IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE PREVIEW – ROUND 5 (JUNE 6TH)

We approach the halfway stage in the initial part of the season this weekend in the IBI Corporate Finance Premier League, and with just the holders Pembroke remaining unbeaten at this stage the chasing pack are all under pressure to win to keep their hat in the ring for the league title this season.

A full slate of fixtures this weekend sees the holders visiting The Mardyke to take on Cork County. Elsewhere around the grounds, Merrion visit Castle Avenue to face Clontarf, and in Jack Harper Park, Malahide visit Balbriggan. Phoenix play host to Railway Union, whilst the two winless teams, Civil Service and Rush, are on the road against North County and Leinster respectively.

CORK COUNTY VS PEMBROKE

Kicking off in The Mardyke, Cork County are still without their skipper Diarmuid Carey for the time being as he recovers from a knee injury, meaning that Thorne Prophet once again deputises for him. He’ll lead the bowling attack alongside teenager William Shields, whilst there’s also a welcome return to the side for Zubair Khan, who strengthens the seam-bowling stocks. Another man who is returning to the side this weekend is Ehsan O’Sullivan, and he bolsters the spin bowling unit alongside fellow off-spinner Bakhtyar Nabi and leggie Nabeel Anjum, who was excellent last time out against Merrion. They are without their star-turn with the bat so far as Raj Undre is missing this weekend, meaning Josh Hartill will be the main force. Prophet, Brian Upman and Tiago Oelofse will feature in the middle order, and there will be plenty of pressure on that quartet this time around if they are to handle a potent Pembroke bowling unit.

That Pembroke unit is set to be led once again by Byron McDonough and Addison Sherriff, and in the absence of several of their frontline bowlers, that duo are set to prove key in their early spells this weekend. Mark Berry is a likely third seam option, before Pembroke are turning to their spin options, which could prove to be the game winners on what is traditionally a spin-friendly surface. Paul Lawson was instrumental in both the side’s victories in the league and all-Ireland a couple of weeks ago, proving that the potential absence of Harry Tector and Gavin Hoey are no issue for him to deal with, he’ll likely be supported this time around by the off-breaks of Macdara Cosgrave, who has proven to be a decent option at the level, whilst also having been successful this week in the District Series. The visitors will be hoping Tim Tector is able to produce some more of his early season form this time out, and he’s likely to open the batting alongside Cosgrave once again. Sherriff has done a good job at three in the absence of some of their big names, and there’ll doubtless be confidence that he can produce with the bat no matter what position he fills, whilst skipper Jack Tector and in-form 2^nd XI players Danny Hogan and Sanil Gupta are all set to feature in the middle order once again.

Pembroke will be hoping they can simply overpower Cork County’s weakened batting line-up this weekend, and this one could prove to be a battle between the two Aussies, as if Addison Sherriff can knock over Josh Hartill cheaply, the ‘Broke will be well on the front foot.

KEY BATTLE: Josh Hartill vs Addison Sherriff

CLONTARF VS MERRION

Merrion, who are 3 wins from 4 in the league this season head to Castle Avenue knowing a win here could be crucial to them come the end of the season. The Dom Joyce coached side will be looking to their opener Swapnil Modgill to kick things off strongly with the bat, whilst a return for Stephen Doheny would be another huge boost to the team. Seb Dijkstra has looked good at number three this season, more than showing he belongs at the level, whilst Danny Forkin has shown to be in good form in recent weeks, and is likely to feature prominently with the bat once again. John Anderson and Jamie Forbes are another duo in the middle order who have made strong contributions this season. With the ball, the all-round pair of Sean Stanton and Mikey O’Reilly are likely to open the bowling, with the latter in fine District Cup form midweek. Corne Botha will add his extra yard of pace as a likely first change option, whilst the spin will come from Peter Forkin.

Clontarf meanwhile have had a torrid couple of weeks, a pair of defeats to Leinster being followed up by a loss to North County meaning they are now out of both cup competitions, and will be desperate for a successful league campaign. This fixture last season was lit up by a brilliant Séamus Lynch century, and he will once again be a key man at the top of the order for ‘Tarf. Mitchell Thompson is set to partner him, whilst Eoghan Delany and Sam Morgan will occupy the slots at three and four. There is a likely return for David Delany, as a batsman only, for the coming weeks, which will see him slide back into the middle order, alongside all-rounder John McNally, and skipper Fionn Hand who may be freed up somewhat by the inclusion of their most revered talent. With the ball, a return for Reuben Wilson would be massively welcome for the hosts, who have been desperately unlucky thus far to not have a full strength side. He would support a relatively strong seam attack that includes Hand and McNally as well as Nawaz Khan, whilst the spin will come from Cillian McDonnell.

Merrion will doubtless be hoping to keep Fionn Hand’s opening spell quiet in this fixture, if Swapnil Modgill can get on top of the Clontarf skipper, it could put the visitors on the front foot.

KEY BATTLE: Fionn Hand vs Swapnil Modgill

BALBRIGGAN VS MALAHIDE

Jack Harper Park sees second and third in the table face off, as both Malahide and Balbriggan are in decent early season positions having won three from their four fixtures so far. The winner of this game will most likely finish the day in second place in the league, with the loser potentially falling as low as seventh! Balbriggan’s relatively settled line-up sees a new face added to it this weekend, as Kai Curran is added, and alleviates the loss of Aaron McGeehan who will miss a period of time with a finger injury. Curran looks set to feature in the middle order along with the likes of Chris de Freitas, Seb De Oliveira and Ruan Strauss, as well as the destructive Jordan Hollard. That gives the side plenty of depth, with Connor Fletcher and Cameron Rowe the men likely charged with building a foundation from which that middle order is allowed to launch. With the ball, Matt Hollard leads a pacey attack that also features Andy Darroch and De Oliveira, whilst Strauss is the fourth seamer in the side. The spin comes from the skipper Dylan Lues, along with Jordan Hollard, both of whom have the ability to take wickets in bunches.

Malahide meanwhile will be looking to their in-form batting unit to once again put them on the front foot in this game. Coached by former Balbriggan skipper Greg Ford, they will be hoping Alan Reynolds and Robbie Foulkes can get them off to a strong start, allowing them to bat around Adam Doyle at number three. Jeremy Martins is their most consistent performer with both bat and ball, and he’s likely to feature once again at number four, whilst Alex Brown and Ford are two further aggressors that can take the game on in the latter stages. On the bowling front, Kelvin Donnelly has found his straps in recent weeks and managed to take some early wickets alongside the left-arm seam of James Newland. Andy Sheridan and Robbie Foulkes both offer good medium pace options, whilst the spin will come from Mohit Sane who’s left-arm offies have been the primary option for most of this season.

Matt Hollard will relish the opportunity to bowl to Malahide’s aggressive opening pair this weekend, and if he can knock over Alan Reynolds before he gets a start this weekend, it could put the visitors on the back foot.

KEY BATTLE: Matt Hollard vs Alan Reynolds

PHOENIX VS RAILWAY UNION

Railway Union visit the Phoenix Park this weekend, and they welcome Liam McCarthy back into the side this weekend, whilst Philippe le Roux also returns having missed the last league outing. They will be looking to Bruce Whaley to get them off to a flying start as usual, with Ashil Prakash likely to play a more sedate role at the top of the order. Rob O’Brien at three is a key player, and they are likely to try to bat around his busy nature, le Roux will slot back into his familiar slot at 4, ahead of all-rounder Abhay Tipnis, who has shown plenty of match-winning ability in recent weeks. Hayden Hamilton rounds out a powerful batting line-up that will be confident of causing Phoenix some problems this weekend. With the ball, Farman Afridi looks set to open proceedings alongside McCarthy, whilst there’s plenty of seam options included in the side, with Sumit Kumar and Digamber Mishra both also featuring. Tipnis and Prakash are set to be the two spinners in the side, whilst Rob Carr’s medium pace may also find it’s way into the bowling attack should conditions be suitable.

Phoenix meanwhile come into this game no full of confidence no doubt, as even in spite of being rained off on Monday, they had thoroughly outplayed Pembroke until that stage. Their bowling unit is full of extremely skilful operators, none more so than opener Sean McNicholl, who may find himself with yet another new-ball partner again this weekend, having shared the duties with James Maginnis last time out. A return for Raghav Grover would boost the seam bowling stocks, whilst their trio of spinners are the real ace in the pack, with Ben White’s leggies supporting the slow left-arm of Amish Sidhu and George Dockrell, and whilst the latter was the clear pick last week, all three are capable of ripping through middle orders on their day. The batting sees Johit Munjal partnering skipper Shane Getkate at the top of the order, whilst Tyrone Kane has made a successful transition to number three in the past couple of weeks. Dockrell is the star turn in the side, and his ability to find the rope regularly really helps the side’s middle order to progress things rapidly.

The returning Philippe le Roux will need to showcase all of his much-feared ability against spin this weekend if Railway are to dominate against this spin-heavy Phoenix side, if he can get on top against Amish Sidhu, it could give the ‘Patch’ a fighting chance.

KEY BATTLE: Philippe le Roux vs Amish Sidhu

NORTH COUNTY VS CIVIL SERVICE

North County flying high at the moment, having seen yet another century for their overseas man Lochie Hardy guiding them into the Leinster Senior Cup semi-final with a victory over Clontarf on Monday afternoon. He and Suliman Safi make up a potentially destructive opening duo, with the latter also in the runs in their most recent victory. Forqan Hassanzada takes the gloves this week and will feature in a middle order than also includes the skipper Eddie Richardson, John Devane and returning Niall McGovern. Mohammad Sherzad and Alan Joseph Mathew are the two off-spinning all-rounders in the team, with Brandon Morris providing a third off-break option this time around. The seam comes from Richardson, who looks set to open the bowling alongside Husnain Maroof’s left-armers, with the change-up medium pace coming from former skipper Sean Sludds and the skilful Hardy.

Civil Service’s batting line-up is led by their skipper Deepak Jayachandran, and it will be interesting to see whether Edson Silva continues in his role at the top of the order once again this time around. Abhishek Arvind Kare, Simranjeet Singh and Vijay Adhikari are likely to feature in the middle order, alongside the all-round duo of Zaman Safi and Dev Ranolia. There’s a welcome sight in the side this week as Mubasher Siddique will open the bowling once again alongside Noor Ullah, whilst there’s support in the right-arm seam department from Safi, who has arguably been the pick of their bowlers this season without necessarily getting the just rewards. Ankit Gusain is the fourth seamer in the side, however it’s likely that both Ranolia and Ramgokul Srinivasan will be given the chance to roll out their respective off-breaks before the ball is thrown his way by skipper Jaychandran.

It could prove to be a very long day for Civil Service should Lochie Hardy get going in this game, they will be desperate to see the back of him, and if Mubasher Siddique can dismiss the Aussie, it could give the away side a sniff.

KEY BATTLE: Lochie Hardy vs Mubasher Siddique

LEINSTER VS RUSH

Rush have had a tough start to the season and find themselves 0/4 in the league, however having seen off Merrion, they are now quarter-finalists in the Irish Senior Cup. Abid Taniwal was the star, dominating in the run chase, and that’s the sort of the performance the Rush faithful will be hoping to see more of going into this weekend. He is part of a potentially destructive middle order which includes skipper Nathan McGuire and Kiwi Isaac Bird, in each of their cases one can guarantee that if they score heavily, they will also do so quickly. Jack and Finn McGee top and tail the top six, whilst Nasir Totakhil at number 7 was in the runs last weekend and his more sedate style has proved crucial in guiding the team out of some tricky situations in the past couple of years. With the ball, they’ll be hoping to see Jarred Barnes back in full flight, especially in the absence of Allan Eastwood, and he would likely open the bowling alongside Alex Neary’s left-armers. Asher Abbasi and Craig May are other seamers at the side’s disposal, with Conor Butterly another potential option. The spin is where they have their trump cards however, Bird and McGuire are both useful off-break bowlers, however the slow left-arm of Totakhil has been taking wickets for fun in the past two seasons, and his skills have often proved vital to the team.

Leinster meanwhile have their sights firmly set on a victory on their home patch this weekend. Their left-arm seam battery including Jai Moondra, Tom O’Connor and Bilal Azhar will all look to extract movement from their familair pitch, whilst Joey Carroll and Mark Tonge are equally skilful right-arm seamers. Saqib Bahadur’s off-breaks will provide the spin option to skipper Azhar in this tie. With the bat, whilst the side haven’t quite fired on all cylinders as yet, they have bowled well enough that they haven’t needed to, there’s plenty of firepower throughout the side. Monil Patel and Younas Ahmadzai are two of the leading batters in the league, and make their middle order a very dangerous prospect. Ruben Newton and Tom Johnson will be tasked with laying down the platform at the top for this pair to prosper from. In spite of the side not really clicking, they have been indebted to some incredible performances from the likes of Tom O’Connor and Ahmadzai to guide them to victory in recent weeks, and this will doubtless be cause for further optimism that no matter how unlikely it may seem, they can pull a victory out of the bag.

Leinster will be acutely aware of the danger posed by the middle order of this Rush side, and will be keen to see the back of Nathan McGuire early in the piece, if Jai Moondra can knock him over, it will put the hosts in the box seat.

KEY BATTLE: Jai Moondra vs Nathan McGuire

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE

MATCH DAY 5 – JUNE 6^TH – All 12 Noon Start

At The Mardyke, Cork County vs Pembroke

At Castle Avenue, Clontarf vs Merrion

At Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan vs Malahide

At Phoenix Park, Phoenix vs Railway Union

At Inch, North County vs Civil Service

At Observatory Lane, Leinster vs Rush