SOUTH LEINSTER CLAIM FIRST DISTRICT CUP CROWN!

A remarkable 125 from Tristen de Beer was the driving force for South Leinster, as they claimed their first District Cup title, winning today's de facto final in Oak Hill by 52 runs.

Having won the toss, South Leinster elected to bat first, and whilst they lost both Luke Horgan (10) and Bruce Whaley (8) relatively cheaply, it wasn't long before a partnership developed, Rob O'Brien (31) dominating a stand of 52 with number three Tom Johnson.

When O'Brien was dismissed by Brandon Morris, that brought de Beer to the crease to join Johnson, and led to the most fluent and dominant partnership of the innings, with de Beer steadily increasing the tempo throughout. Johnson was eventually dismissed for 88, caught behind by Matthew Langan off the bowling of Yaseen Sherzad.

Having lost Johnson, de Beer found a different gear, utterly dominating an 81-run stand with Mark Tonge, in which he brought up his century off just 76 deliveries, before eventually being dismissed for a brilliant 125 off just 87, featuring 11 fours and six maximums. Tonge's unbeaten 24 boosted the final total to 298/5 in 48 overs, as only Killian McGrane could escape the carnage for North Leinster, with his 8 overs seeing him claim figures of 1/26.

North Leinster were aggressive to start the chase, moving to 48 inside 5 overs, before losing Yaseen Sherzad for 18. John Devane was next to go with the score on 78, however the defending champions were still on track at run-a-ball. Muzamil Sherzad's wicket in the 15th over gave South Leinster the upper hand as he was caught by de Beer off the bowling of Srihan Karpe.

This brought the Malahide duo of Adam Doyle and Matthew Langan together, and they batted excellently to add 79 in just 76 deliveries, almost doubling the score from when they came together, before Doyle was the first wicket to fall to Railway Union leg-spinner Johan George, as he came into the attack and turned the game in South Leinster's favour.

George also picked up the wickets of both Matthew Langan for 32, as well as Mohammad Sherzad, whilst Mark Tonge returned to the attack to dismiss Brandon Kruger, and Connor Walden claiming Brandon Morris in a mini-collapse that saw the score fall from 162/3 to 196/8 in a 10 over burst.

North Leinster were eventually all out for 246, seeing South Leinster claim the title for the first time.

The post-match presentation was conducted by CL President Brian Kelleher, and Ger Siggins, who was effusive with praise for the competition and it's importance within the pathway, noting that the players involved should take note that there are players featuring for Ireland this season who have played in this competition as recently as three years ago!

The CL Under 23 District Cup competition is now an important and established part of the pathway to the higher representative levels with teams representing South Leinster, North Leinster and Dublin University. It is delivering as intended as a high-performance pathway competition for players with potential to achieve selection for the Leinster Lightning Bolts and/or the higher levels. In the few short years since the competition was established, we have seen many players go on to achieve higher honours with Leinster Bolts, Leinster Lightning, Ireland Under 19s and even on secondment with other provincial teams.

The Under 23 tournament is ultimately designed to maximise the ‘representative’ opportunity for such players in particular those who no longer qualify for underage representative competitions but have potential to play at a higher level subject to development, exposure/opportunity and performance at both club and district levels. There were a number of standout performances today and throughout the tournament which underpin the value of this ongoing high performance investment by Cricket Leinster.