IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW (JUNE 2ND)
Bank Holiday Monday sees the 5th round of fixtures taking place in the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League, and with the league starting to take some shape, there are some mouth-watering ties in store. The featured action is taking place in Anglesea Road, where we have a replay of last season’s ‘league final’ between Merrion and Pembroke, whilst there’s also a 1st vs 4th tie taking place in Castle Avenue where Phoenix are the visitors. The Mardyke plays host to Railway Union, then in The Village, Rush visit Malahide. There’s also a pair of games in North County Dublin, as The Vineyard sees The Hills take on Balbriggan, whilst in Balrothery, North County host Leinster.
MERRION VS PEMBROKE
The featured action sees a star-studded Pembroke batting line-up return to the scene of their amazing last-ditch league title win last season, currently sitting in third and looking firmly upward in the table. Their side tomorrow sees a top order that will feature JJ Garth, Tim Tector, Andy Balbirnie, Harry Tector, and overseas player Blake MacDonald, before even mentioning wicket-keeper and Leinster Lightning skipper Lorcan Tucker, and their Senior Cup first round hero Jack Tector. On the bowling front, their seamers feature Andrew Boulton and Mark Berry who will lead the way, whilst Harry Tector’s off-spin has regularly been used to open the bowling when he’s featured this season. Paul Lawson and Gavin Hoey are the other frontline spinners in the side, with JJ Garth the sixth option available to Lawson in an attack that may be able to restrict Merrion to a manageable total.
Merrion meanwhile have also got an excellent batting line-up at their disposal, with the extremely in-form Swapnil Modgill leading the way at the top of the order alongside their premier batsman in Stephen Doheny. Connor Blaxall-Hill made a good start to league cricket last week, in spite of their rain off against Cork County, with John Anderson and Adam Rosslee featuring in the middle order, Anderson in particular in good form having made an unbeaten century the last time he batted at Anglesea Road, in the Senior Cup against Clontarf. Jamie Forbes and the skipper Max Sorensen will provide the firepower at 6 and 7. New-ball bowlers Mikey O’Reilly and Tom Stanton will aim to make early inroads into the Pembroke batting line-up, whilst Melvin Devaraj and Sean Stanton support with their right arm seam. Modgill’s off-spin and Sorensen’s seamers round out an attack that, much like Pembroke’s, will fancy it’s chances of restricting their opposition to a below-par score.
Merrion’s opening bowlers will have it’s work cut out if they are to restrict this excellent Pembroke batting line-up, and if Mikey O’Reilly can knock over the in-form Tim Tector early, it will make for an intriguing opening to the game.
KEY BATTLE: Mikey O’Reilly vs Tim Tector
CLONTARF VS PHOENIX
‘Tarf play host to Phoenix in a game which will see whoever comes out on top ahead of the other in the league standings. The home team’s batting line-up is another excellent unit, with Séamus Lynch and Mitchell Thompson at the top of the order, followed by Eoghan Delany who has been in brilliant form at number three of late. Pat Xie slots in at number 4 with David Delany and John McNally following him in the middle order. Curtis Campher’s unavailability so far due to injuries hasn’t hindered the side, however his return would be another welcome addition to the side. On the bowling front, Reuben Wilson appears unlikely to feature with the Leaving Cert beginning this week, so the seamers could be led by Luke Thomson and Ethan Marshall alongside the skipper Delany, with John McNally the fourth seamer in the side. The spinners are led by Yash Bala and Cillian McDonnell, who’s left and right arms have been in strong form this season.
Phoenix on the other hand come into this tie off the back of a strong performance on Friday evening against Civil Service, bouncing back from last weekend’s league loss against Pembroke. Their batting unit is in decent form, Tyrone Kane leading the way in Friday’s victory with a century, whilst both Shane Getkate and George Dockrell have also made centuries in May. Their top 6 is rounded out by Eknoor Singh and Joe Cotgreave, along with the skipper Adam Chester. With the ball, Raghav Grover and Kane will share the opening duties, before they will be able to turn to their spin trio trump card, pair of left-armers Amish Sidhu and Dev Ranolia, whilst the leg-breaks of Ben White will also be important to keeping tabs on their hosts this time around.
‘Tarf’s top order will need to be on form this time around, and this could well come down to being a battle between two former Terenure men, as Séamus Lynch and Raghav Grover will face off when Phoenix are in the field, if ‘Moose’ can dominate his former team-mate, it could give Clontarf a head-start
KEY BATTLE: Séamus Lynch vs Raghav Grover
CORK COUNTY VS RAILWAY UNION
Railway Union make the trip to the Mardyke to face off against a Cork County side which features a big name addition this weekend. PJ Moor makes his debut for the home side and will bolster the batting unit hugely for this tie. He joins Mark Andrianatos and Thorne Prophet in the top order, whilst Brian Upman and Benjamin Marris add some strength in the middle order. The spin twins of the skipper Diarmuid Carey’s left-arm orthodox and Bakhtyar Nabi’s right-arm offies are the key cogs in the home side’s batting line-up, and they will follow the new ball efforts of Andrianatos and Zubair Khan, whilst Darsh Shetty is the third seamer in the line-up.
Railway on the other hand feature an in-form batting line-up, in spite of their skipper Philippe le Roux being absent once again this time around. That means that Rob O’Brien once again skippers the side from number three, following Ashil Prakash and Hedayat Khogiani. Letli Sesele made a half-century last weekend, and is joined in the middle order by another in-form pair, with Srihan Karpe making an excellent ton for South Leinster during the week, and Ryan Smith making a quick-fire 42 for Dublin University on Friday night. With ball in hand, Muhammad Sinan and Liam McCarthy are the likely opening pair, with Digamber Mishra and Gethin Kelleher the other right-arm seam bowlers in the line-up. Karpe and Prakash are the two strong spin-bowling all-rounders in the side, whilst teenager Peter le Roux continues behind the stumps.
PJ Moor’s addition to Cork County makes them a big threat to Railway this weekend, and the away side will be looking to Liam McCarthy to knock him over early in his innings to keep them in the tie.
KEY BATTLE: PJ Moor vs Liam McCarthy
MALAHIDE VS RUSH
Malahide’s batting unit will be looking to overpower Rush this Monday, led by their star man, Kiwi Robbie Foulkes, alongside regular opener Timcy Khanduja, with Adam Doyle and Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin being the pair who generally aim to bat for long periods of time. Matt Ford and Jeremy Martins are the two bigger-hitting stroke makers in the middle order. Andy Sheridan leads the all-rounders in the side, featuring around the number seven mark and bowling his seamers through the middle overs. James Newland and Kelvin Donnelly are the likely opening pair for the home side, with another right-armer in David O’Halloran supporting that trio. The left-arm spin duo of Mike Frost and Mohit Sane have performed well so far, and will be crucial to the home side’s efforts to stay on top against a destructive Rush middle order.
Rush meanwhile will be relying on a very strong seam bowling attack, led by the skipper Jarred Barnes and Allan Eastwood who will share the new ball duties with Abid Taniwal. Asher Abbasi and Alex Neary add further right and left-arm seam options in a five pronged attack that could cause Malahide’s unit some problems. Nasir Totakhil’s left-arm spin is the key bowler in the line-up, and he’s supported by Nathan McGuire’s offies in the slow-bowling department. On the batting front, McGuire leads the way, having made centuries in each of his last three fifty over innings, and will have support from Taniwal and Hashir Sultan in the middle order, with Totakhil having proved to be something of a rock at the top of the order in recent weeks. The McGee brothers, Jack and wicket-keeper Finn round out a strong batting unit.
A tale of two destructive batters here in this tie, however Robbie Foulkes seems to be the key to Malahide’s team in general, if he can deal with Abid Taniwal’s opening spell, it will be a massive boost to the home side.
KEY BATTLE: Robbie Foulkes vs Abid Taniwal
NORTH COUNTY VS LEINSTER
Finally, in Inch, North County take on the league’s early pace setters in Leinster. In spite of injuries, the home side still boast a strong batting unit, led by their overseas player Hunter Kindley and left-hander Suliman Safi, who take the crease after their opening pair of Brian Dunphy and Jamie Grassi. In the middle order, Niall McGovern and Alan Joseph Mathew have both shown glimpses of good form this season, and will appear alongside the skipper Eddie Richardson. On the bowling front, Richardson will likely share the new ball with Abdul Ghaffar, whilst Usman Azhar is the third seamer who has found plenty of success this season on his return. The spinners include Mathew’s offies, alongside Brandon Morris and Safi, who all provide plenty of variety, giving the side a nice balance of three spinners and three seamers for this weekend’s games.
Leinster meanwhile come into this tie after a big win on Friday evening, bouncing back having not won an Open Comps game since May 5th before then. Ben Mitchell leads the way with the bat alongside Tom Johnson. Younas Ahmadzai and Monil Patel follow that pair, with Gareth Delany at number 5 in the order ahead of Saqib Bahadur’s stroke play in at number 6. Joey Carroll and Mark Tonge are the all-rounders at 7 and 8, with both providing some very strong right-arm seam options. The bowling attack is led by Bilal Azhar and Jai Moondra, both of whom’s left-arm seamers have been destructive in the early periods of games for the Rathmines outfit. The spinners in the side include Ben Mitchell and Tom Johnson, both left-arm options, whilst Saqib Bahadur and Gareth Delany are another pair that are likely to feature at the bowling crease.
The away side will be hoping to see Jai Moondra’s good form with the ball continue, and if he can knock over Suliman Safi, it will give the away side an excellent chance in this tie.
KEY BATTLE: Suliman Safi vs Jai Moondra
THE HILLS VS BALBRIGGAN
Skerries plays host to another local derby as this time Balbriggan are the visitors. The home team’s batting unit has started to come good in recent weeks, led at the top by Hassan Shahid, whilst Aussie Ollie Horlock has been solid at number three. Their power hitting in the middle order from the likes of Edson Silva and newest-debutant Adnan Shinwari also cannot be underestimated, as it was an area where the side certainly had room to improve until recent weeks. Andy Kavanagh and skipper Tomas Rooney-Murphy round out the top 7. Their bowling unit is spearheaded by Sean McNicholl, whilst there’s a much anticipated appearance for Pierce Ryan who has been touted as giving the side some X-factor with extra pace. Rooney-Murphy and Matthew Weldon are the other frontline seamers in the side alongside Cian Nulty, whilst the spin comes primarily from teenage mystery-spinner Febin Manoj, alongside some tidy offies from Horlock.
Balbriggan meanwhile come into this tie off the back of a strong performance on Friday evening against North Kildare where their batting unit seemed to really click into gear. Chris de Freitas is their man danger in the middle order, batting alongside Cameron Rowe. At the top, Connor Fletcher and Ghanim Dara are a strong pair who will look to get the side off to a quick start, often causing issues due to their left and right hand combination. Further down, Sebastian D’Oliveira, Dylan Lues and Jordan Hollard are three men capable of clearing the ropes in the latter stages of the innings, and will appear just below the skipper Greg Ford. The bowling stocks in the ‘Brig have been greatly improved by the arrival of Matthew Hollard, and whilst they are without Sam Willemse once again, D’Oliveira, Andy Darroch and Kashif Ali round out a nicely varied and strong seam bowling unit. The spin comes from their pair of offies, as Jordan Hollard and Dylan Lues will attempt to provide some control through the middle overs for their side.
The Hills will be looking to Edson Silva to dominate the game through the middle and back-end for their side. If Dylan Lues can dismiss him early on, it will help the ‘Brig restrict The Hills bowling effort significantly.
KEY BATTLE: Edson Silva vs Dylan Lues
IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE
Match Day 5, June 2nd, All 12 Noon Starts
At Anglesea Road, Merrion vs Pembroke (FEATURED GAME)
At Castle Avenue, Clontarf vs Phoenix
At The Mardyke, Cork County vs Railway Union
At The Village, Malahide vs Rush
At Inch, North County vs Leinster
At The Vineyard, The Hills vs Balbriggan