LHK GROUP ALAN MURRAY CUP PREVIEW – MATCH DAY 2 (JUNE 20TH)

Match Day 2 of the LHK Alan Murray Cup takes place this Friday, and we can expect to have a very clear picture of the teams in the running for semi-final berths when the dust is settled on this one.

There are a couple of changes to original venues for this round of fixtures, with Terenure vs Dublin University in Group A being played in Oak Hill, whilst Civil Service’s tie against Railway Union has been swapped to Park Avenue

LEINSTER VS PEMBROKE

The two sides who kicked off Group A with a win face off in Observatory Lane, in what looks like it should be a hotly contested tie. This, of course, is a replay of last season’s final, and in spite of being without their key man from that day, Gareth Delany, Leinster still boast batting stocks which would be the envy of most teams in T20 games. Their opening victory against Terenure was dominated by a brilliant 79 at the top of the order by Younas Ahmadzai, and in this regard he’s supported by their Aussie left-hander Ben Mitchell, main man Monil Patel, and some clean strikers in the shape of Joey Carroll and Mark Tonge. With the ball, they’re likely to be relying on Tonge alongside the skipper Bilal Azhar, whilst Kaustabh Apsunde took the new ball on the opening day, with the seamers rounded out by Carroll’s right arm. Saqib Bahadur and Mitchell are the two most likely spin options for the Rathmines side.

Pembroke meanwhile look set to continue to be affected by unavailability owing to the ongoing IP20 block, however they can still call upon some strong options. Their batting is set to be led by JJ Garth and Blake MacDonald, whilst the in-form Andrew Boulton could be a man in line for promotion. Jack Tector and all-rounders Dan Murray and Joe Prendergast would seem to be the others in line to make up the bulk of the batting unit. As already mentioned, this would see a number of all-rounders in the side, with Murray, Boulton and Prendergast potentially supplying 3 of the 5 necessary bowling options, whilst the spin will come from the skipper Paul Lawson. They would be hoping for a return for Byron McDonough ahead of the weekend’s action, and if he is back in the side it would be a massive boost to the side.

Younas Ahmadzai is set to be the key wicket for Leinster here, and if he gets them off to a flier it could be a big momentum shift, he’s likely to find himself up against Paul Lawson early in his innings, whoever wins out in that battle could well find their team in an excellent position early on.

KEY BATTLE: Younas Ahmadzai vs Paul Lawson

TERENURE VS DUBLIN UNIVERSITY

The two sides in Group A both needing to win to keep semi-final hopes alive face off in Oak Hill, and whilst the Students are sure to have an eye on Saturday’s refixed Leinster Senior Cup semi-final, this is Terenure’s only game to focus on this weekend. The hosts go into this game with a severe lack of seamers, seeing only Tom Shand from their regular bowling attack in the side. This leaves a battery of spinners including three leggies from Abdul Shokoor Amiri, Tanvir Hasan and Hancke von Rauenstein, left arm spin from Ananthkrishnan Sananathkrishnan Parasarthy and off-spin from second team skipper Niqash Ali. The batting is also shorn of several regular players, however von Rauenstein and captain Dónal Lynch showed glimpses of form in the last tie against Leinster, whilst the PowerPlay batting of Gareth Morgan is likely to shape the direction of the start of the Terenure innings.

The students meanwhile have generally had quite a strong side this season, and whilst they are set to welcome Matthew Humphreys back for Saturday’s fixture against Railway Union, he appears likely to miss this fixture. They too feature plenty of spin options for this tie, with the likes of Yash Bala, Macdara Cosgrave and skipper David Vincent bowling off-breaks, whilst there’s left arm spin from Jamie Forbes. Their seamers could feature Theo Dempsey and Ben McCabe, both of whom have been slightly more sporadic in their appearances this term. The batting unit features some hard-hitting at the top from Rory Betley and this week’s Leinster Lightning debutant Cosgrave, whilst Forbes has been a mainstay at number three. Vincent and Ryan Smith are in the engine room in the middle order, and both were strong contributors last time out against Pembroke in spite of their loss.

The students will go hard at the top here, with Jamie Forbes set to take the game on against Terenure’s slew of bowlers that turn the ball in to him, if he can be dismissed early on by Tom Shand, it’ll allow the home side’s spinners to get to work.

KEY BATTLE: Tom Shand vs Jamie Forbes

BALBRIGGAN VS MALAHIDE

The top pair in Group B face off in Jack Harper Park, and when Net Run Rate is taken into account, a win for Malahide would put them into an extremely strong position to qualify for finals day. The visitors this week welcome a debutant into their side for this tie in the shape of Kiwi Alex Brown, with the batter having completed a successful season in Christchurch during the off-season and set to add to an area where The Village have struggled this season. One man who hasn’t is Robbie Foulkes, and he’ll lead the line alongside Brown, with the other likely contributors in the side featuring stand-in skipper Jeremy Martins, Timcy Khanduja, and gloveman Matthew Langan, who has improved hugely this season with bat in hand. The bowling looks set to be led by a quartet of seamers, with Martins and Andy Sheridan the regulars in the side supported by Cameron Shoebridge and David O’Halloran. Jonathan Tall is the frontline spinner in the side which looks to have a well-balanced attack to deal with the awkward angles in this ground.

The hosts meanwhile will be more-than aware of the importance of winning this tie for their semi-final hopes, and are quite close to full-strength, including the Hollard brothers who are both sure to have been buoyed by their Lightning debuts on Tuesday, whilst the side also features Chris de Freitas, who captained the side, and Dylan Lues, that were involved in that fixture as well. The batting is led however by Connor Fletcher and Cameron Rowe, whilst de Freitas will slot into the middle order alongside skipper Greg Ford. Their bowling unit sees Matt Hollard leading the way alongside overseas player Sebastian D’Oliveira, with the seaming unit remaining unchanged as Andy Darroch and left-armer Kashif Ali continue in their roles. Lues and Jordan Hollard are the two spin options in the side, and the ‘Brig will be hoping that Lues in particular can prove to live up to his reputation as an excellent T20 bowler in this tie.

Malahide’s main man is Robbie Foulkes, and he appears to be a major candidate to play an innings that can take a T20 away from it’s opposition, if he can safely navigate his way through Matt Hollard’s opening burst in the PowerPlay, it could put the away side with one foot in the semi-finals.

KEY BATTLE: Matt Hollard vs Robbie Foulkes

NORTH KILDARE VS NORTH COUNTY

First Team League leaders North Kildare come into this tie with something of a strange record this season, having won every league game and lost every ‘other comps’ game they have played so far. They may well have their eye on Saturday’s tricky trip to Civil Service however, but will hope that some of their more free-flowing players can use this platform to find some form. That would include the likes of Husnain Maroof, Josh Uddin and Asadullah Ahmadzai, all of whom tend to enjoy taking the attack to the bowlers. The class-act in the side is Yash Kalasannavar, and he could looks more likely to anchor the innings in this tie should he appear once again in that number three slot. With the ball, Maroof leads the way with his left-arm seam, and he’s generally been partnered by Adnan Ahmadzai, with Abdul Aryan and Ali Elahi rounding out the trio of right-arm seamers in the attack. The spin comes from Adnan Ahmadzai and potentially Josh Uddin, however he is certainly the sixth bowling option in the side.

North County are another side that features some really strong T20 batters in it, none more prevalent than Suliman Safi, with the left-hander having top-scored in defeat to Malahide on day one, he’s set to be accompanied in the top 3 by Brian Dunphy and Jamie Grassi, who are two more clean striking big-hitters, before even reaching the likes of captain Eddie Richardson or overseas man Hunter Kindley, another pair who’s strike rate rarely drops below 100 in any form of the game. With the ball, they can rely on two very strong off-spin options in the shape of Brandon Morris and Alan Joseph Mathew, with a battery of seam options that include Richardson, Kindley, Jake Devane, Abdul Ghaffar and Sean Sludds all having featured last time out and giving the County skipper enough options to rotate matters if things don’t go well.

Jamie Grassi at the top of the order for North County is a man who could really hurt the opposition if he gets going in the Power Play, they will be hoping to see him get the better of Husnain Maroof, and if he can do so, it could be a long 20 overs for North Kildare.

KEY BATTLE: Husnain Maroof vs Jamie Grassi

RUSH VS CLONTARF

Group C sees Rush, needing a win to keep qualification hopes alive, playing host to Clontarf, who sit top of the table after their wide-margin win against Adamstown on match day one. The hosts include some excellent ball-strikers in their top 6, none more so than Nathan McGuire, who has been in red-hot form over the last 6 weeks, alongside Abid Taniwal, who impressed on Lightning debut on Tuesday, and Ehtesham Ahmed, who will have his second effort at his final 1^st team game this week, after Saturday’s fixture against this opposition was rained off. The McGee brothers of Jack and Finn round out a batting unit that could do some major damage on home turf. With the ball, Taniwal provides some excellent left-arm seamers in the Power Play, and is supported in the fast-bowling department by Allan Eastwood, Jarred Barnes and Asher Abbasi. It is as always however their spin bowlers who are worth keeping a close eye on however, as Nasir Totakhil will deliver his left-arm orthodox and maintains an excellent T20 record, alongside McGuire who has proved difficult to get away, bowling a very controlled line with his darted offies.

‘Tarf meanwhile welcome back Séamus Lynch and John McNally from a week of T20 cricket in The Mardyke, and it will be interesting to see if coming into the tie off the back of three games already sees them adjust to the format quicker than those around them. Pat Xie will be looking to reprise some of his strong form from earlier in the season, whilst the skipper David Delany has been in excellent touch in recent weeks, with his unbeaten century last time around in the Leinster Senior Cup having been a particularly eye-catching effort from the left-hander. Mitchell Thompson will appear at the top of the order alongside Lynch, in a top 5 that possesses plenty of firepower. With the ball, Liam Gilhooly and Ethan Marshall are in the side once again as seamers, and with skipper Delany appearing unlikely to bowl this time around, they will support John McNally. In the absence of their regular off-spinners in Yash Bala and David Vincent who are both on Trinity duty, Cillian McDonnell is likely to be the only spinner used, although there’s a possibility of Xie’s offies also getting a roll once again.

This tie looks to be intriguing, and ultimately it will come down to who controls their opposition’s top order better. If Cillian McDonnell can dismiss Nathan McGuire early on, it will give ‘Tarf the upper hand straight away.

KEY BATTLE: Nathan McGuire vs Cillian McDonnell

THE HILLS VS ADAMSTOWN

The Hills will be aiming to set up a July 4^th showdown with Clontarf for qualification in this game, and will need to see off Adamstown to do so. The home side’s batting will be led by Ollie Horlock and Edson Silva, with the pair having top and tailed the top 6 last time around for the Skerries men. They will be joined by Hassan Shahid and Yaseen Sherzad in the top order, whilst Matthew Weldon and Andy Kavanagh are two men hoping to give themselves the chance to turn some strong performances in this competition into good league form. With the ball, Sean McNicholl will lead the way alongside Cian Nulty, whilst it will be interesting should Pierce Ryan return to see his impact in the shorter form. Tómas Rooney-Murphy and Weldon round out the seam bowling attack. The spinners in the team will include the part-time offies of Horlock, which offer support to the excellent mystery spin of Febin Manoj, which could prove extremely tricky to this Adamstown team.

The visitors meanwhile are missing a couple of notable names in the shape of Dinesh Antony Kidagan David and Pomin Ponselvan, taking two seamers out of an attack which is already lacking some experience at this level. Nithin Pradmaprabhu leads the way on this front, however the number of bowlers which they have used in this competition that aren’t available is something of a concern, with only Prabhanshu Kamal and Kathan Shah from their usual bowling stocks taking part in this game. This makes plenty of work for the batters, let by Kamal and Aaditya Gupta up front, they will also be looking to the likes of their young number 3 Sid Biju, Hamid Ali and skipper Kunal Nagara in the middle order to put them in a strong position.

Adamstown will desperately need Nithin Pradmaprabhu to take some early wickets in this fixture, and if he can knock over Ollie Horlock, it gives the Airlie Park outfit a fighting chance.

KEY BATTLE: Ollie Horlock vs Nithin Pradmaprabhu

PHOENIX VS MERRION

Phoenix take on Merrion in the Park in what looks like a game that should decide who ultimately comes out on top in Group D. We caught up with Phoenix skipper Adam Chester ahead of this tie.

“Two close losses in the Irish Senior Cup and Leinster Senior Cup competitions the last couple of weeks, we’ve been playing plenty of good cricket however in recent weeks and T20 was a major point for us to focus on at the start of the season so we’re hoping to give ourselves a chance of qualifying in this game.

On the team news front, Ben White is unfortunately injured, whilst George Dockrell also misses out after a week at the IP20s, whilst we’re delighted that both Shane Getkate and Tyrone Kane carry in some good form this week.

Elsewhere we’re excited to see what Tom Malone can do, he’s a quick left-arm seamer who unfortunately picked up an injury just after arriving, and we hope to see him to add plenty to our bowling attack.”

Merrion meanwhile will be without Stephen Doheny who comes off the back of a brilliant week for the Munster Reds in the IP20s, however will hope to see Swapnil Modgill back at the top of the order, and whilst the injury of Adam Rosslee kept him out of last week’s games, he could be set to return as yet. Connor Blaxall-Hill and John Anderson will likely appear in the middle order, whilst the hard hitting lower down the order is likely to see the likes of the skipper Max Sorensen and Andy Doheny wielding the long-handle. With the ball, they will be looking to Sorensen, Doheny and Sean Stanton and Melvin Devaraj to keep the ball on the spot as much as possible, whilst the variation will come from their spinners, as Tom Stanton’s left arm, and Blaxall-Hill’s off-breaks provide good control which will be key through the middle part of the innings.

Merrion’s battery of right-arm seamers will have a job on their hands against Phoenix’s big hitting top order if they can’t make early inroads. That’s where Tom Stanton’s battle with Shane Getkate could prove to be the key, as if the Phoenix opener gets going, he could be very hard to stop.

KEY BATTLE: Shane Getkate vs Tom Stanton

CIVIL SERVICE VS RAILWAY UNION

Finally in Park Avenue, an extremely inexperienced Railway Union side takes the field against Civil Service, appearing to be totally focussed on Saturday’s Leinster Senior Cup engagement. They are captained by Rob O’Brien in the absence of Philippe le Roux, who has just completed 3 days of IP20s for the Red. O’Brien is one of 8 under 19s fielded by Railway in this tie, including all-rounders Gethin Kelleher and Srihan Karpe, and bowlers Ted Hasler and Toby Slye-O’Connell, all of whom have appeared at this level before, but rarely so many in the same starting XI. They will be looking to Hedayat Khogiani to lead the way alongside O’Brien with the bat, as only a win will do to keep Railway Union’s hopes of another finals day appearance alive.

Civil Service meanwhile have a huge task on their hands on Saturday as they take on some league action, however there’s no doubt they will be looking to use this game as a springboard into the weekend’s action. Their batting is led by the skipper Deepak Jayachandran alongside gloveman Kushal Narang, whilst there’s some big hitters in the likes of all-rounder Prasan Shah, and their talisman Arjun Chandrasekar. With the ball, they are led by Sunny Malik and Naveed Khan with the new ball, whilst Mubasher Siddique’s right-arm seamers have made a welcome return of late. The spin comes from Shah and Aamir Bafanda, and that pair are likely to have a big say in the direction the Railway batting innings goes after the PowerPlay is completed.

Rob O’Brien is Railway’s key man with the bat most weeks, never more so than on occasions where they are missing as many regular players as they are this time around, and he will need to get beyond Sunny Malik’s opening spell to give the side a chance in this tie.

KEY BATTLE: Rob O’Brien vs Sunny Malik

LHK GROUP ALAN MURRAY CUP

MATCH DAY 2 – JUNE 20^TH, ALL 18:30 STARTS

At Observatory Lane, Leinster vs Pembroke

At Oak Hill, Terenure vs Dublin University

At Jack Harper Park, Balbriggan vs Malahide

At The Maws, North Kildare vs North County

At Kenure, Rush vs Clontarf

At The Vineyard, The Hills vs Adamstown

At Phoenix, Phoenix vs Merrion

At Park Avenue, Civil Service vs Railway Union