PEMBROKE SECURE PREMIER LEAGUE TITLE IN DRAMATIC LOW-SCORING THRILLER (7TH SEPT)

It was nothing short of a sensational finish in this afternoon's IBI Corporate Finance Premier League, as Pembroke overcame Merrion by just 9 runs in a brilliant game of cricket which went right down to the wire.

Pembroke's skipper Nick Stapleton won the toss, and elected to bat first on a wicket that looked as if it may be helpful to the bowlers early in the day. That didn't prove to be the case on the scoreboard at least for the first 10 overs, as JJ Garth and Tim Tector moved the score to 39/0 in the PowerPlay. It was at that point however where the game turned, as with the 61st and 62nd balls of the innings, Melvin Devaraj dismissed Garth, caught behind, before castling Harry Tector first ball with a brilliant nip-backer.

Lorcan Tucker and Tim Tector weathered much of the rest of Devaraj's spell, until with the final ball of his 5th over, he produced a brilliant caught and bowled to dismiss Tucker for just 7. When Tim Tector fell for a well made 44 with the score on 72, Jack Tector and Nick Stapleton then dug in and put together the best partnership of the innings, adding 49 before Stapleton was out LBW to Tom Stanton for 20. Fiachra Tucker fell next ball, before Devaraj returned to dismiss Gavin Hoey caught at point. The score had moved to 137 before a hesitation saw Paul Lawson caught just short of his ground, with Stanton once again dismissing a batter first ball when he bowled Olly Riley.

Jack Tector was the last man to fall, caught off Stanton by Mike Lewis at deep backward square, attempting to clear the ropes to give his side some late momentum. Pembroke were all out for 138, Tector's score of 44 being second only to brother Tim's 45, whilst it was 4/24 for Stanton that was the pick of the bowlers, excellently supported by 3/24 for Melvin Devaraj. Having bowled just 42.3 overs, Merrion would have to bat for 30 minutes before the tea break.

When they came out to bat, Stephen Doheny and Swapnil Modgill set about the Pembroke bowling, finding the boundary regularly in a 7 over mini-session which saw them taking the score to 47/0 at the tea interval, and no doubt left frustrated that having just gotten going, they would be taking a break.

Pembroke meanwhile appeared to use the break to regroup, as with just the second ball after the break, Nick Stapleton bowled Modgill for 16. Five runs and 11 balls later, Stapleton nicked Stephen Doheny off to Lorcan Tucker to dismiss the opener for 32, and suddenly Merrion saw themselves under some pressure. This was only increased when Hoey beat Adam Rosslee's edge with a googly for Tucker to complete the stumping. Sam Harbinson followed in Hoey's next over, failing to pick the googly to be pinned LBW for just 1.

John Anderson was caught on his crease to be plumb in-front LBW from the last ball of the 17th over, also bowled by the leg-spinner, before Hoey, who looks certain to be playing for Ireland soon, then bowled Pete Francis with another googly, before completing a set of dismissals by having Jamie Forbes caught behind off the same variation to complete his five wicket haul, eventually finishing with figures of 5/33 from his 10 overs.

That left the home side on 87/7, and Max Sorensen and Mike Lewis set about dragging themselves back into the tie. The pair added a fighting 21 run stand before Lewis was bowled by Byron McDonough, who once again showed his credentials to pick up the bowling prize for the 2024 season. Tom Stanton joined Sorensen, and he took fought hard, with the pair adding 14 in 6 overs, before their bowling hero from earlier in the day was also pinned LBW by a ball that stayed low with the score on 128. Melvin Devaraj joined Sorensen at the crease, however just one run was added before he swiped across the line at a straight delivery from Harry Tector to be dismissed with the score on 129, 9 runs short of Pembroke's title, and seeing the Sydney Parade outfit Premier League Champions for the 2024 season.

Elsewhere around the grounds, Leinster piled up 302 thanks to 76 from Gareth Delany, 59 from Saqib Bahadur and 43 from Monil Patel, before restricting Balbriggan to 185 all out, half-centuries from Sebastian de Oliveira & Abdul Samad unable to fight off some fine efforts from Leinster's bowlers, led by Bahadur's 4/26, whilst Bilal Azhar also took 3/22.

In Phoenix, half centuries from Andrew Delany and Mitchell Thompson guided Clontarf to 255 all out, with Ben White and Shane Getkate taking three wickets apiece for the home side. In response, Phoenix could manage only 185, as John McNally's 5 wicket haul helped skittle out the home side's middle and lower order cheaply to secure a 70 run win for the away side.

Those two results see Leinster and Phoenix swapping positions in the table, with the Park side finishing in 4th.

In the Championship, Rush secured their title with a 40 run victory over Railway Union. Josh Doyle rounding out a brilliant season for him with a top score of 120, guiding the team to a final total of 287/9 in their 50 overs. In response, Railway reached 85 before losing their first wicket, and it was hard work for Rush, however once Srihan Karpe fell with the score on 162, a quick spell of wickets saw Alex Neary running through the Railway middle order, and whilst there was some late resistance, Neary's final figures of 5/34, supported by Nathan McGuire's 3/49 seeing Railway all out for 247.

In Civil Service, the home side batted first, making 178 thanks to 57 from Dhiraj Shetty and 34 from Vivek Srinivasan, Ashish Jain the pick of the bowlers for the away side with 4/44, County made heavy weather of the chase however eventually won by 2 wickets thanks to top scores of 44 from Brian Dunphy and 35 from Eddie Richardson.

In The Vineyard, The Hills finished on a high making 310 in their 50 overs, Muzamil Sherzad top scoring for 64, whilst there was a half-century for Matthew Weldon, with Nicolaj Damgaard also falling just one short of the same milestone. In response, Sayed Shah top scored for North Kildare with 44, however it was once again The Hills' spinners which did the damage, with Febin Manoj taking 4/41, and Brandon Kruger 3/15 in an excellent all-round bowling effort, leading to a 166 run win for the home side.

Finally in The Mardyke, Cork County saw off something of a one-man effort from Terenure. The home side ran up 198 all out in the final over of their innings, Abubakar Saddique and Brian Upman the pick of the efforts with 44 and 43 respectively as Henry Dall took 4/34 for the visitors. The second innings saw only Dall passing 20, as his 89 wasn't enough for the away side, who were all out for 162 thanks to two wickets for each of Suliman Safi, Mark Andrianatos, Diarmuid Carey and Ehsan O'Sullivan in a 36 run win for the home side.