RINSE AND REPEAT FOR LEINSTER FUTURES (JULY 9TH)

It was another strong display for the Leinster Women in this morning's Future Series game against the NCU, as this time an excellent batting effort set up a 26-run victory.

Having lost the toss in overcast conditions, Leinster were asked to bat first, and in spite of tough conditions, skipper Annabel Squires added 62 for the opening wicket along with Sarah Prendergast before the latter was dismissed. That wicket saw Aisling Lawlor joining her clubmate at the crease, as Squires went through the gears whilst Lawlor played her way into her innings.

The duo were particularly aggressive against the NCU spinners, sweeping and pulling the ball to the rope, whilst also rotating the strike nicely. Squires brought up her 50 in the 14th over, taking 37 deliveries and including 7 boundaries. Lawlor then accelerated matters at the back-end of the innings, as she found the pockets in the field, running hard to turn ones into twos, and found the boundary fives times in eventually finishing unbeaten on 54 from 40 deliveries, whilst Squires thumped the final ball to the square-leg boundary to finish unbeaten on 75 from 56 balls.

The NCU started brightly with the bat, however when Síbha Bhoja took the prized wicket of Abbi Harrison for 12, the Leinster seamers pulled proceedings right back. Sinead Thomson then dismissed Wilson for 8, a fine catch by Squires at cover, to put Leinster on top. Niamh Lowry and Tayla Hurley built a strong partnership of 52, before Ellie McGee took both wickets in quick succession, firstly Lowry stumped thanks to quick hands of Isobel Jennings, before Prendergast took a good running catch on the boundary to dismiss Hurley.

Another sharp stumping by Jennings, followed by a Sinead Thomson run-out, helped Mc
Gee to finish with best figures of 3/26 from her 4 overs, putting Leinster in an almost unassailable position with 3 overs to go. The NCU limped to 127/6 without truly threatening the target, as Leinster were denied a fourth consecutive bonus point, however do finish the T20 phase well clear atop the table with a short break before their next fixture on July 22nd.