Three matches have been played so far in the Storm Pilkington Plate 50-over competition. Merrion lie in pole position with two wins out of two.
The Anglesea Road side took on Rush on one of the few sunny days of the summer so far. Rush guest player Clare Shillington scored 95 out of their 167 team score before Merrion’s guest player from the Hills, Rhiannon Pope, stunned her adopted team when she claimed the Ireland veteran’s wicket. She took her second wicket the next ball and finished with impressive figures of 5-0-2-17. Isobel Joyce was the other top performer for Merrion with the ball with figures of 7.2-0-2-23. Carole McGuire was next top scorer for Rush with 26.
Blaithnaid Breslin (62) and Melissa Scott-Hayward (93) then let the rest of the team kick back for the afternoon as they knocked off the runs comfortably in 27 overs. Clodagh Conway was the pick of the bowlers with her eight overs going for 39.
North Kildare showed they mean business in the Pilkington Plate when they hit a shell-shocked Pembroke for 220 runs from 41 of their 50 overs before they were all out.
Lucy Small’s 148 put the home team in a good position and put all the pressure on the young Pembroke side. And North Kildare must have thought it was their day when Jenny Gray bowled opener Emma Flanagan for just 11, but a mature and unbeaten 112 from Kim Garth, supported by Shauna Kavanagh (47), meant that North Kildare are yet to post a win this season.
And things didn’t change in their other 50-over match against Merrion. A respectable total of 186-7 showed they are no pushovers, especially considering their centurion from the previous match, Lucy Small, was bowled by legspinner Elena Tice for just one. J Martin (52) and I Gowing (63) showed great resolve, though, and were happy to wait for the bad ball while also running well between the wickets.
Merrion made short work of it, 23.1 overs to be precise, with Breslin (58) and Scott-Hayward (55) again opening with great effect. Scott-Hayward was out with the score on 116, but that just brought Cecelia Joyce to the crease and she smashed 41 to help win the game for the home team.