IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW – MATCH DAY 11 (JULY 26TH)

The final round of the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League ‘regular season’ takes place this weekend, and with one round of fixtures left to go, there’s just one space between the two leagues still up for debate – with those two teams set to face off as Railway Union and North County will do battle at Park Avenue!

The other five fixtures are far from dead rubbers, as with just six games remaining in the season in total, every point is absolutely vital to the finishing position of teams at both ends of the table. Around the grounds, Pembroke face Malahide in Sydney Parade, whilst the other action on the southside sees Observatory Lane playing host to Leinster vs Merrion. Clontarf face a trip to The Mardyke to face Cork County, whilst in Fingal, Balbriggan and Rush face off, in a game which could ultimately prove crucial to the final resting place of the Championship title come September 6^th. Finally in the Park, Phoenix host The Hills, with the visitors desperate to get themselves off the foot of the table.

PEMBROKE VS MALAHIDE

A close to full-strength Pembroke side face off against Malahide this weekend, with just Barry McCarthy missing out from what would widely be considered their strongest team. This sees a return for Andy Balbirnie at the top of the order alongside Tim Tector, whilst there’s a sensational 3/4/5 combo of the record-breaking Blake Macdonald, Harry Tector, and Leinster Lightning skipper Lorcan Tucker, who returns behind the stumps having missed last weekend. JJ Garth had an excellent weekend last time around, and along with Jack Tector rounds out the batting unit. With the ball, the side will look to Byron McDonough at the start, likely to share the opening duties with either skipper Paul Lawson, or fellow off-spinner Harry Tector, whilst Mark Berry’s form has been excellent in recent weeks. They are rounded out by the leg-spin of Gavin Hoey, who took 7 wickets across their two fixtures last weekend.

Malahide meanwhile have something of a free swing at this game in an effort to take themselves away from the danger-zone. They are far from full strength, missing the injured Adam Doyle, whilst Mike Frost and Matt Ford have been infrequent in their appearances this season, and neither are in this week’s side. The batting centres around Robbie Foulkes at the top of the order, and he’s likely to be partnered by gloveman Matthew Langan. Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin, Alex Brown and Jeremy Martins make up the bulk of the middle order, before the all-round pair of Andy Sheridan and Timcy Khanduja are mentioned. With the ball, they will doubtless be happy with seeing their new-ball pairing of the skipper James Newland and Kelvin Donnelly intact once again, whilst Martins and Sheridan provide two excellent middle-overs operators with their medium pace. The spin comes primarily in the form of left-arm orthodox from Jonathan Tall, however Khanduja’s leg-breaks could also prove to be very important in their efforts to restrict their opposition here.

Pembroke’s key man in almost every game he’s played this season has been Andy Balbirnie, he’s rarely failed and provides a brilliant base for those around him to flourish, whilst also having the ability to pile up big scores, if James Newland doesn’t dismiss him early on, it could be a very long day in the dirt for the Malahide side.

KEY BATTLE: Andy Balbirnie vs James Newland

CORK COUNTY VS CLONTARF

A severely understrength Cork County side welcome the only side in the province that’s still competing on three fronts to The Mardyke. The hosts go into this game without two of their main batters in Mark Andrianatos and Thorne Prophet, whilst they must also do without all-rounder Bakhtyar Nabi. Their top order will therefore likely be made up of Ross Durity, Benji Marris and Brian Upman, with support from some of their younger up and comers such as Ehsan O’Sullivan and Sunil Gautam. The loss of three players in their top six could well see the likes of Zubair Khan and Darsh Shetty shifting up into all-rounder roles in this tie. On the bowling front, even without Nabi the spin attack looks threatening, as their skipper Diarmuid Carey will lead the way, supported by O’Sullivan, who took six wickets in their last league victory. Khan and Shetty are two new-ball options, whilst the swing bowling of Sam Fenn could also feature early on. Raj Undre looks to be the final cog in a six-pronged bowling attack which they will hope can restrict ‘Tarf’s batting unit.

The batting unit is where we kick off with ‘Tarf, as skipper David Delany has rung the changes for this weekend’s tie, shuffling the pack in an effort to show the depth within the side. This will see the red-hot Eoghan Delany partnered at the top of the order by David Vincent, who is searching for form with the bat, John McNally is pushed up to 3, whilst Curtis Campher and Pat Xie retain their regular positions at 4 and 5 in the order. Regular openers Séamus Lynch and Mitchell Thompson move to numbers 6 and 7, before Delany at 8. Fionn Hand is missing this week following his heroics with the bat in last weekend’s victory against North County. On the bowling front, Reuben Wilson looks set to lead the line alongside Delany, with Campher and McNally the other pair of seamers in the line-up. Spin often plays a huge role in The Mardyke, and they have added Yash Bala to the side this weekend, he will support Cillian McDonnell, whilst the third option is Vincent’s off-breaks, in an attack which once again, is laden with options.

Zubair Khan will need to make some early inroads for Cork here if they are to have any chance of holding down this new-look ‘Tarf batting line-up, however to do so he will need to dismiss one of the in-form men in the country in Eoghan Delany, if Delany gets in and rolling, it could tee up a massive chance for this long batting line-up to run riot.

KEY BATTLE: Zubair Khan vs Eoghan Delany

LEINSTER VS MERRION

One of the key fixtures in the context of the final resting place of the league title takes place in Observatory Lane, as Merrion travel to Leinster for what could be one of the ties of the weekend. The hosts currently sit top, however with just 52 points between themselves and Merrion, it’s feasible to think that any of the top five are still well in contention with 6 games remaining. Leinster’s batting unit was relatively untested in last weekend’s facile victory over Railway Union, meaning most of these players will be batting in a 50 over game for the first time since June 28^th. Ben Mitchell and Tom Johnson will open the innings, whilst Monil Patel is the first in a battalion of high-class operators that lie in wait on the sideline, following him include the likes of Younas Ahmadzai, Saqib Bahadur and Joey Carroll, whilst there’s also some powerful ball-strikers in the shape of Tristen de Beer and Mark Tonge in a unit which boast ability right down the order. With the ball, they will look to Jai Moondra and Tonge to extract early movement, whilst the skipper Bilal Azhar has been in tremendous form in the past few weeks. Ben Mitchell’s death bowling has proven to be another key to the side. The spinners of Saqib Bahadur and Tom Johnson will need to be on top of their game here, however it’s an attack that certainly isn’t short of options for Azhar to turn to.

Merrion meanwhile won out in this fixture last season thanks to a century from John Anderson, with the Rathmines ground being home to his highest average (62.75) of any ground in which he’s played at least 10 innings, as he comes into this game off the back of a fluent 75 last week, no doubt his side will be hoping for more of the same. Stephen Doheny and Jamie Forbes were both also in the runs in their excellent batting effort last weekend, whilst Swapnil Modgill showed some signs of promising a return to form at the top of the order. Connor Blaxall-Hill at number three rounds out what is a top five that can cause problems for any opposition on it’s day. The bowling attack is led by the excellent Melvin Devaraj, who could share opening duties with Sean Stanton once again this time around. Jack Atkinson has been included in the side in recent weeks as an extra seam bowling option alongside the skipper Max Sorensen. Tom Stanton is the frontline spinner, and support to him comes in the shape of Blaxall-Hill’s off-breaks.

Jai Moondra’s opening spell to Stephen Doheny is sure to be a part of the game that will put everyone on the edge of their seat, if the Merrion opener can get through him and keep up his good form, it could set Merrion off on their way once again.

KEY BATTLE: Jai Moondra vs Stephen Doheny

PHOENIX VS THE HILLS

Phoenix will attempt to heap misery onto bottom of the table The Hills this weekend in an effort to propel their title challenge onwards. As the only trophy winners so far this season, they doubtless have their eye on two more this term and a victory will leave them in a strong league position heading into the final five games of the season. Their batting is led by the blockbuster opening pair of Shane Getkate and Eknoor Singh, with the latter currently the leading run scorer of all cricket in the province at all levels. Tyrone Kane and George Dockrell add a destructive edge to the team, whilst they then look to the likes of Joe Cotgreave and Nic Pretorius to round the innings out strongly. With the ball, Tom Malone and Kane provide as strong an opening pair as they could wish for, with seam support in the shape of Raghav Grover and James Maginnis. The spinners however are the trump card in this side, with Amish Sidhu and Dev Ranolia supporting Dockrell, as well as the leg-breaks of Ben White all potentially available to call upon.

The Hills meanwhile welcome back their strike bowler Sean McNicholl, after he missed last week’s fixture, and he is set to share opening duties with Cian Nulty, who’s opening over last weekend will take something special to top this season. Shazil Ahmed and Tómas Rooney-Murphy back that pair up in the seam bowling department, before they are likely to turn to the mystery spin of Febin Manoj. Ollie Horlock’s off-breaks round out the six bowlers that Rooney-Murphy is most likely to make use of. With the bat, Horlock’s recent run of form at the top of the order is cause for optimism for the visitors, he’s likely to be partnered at the top by Hassan Shahid, with Muzamil Sherzad and Matthew Weldon both playing prominent roles. Nathan Rooney adds the X-factor ability to clear the rope regularly, and doubtless will be crucial to the side should they lay a good foundation to build from.

Tom Malone’s opening spell to Ollie Horlock ought not to be missed in this fixture, if the left-armer can knock over The Hills’ main man, it will put Phoenix right on top.  

KEY BATTLE: Tom Malone vs Ollie Horlock

BALBRIGGAN VS RUSH

Rush travel to Balbriggan with a side unchanged from last week’s fixture against Merrion, with the only potential change in the balance of the side remaining as to whether Abid Taniwal returns to the bowling crease or not. On the assumption that he doesn’t, the new ball duties will once again fall to Jarred Barnes and Allan Eastwood, with support coming from Alex Neary’s left-arm seamers. The spin duo has become a trio with the addition of Callum Armstrong’s left-arm chinamen to the side, accompanying the left-arm orthodox of Nasir Totakhil, and off-spin of Nathan McGuire in a well-rounded attack which carries plenty of options. With the bat, Armstrong will once again likely slot in at the top of the order, having featured there alongside Hashir Sultan last weekend. Rush didn’t help themselves with a brace of calamitous run-outs in that tie, and will be looking to Jack McGee, McGuire and Taniwal to contribute heavily to the cause in the middle order.

Balbriggan meanwhile coming into this tie in the hope of adding to their points tally, having been the only fixture to suffer a no-result last weekend in The Mardyke. They are no doubt riding the crest of a wave, and will look to the likes of Cameron Rowe, Chris de Freitas and Greg Ford to lead the way with the bat, whilst a return to form for opener Connor Fletcher would be a big boost to the side. They have been heavily reliant on contributions from their all-rounders Dylan Lues and Jordan Hollard, and the pair of left-handers will doubtless be keen to keep their good form up going into the latter stages of the season. With the ball, they will look to Matt Hollard and Seb D’Oliveira to give them a good start, whilst their back-up sees Andy Darroch and Kashif Ali providing right and left-arm options respectively. Lues and Hollard are every bit as key with the ball as they are with the bat, and no doubt they will have to be on form to restrict Rush’s middle order.

Nathan McGuire is always a key wicket for Rush, and this week is unlikely to prove any different, if he can build on a platform at the top of the order, the likes of Dylan Lues will have their work cut out to peg him back in the middle of the innings.

KEY BATTLE: Dylan Lues vs Nathan McGuire

RAILWAY UNION VS NORTH COUNTY

Finally the most important fixture of the day, and our featured action, which will come from Park Avenue. 13.5 points separate the sides in what is set fair to be a brilliant tie. Both sides will need to have put last weekend’s disappointing Leinster Senior Cup semi-final losses to the back of their minds, and doubtless they will find this a very straightforward task with the prize on offer being a place in the Premier League.

North County’s side has been very settled this season, and they will be looking to their star men Suliman Safi and Hunter Kindley to stand up in a big way this weekend when their side need them most. Both are capable of making big scores, and this fixture is calling out for a big name player to do so. Jamie Grassi has been in good form in the middle order, whilst they will be hoping that Niall McGovern and Brian Dunphy can also add runs for the side. The all-round prowess of the skipper Eddie Richardson is likely to have a big impact with both bat and ball this time around, and his opening spell with the ball alongside Abdul Ghaffar is sure to be a huge moment in the game. Following that pair there’s more seam from Jake Devane and Sean Sludds, whilst they have gone with just Alan Joseph Mathew as the frontline spinner this weekend, doubtless he will be eager to put on another good showing against his former club.

Railway Union meanwhile are set to have a broadly similar side out to what they fielded last weekend, with the batting led from the front by Ashil Prakash and Hedayat Khogiani, who will seek to lay a base for their star-quality middle order. Rob O’Brien at 3, followed by Philippe le Roux, Liam McCarthy and Lotli Sesele are the four men who they will hope can produce the bulk of a big batting effort, which will no doubt be badly needed in order to overcome North County this time around. With the ball, Farman Afridi and Liam McCarthy appear set to lead the way, along with support in the seam bowling department from Muhammad Sinan and Mark Canniffe. The spin sees Srihan Karpe leading the way, whilst Ashil Prakash’s part time option adds an extra bit of depth that could well prove crucial to the tie.

Hunter Kindley has threatened with some ominous starts in recent weeks, however there’s no doubt the North County faithful will be hoping to see him kick-on to a big score this time around, if he can get on top against the high-class Liam McCarthy, it could prove to be a crucial stage in the game.

KEY BATTLE: Liam McCarthy vs Hunter Kindley

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE

MATCH DAY 11, JULY 26^TH, ALL 12 NOON STARTS

At Sydney Parade, Pembroke vs Malahide

At The Mardyke, Cork County vs Clontarf

At Observatory Lane, Leinster vs Merrion

At Phoenix Park, Phoenix vs The Hills

At Jack Harper Ground, Balbriggan vs Rush

At Park Avenue, Railway Union vs North County (FEATURED GAME)