IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE – ROUND 4 (MAY 24TH)

The short hiatus of league cricket has seen an exciting opening round of the Leinster Senior Cup, followed by a weekend of great success for Leinster clubs in last weekend’s first round of the Irish Senior & National Cups, however now it’s back down to the bread and butter, with the usual full complement of 6 fixtures to be played, and as we approach the halfway stage of the initial phase of the season, the league table is certainly beginning to take shape.

LEINSTER VS CLONTARF

First up we have two unbeaten sides in the league, as first placed Clontarf make the trip across to Rathmines to face Leinster who lie just a couple of places below them in the league.

The visitors have seen their excellent start to the season continue over the past two weeks, adding victories against both Merrion and Templepatrick respectively in cup competitions to their opening three league victories, and seeing them carry some real momentum into this tie. Their batting has been dominant throughout, Mitchell Thompson and Séamus Lynch have more often than not gotten the side off to a good start, whilst Eoghan Delany’s time at number three in the order has been as successful as ever. Pat Xie has churned out runs at number 4, including an incredible unbeaten century in their last league game, and that’s before mentioning either the skipper David Delany, or his fellow left-hander John McNally, both of whom are capable of big scores. With the ball, Reuben Wilson has bowled brilliantly with the new ball so far this season, and alongside Delany they have proved extremely hard to score off in the PowerPlay overs. McNally’s medium pace returning in recent weeks has proved to be extremely welcome, whilst Yash Bala and Cillian McDonnell produce excellent right arm off-spin and left-arm orthodox options respectively.

Leinster on the other hand find themselves coming into this tie in some really strong form, nobody more so than their pair of left-arm seamers in Jai Moondra and Bilal Azhar. Moondra and Mark Tonge have proven to be an excellent pair with the new ball so far this season, and with Azhar following this pair along with Joey Carroll, it makes Leinster’s seam attack one of the deepest in the league. Their spin comes from Saqib Bahadur’s right arm, whilst there’s two left-arm options in the shape of Tom Johnson and Ben Mitchell. With the bat however is where they have been really strong this season, with a top 7 capable of taking the game away into the distance when it’s on song. Mitchell and Johnson at the top of the order have consistently gotten good starts, before their 3 & 4 of Monil Patel and Younas Ahmadzai appear. Doubtless the best ability of that pair is their efficiency in finding the boundary, and as they will likely be teeing up a scenario where Bahadur, Carroll and wicket-keeper Tristen de Beer aim to launch from, it gives the home side a really well-balanced and powerful batting line-up.

Leinster’s left-armers have been in brilliant form this season, however they may come up against one of the most difficult batters to dismiss in the league this weekend in ‘Tarf’s number 3 Eoghan Delany, if Jai Moondra can get a blast at him early on, it’s likely whoever comes out on top in that battle will help their team a long way towards potential victory.

KEY BATTLE: Jai Moondra vs Eoghan Delany

CORK COUNTY VS MERRION

This fixture sees Cork County still searching for their first victory of the season on their return to the Premier League for the first time since 2017. Coming up against Merrion represents as tough a task as the side are likely to face at home this season, however they are sure to be confident that there’s the potential for a victory regardless, considering how strong their home form traditionally is. The spin bowling cohort is led by the skipper Diarmuid Carey, however is devoid of their prime leggy Nabeel Anjum this time around. That will see more pressure on Bakhtyar Nabi to reproduce his form of the four wickets he took against North County a couple of weeks ago. The seamers are led by Zubair Khan and the overseas man Mark Andrianatos, whilst the bowling attack is rounded out by third seamer Darsh Shetty, and the more part-time offies of Ehsan O’Sullivan. On the batting front, we can expect to see Benji Marris and Andrianatos appearing in the top three, probably alongside Thorne Prophet, and in the absence of Syed Aiman, they will be the men who are looked to for the bulk of their batting efforts.

Merrion on the other hand appear likely to be without Stephen Doheny, who’s in the Ireland squad, which could see Danny Forkin returning to the top of the order for this tie alongside Swapnil Modgill who’s been in brilliant form this season. Connor Blaxall-Hill, John Anderson and Adam Rosslee make up a formidable looking middle-order, before Jamie Forbes who has been in very good form this season for both Merrion and Dublin University. Max Sorensen’s hard-hitting and Sean Stanton, who made a half-century in his last first team appearance, round off those who are likely to find success with the bat in this line-up. The away side will be hoping to see a return for Mikey O’Reilly, who alongside Melvin Devaraj makes up a very strong pair of new-ball bowlers, whilst the spin is led by Tom Stanton’s left-armers, with the other primary option being Modgill’s tricky off-breaks.

Merrion’s middle order are excellent players of spin, and that’s likely to be the area where they look to exploit Cork’s spin heavy attack. Adam Rosslee will aim to be his usual dominant force in this regard, and if he can get on top early against Bakhtyar Nabi, it could blunt the home side’s bowling attack significantly.

KEY BATTLE: Baktyar Nabi vs Adam Rosslee

RUSH VS RAILWAY UNION

Last season’s 1 and 2 in the Championship face off in a repeat of the final game of the season, and with just one league win between the pair so far this season, it’s likely that the home advantage could end up playing a big role this weekend. Rush’s only home game so far in the league saw their middle order prosper hugely, with Hashir Sultan and Abid Taniwal making big, quick centuries. Another man who’s been in the runs is Nathan McGuire, who’s century against Railway Union in the cup two weeks ago was something of a one man show. That trio, along with Jack McGee and Nasir Totakhil make up a strong top 5 that they will hope can produce some big scores. With the ball, Allan Eastwood and Jarred Barnes will likely share one end of Kenure, splitting spells alongside Taniwal, whilst their other seam options come in the shape of Asher Abbasi and Alex Neary. The spinners both batting in the top 5 in Totakhil and McGuire offers Rush the ability to have at least 7 bowling options in their team, giving the skipper Barnes plenty to play with in order to shake up the line-up.

Railway on the other hand are not quite as settled of a side this season, and are without all of Kevin O’Brien, Liam McCarthy and Philippe le Roux this weekend, meaning Rob O’Brien captains the team once again. This also affects the batting unit significantly, with the top 4 likely to see Hedayat Khogiani and Ashil Prakash at the top, with O’Brien at 3 and Ryan Smith at 4. Srihan Karpe and Letli Sesele will also feature in the middle order. With the ball, the seamers see Digamber Mishra and Muhammad Sinan leading the way, with support from Sumit Kumar, however like Rush, they boast two spinners in their batting unit, meaning it’s likely to be Karpe and Prakash that have most of the impact with the ball through the middle overs of the Rush batting innings.

Nathan McGuire’s lone-hand century in the cup was the only thorn in Railway Union’s side that day, and the visitors will be all too aware of the need to dismiss Rush’s big-hitting number three this time around, they’ll be looking to the new-ball bowling of Muhammad Sinan to deliver this wicket.

KEY BATTLE: Nathan McGuire vs Muhammad Sinan

MALAHIDE VS THE HILLS

Malahide’s batting unit has started to appear to come good in the last couple of weeks, and whilst they have collapsed on a couple of occasions, they will be hoping that the return of Jeremy Martins to the middle order, along with the improved form of Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin can help to support the excellent Robbie Foulkes at the top of their batting order. Others to feature in the top 6 are set to be Timcy Khanduja and Andrew Sheridan, who are both capable of producing strong contributions. With the ball, James Newland will take the new ball, and with the inclusion of Martins as well as the return of David O’Halloran, he’s likely to feel like there’s a bit more support to himself and Sheridan in the seam bowling department than there has been in recent weeks. The spin comes from Mike Frost and Jonathan Tall this time around, with Mohit Sane missing from their usually battery of left-arm spinners.

The Hills meanwhile will be looking for a third consecutive win in all comps, in spite of not having won a league game since April. A major boost for them is the emergence of Ollie Horlock with the bat, who after a rocky opening couple of games has made big contributions in each of the last two cup wins. He and Brandon Kruger look to be the key men, whilst Edson Silva has been in excellent form with his clean hitting offering a new dynamic in the middle-order. They have a new face in the shape of Adnan Shinwari, who is set to appear just ahead of Silva, whilst Matthew Weldon and Hassan Shahid are another two the Skerries side will hope can produce some runs. With the ball, the continued absence of Pierce Ryan is a difficulty for the visitors, with his extra pace an attribute they would relish adding to the attack. This means Tómas Rooney-Murphy is likely to open alongside Sean McNicholl, with Cian Nulty and Weldon the other two seamers in the side. Horlock’s offies play second fiddle to the mystery spin of Febin Manoj, with those 6 likely to do the bulk of the bowling for the men from Milverton.

Robbie Foulkes has been nothing short of brilliant for Malahide so far this season, and if he can get going here it could spell trouble for The Hills. That’s where the away side will be hoping to see Sean McNicholl winning this extremely localised trans-Tasman battle, to give their side a chance for a look at Malahide’s potentially soft underbelly.

KEY BATTLE: Robbie Foulkes vs Sean McNicholl

PEMBROKE VS PHOENIX

This week’s featured action sees a replay of last season’s Leinster Senior Cup Final. Although both fixtures in Sydney Parade between the two sides last season saw comprehensive, thumping victories for Pembroke, the last five ties between the teams on this ground has seen Phoenix claiming three victories. Pembroke’s top three remains undisturbed this time around, with Tim Tector and JJ Garth leading the way ahead of Blake MacDonald, and whilst they are missing significant firepower in their middle-order, the ability to call on Macdara Cosgrave, who has already made two centuries this season to come in, as well as Jack Tector, who’s ton against Adamstown proved vital, and promote Gavin Hoey in the order, sees them still boasting an extremely strong batting unit. That’s rounded off by Joe Prendergast and wicket-keeper Greg Hollins, in a line-up that would be the envy of many sides in spite of the numerous faces missing. With the ball, Byron McDonough and Mark Berry will lead the way in the seam department, alongside Prendergast, whilst the main pair of bowlers in the side are doubtless the skipper Paul Lawson and Hoey, who has thrived in recent weeks when his side has needed him most. Cosgrave and Garth are the other pair who could feature at the bowling crease.

Phoenix meanwhile have been indebted to some superb individual performances in recent weeks to help them to victories in both the league and Leinster Senior Cup. George Dockrell will be absent, and after two brilliant knocks in the last two league games that’s a big loss, however Shane Getkate should feature, and he found some excellent form in their last tie, making a fine century and he may be the man they need to reproduce that form in the absence of Dockrell. Eknoor Singh, Nicolaas Pretorius & Tyrone Kane are men who can score fluently in the middle, and they will be hoping for a solid base from Getkate and Amish Sidhu to produce a good total. With the ball, Kane has proved to be a thorn in Pembroke’s side before, and he’s likely to share opening duties with Raghav Grover, whilst Theo Dempsey is the other seamer in the side. The spin comes from Sidhu and Dev Ranolia who both bowl left-arm orthodox, whilst Ben White’s leggies are the main wicket-taking danger which they will be hoping can crack open the Pembroke middle order.

Blake MacDonald is a class act in this Pembroke side at number 3, and in the absence of some key men in the middle order, the home side will be hoping he can produce a strong performance and see off the threat of Tyrone Kane, if Kane can dismiss the Aussie though, Phoenix will fancy their chances.

KEY BATTLE: Blake MacDonald vs Tyrone Kane

BALBRIGGAN VS NORTH COUNTY

The local derby rounds off this weekend’s fixtures, and there’s no doubt this tie is set to be hotly contested. The home side’s batting unit features plenty of players who would fancy themselves to hunt for higher honours, and as a result has something of a formidable look to it when on song. The exploits of Chris de Freitas last week in IP50 duty see him in fine form, and elsewhere in the top order, Ghanim Dara, Cameron Rowe and Connor Fletcher will all be looking to follow the classy left-hander’s lead. Greg Ford skippers the side from number 5 and he alongside Dylan Lues have both been in fine form with the bat in the middle order this season. Jordan Hollard and Andy Darroch are the pair who will be aiming to find the boundary later in the innings. With the ball, the side will miss the swing bowling of Sam Willemse, however the arrival of Sebastian D’Oliveira to open the bowling alongside Matthew Hollard helps to alleviate the issue there, whilst Darroch and Kashif Ali will round off the seam bowling attack. Their spin comes in the form of Lues and Jordan Hollard and is arguably the most potent area of their attack.

North County meanwhile are still hamstrung by the injuries to John Devane and Abdul Sattar, however can still boast a destructive batting line-up. Brian Dunphy and Jamie Grassi at the top of the order are both excellent stroke-makers, whilst Hunter Kindley is a classy player at number 3. Suliman Safi and Niall McGovern feature at 4 and 5, ahead of the all-rounders in the shape of Eddie Richardson, Alan Joseph Mathew and Brandon Morris, seeing the side bat all the way down to number 8 this weekend. The seam bowlers meanwhile come in the shape of Abdul Ghaffar and Eddie Richardson with the new ball, before the likes of Sean Sludds and Usman Azhar are likely to feature at first change. Morris adds his off-spin to the options of Mathew and Safi who were already in the side, meaning County have a minimum of 7 bowling options in their side that could provide some difficulty to Balbriggan this weekend.

There’s no doubt that Chris de Freitas is the key wicket in this Balbriggan side, and if he gets going against the spinners in this North County side in the middle overs, it could prove to be fatal to the away side’s chances.

KEY BATTLE: Chris de Freitas vs Alan Joseph Mathew

IBI CORPORATE FINANCE PREMIER LEAGUE

Round 4, May 24^th, All 12 Noon Starts

At Observatory Lane, Leinster vs Clontarf

At The Mardyke, Cork County vs Merrion

At Kenure, Rush vs Railway Union

At The Village, Malahide vs The Hills

At Sydney Parade, Pembroke vs Phoenix (FEATURED GAME)

At Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan vs North County