion hosting Pembroke, in a game where the Ballsbridge outfit could finish the day top with a win, in Malahide, Railway Union are the visitors to The Village, whilst finally in Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan play host to Leinster, with the hosts ruing a missed opportunity to claim top spot in the league last weekend.

MERRION VS PEMBROKE

Merrion are the side carrying momentum into this game, as they look to be timing something of a charge just right at the moment. Their bowling attack has done much of the damage in recent weeks, as Corne Botha and Mikey O’Reilly have hit their straps and taken plenty of wickets in their new ball spells. That was the catalyst for their success last week against Leinster, when there were also wickets for skipper Sean Stanton and Andy Doheny in that game, and in the absence of O’Reilly this weekend, it will likely be down to one of these two to share the opening duties with Botha. With the bat, they continue to have a settled top five, with Stephen Doheny and Swapnil Modgill likely to open the innings, whilst Raj Undre will also slot into the top three. Seb Dijkstra showed some good form midweek with the Lightning Bolts and is a key cog in the wheel at number 4, whilst John Anderson at five is the ideal foil for the lower-order hitters to bat around, with the likes of Botha and Stanton charged with finding the rope regularly in the latter end of the innings.

Pembroke meanwhile will come into this game missing several big names on franchise duty, with none of Tim Tector, Lorcan Tucker, Harry Tector or Gavin Hoey available for selection. This looks set to leave them with a very similar side to that which won the Irish Cup last week, with only Andy Balbirnie and Byron McDonough potentially available from their international cohort. JJ Garth has been the man for the big occasion this season, and with the bearing that this fixture has had on the destination of the league title over the last number of years, this could be another big day he thrives on. Macdara Cosgrave will likely slot into the top three in Tim Tector’s absence, and he is another man in good form, having already made three centuries in August alone. Addison Sherriff and Jack Tector will shift up slightly in the middle order, whilst Danny Hogan is set to continue behind the stumps. Dan Murray is another man who could benefit from a promotion in the order, whilst there could also be returns to the 1^st XI for batter Sanil Gupta and seamer Mark Berry. The spin will be led by Paul Lawson, who continued his fine season by being the pick of the bowlers in last weekend’s Irish Cup Final.

Merrion will fancy their chances here if they can get themselves into the heart of Pembroke’s batting line-up early on, however that is set to be contingent upon Corne Botha knocking over JJ Garth in his first spell. If Garth can continue his good form, it will put Pembroke’s title charge on the front foot once again.

KEY BATTLE: Corne Botha vs JJ Garth

BALBRIGGAN VS LEINSTER

In Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan will know that a win could see them leapfrog Pembroke and head into pole position with three games remaining. Barring delays, they will have Portuguese internationals Chris de Freitas and Seb de Oliveira back in their side this weekend, which will strengthen them significantly after last week’s defeat to Malahide. De Freitas will slot in at number 4 after the settled top three of Connor Fletcher, Ghanim Dara and Cameron Rowe, whilst de Oliveira adds depth to the middle order alongside the classy left-hander Kai Curran, and bludgeoning Jordan Hollard who was crucial at the back-end of the CL President’s XI win over the Dublin Guardians this afternoon. That franchise duty means Matt Hollard won’t feature for the side again this season, and as a result the opening duo with the ball is set to continue as Ruan Strauss and de Oliveira. Hollard and skipper Dylan Lues provide the frontline spin in the side, whilst Andy Darroch and Bhavesh Lakhotia are the other seamers, Curran’s part time leggies are the final option available to Lues in what is a deep bowling attack in spite of the loss of their Irish international.

Leinster meanwhile will be reeling after failing in a modest run chase last weekend, however they do boast an in-form opening pair in the shape of Luke Horgan, who finished the pre-split period of the season in excellent form, and Tom Johnson who has regularly gotten the side through the PowerPlay overs unscathed. The middle order is full of class, none more so than Monil Patel, whilst Younas Ahmadzai’s ball striking sets him apart in this league in a big way, they’ll be joined by Saqib Bahadur and Tristen de Beer, who is another man who has caught the eye with some of his efforts lower down the order this term. Again they are without their star man with the ball in the shape of left-armer Jai Moondra, whilst Gareth Delany is also on ETPL duty which takes out a frontline spinner from the side. Bilal Azhar has been in fine form and his left-arm seamers will likely open proceedings alongside Mark Tonge, who has been the leader of the attack for much of this season. Joey Carroll and Kaustabh Apsunde round out the seamers in the side, whilst Saqib Bahadur is the main spinner with his off-breaks, he’ll be supported by the left-arm orthodox of Johnson which has regained some form in recent weeks.

Younas Ahmadzai will be a real danger against the spin in the middle overs for Balbriggan here, no doubt their skipper Dylan Lues will take on the challenge knowing that if they can knock over the Afghan that they will have the game at their mercy.

KEY BATTLE: Dylan Lues vs Younas Ahmadzai

MALAHIDE VS RAILWAY UNION

Malahide are another side welcoming back their star turn this weekend, as Jeremy Martins also returns from Portugal duty to add genuine all-round skill to the side. He will slot in at number four after the destructive opening pair of Robbie Foulkes and Alan Reynolds, and in-form Adam Doyle who’s quest for a century was foiled only by the weather last weekend. This also allows Greg Ford to slide down one slot to number five and most likely continue in the finisher role where he has thrived this season. David O’Halloran and Andy Sheridan are the all-rounders in the side, whilst gloveman Matthew Langan will also feature in the middle order. With the ball, the opening pair of James Newland and Kelvin Donnelly will provide plenty of bounce and lateral movement early on, whilst Martins is likely to feature as the first change along with one of a myriad of medium pace options coming from Foulkes, Sheridan and O’Halloran. Timcy Khanduja’s leg-breaks offer a unique challenge, however Railway dealt with them reasonably well a few weeks ago, and he will need to be on his game this time around.

Railway Union meanwhile have a host of in-form players in their top order, none moreso than Bruce Whaley, who comes into this game off the back of two strong innings for the Lightning Bolts during the week, in fixtures where fellow top-order players Rob O’Brien and Philippe le Roux also starred, making a century and vital unbeaten 82 in the games respectively. Whaley will have a new opening partner in this game in the shape of star all-rounder Liam McCarthy, whilst the middle order will see Abhay Tipnis holding the second half of the innings together. With the ball, McCarthy will open proceedings, likely alongside either Sean O’Brien or Sumit Kumar, both of whom have performed admirably so far this season, Connor Walden is the fourth seamer. They will, however, be without spinner Srihan Karpe who suffered a nasty elbow injury in last week’s game, with the spin set to come from Ashil Prakash’s leg-breaks, and the left-arm orthodox of Tipnis.

Philippe le Roux has been in excellent form in recent weeks, and will be looking to guide his side to victory once again this time out, if he can get the better of Jeremy Martins in the middle overs, it will put the visitors right on top.

KEY BATTLE: Jeremy Martins vs Philippe le Roux

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE

SATURDAY, AUGUST 22^ND, 12 NOON

At Anglesea Road, Merrion vs Pembroke

At Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan vs Leinster

At The Village, Malahide vs Railway Union