SPORTSHUB PREMIER LEAGUE ROUND-UP - JULY 24TH

It was a night of high drama in the SportsHub Premier League, as there were wins for Balbriggan and Merrion at the top of the table, Leinster in the chasing pack and Clontarf at the bottom of the table.

The featured action was in Rathmines where The Hills were the visitors, and batting first they were indebted to 33 from Tahlia Dunne, supporting a top score of 39* from Aimee Maguire, as they posted what initially looked like a competitive 109/3 in their 20 overs.

Eimear Richardson's 1/16 was the pick of the bowling for Leinster in an all-round economic effort, with Isabella Merriman the other wicket-taker in the side, as her four overs gleaned 1/21, whilst overseas player Karina Bell was impressive as ever with her pace, however had no luck as her spell went wicketless.

The Leinster chase was stunted early by the loss of Bell without facing, when Rebecca Rolfe turned the ball around the corner and the two batters ended up at the same end. Rolfe made the most of not suffering from this mix-up however, as she shared a stand of 71 with Joanna Loughran before being dismissed for 25.

Loughran added the last 37 runs alongside Richardson (14*) in just 19 deliveries, as the wicket-keeper ended up unbeaten on 49, securing a comprehensive 8 wicket win for the home side, with nearly 8 overs to spare.

Elsewhere, in Balbriggan it was once again a solo-effort that saw them to victory, this time however it was Madison Landsman, who was the only double figure score in her side's batting effort, making 73 of their 128 all out, before she then took 2/15 in her 4 overs, securing a 15 run win, as Pembroke were all out for 113, their skipper Shauna Kavanagh the mainstay making an unbeaten 65.

Anglesea Road saw Merrion posting 148/7 in their 20 overs, Annabel Squires the top scorer with 65, whilst there was good support from Aoife Brennan who made 33. Malahide responded with 114/6 in their 20 overs, Meg Thompson making 41, however the real success story of the day for Merrion was an extremely welcome return to the bowling crease for their skipper Niamh MacNulty, who took 2/15 in her spell, giving them a 34 run victory.

Finally, Clontarf leapfrogged Rush into 7th position, as they defended 117/8 in their 20 overs, Alice Walsh the top-scorer with 33 as Ocean Bartlett's 3/26 prevented the Castle Avenue side from gathering momentum. For Rush, when a good partnership between Bartlett (25) and Ellie McGee (29) was broken, it was left to the second Walsh in the side, Annabel, to steal the limelight with 4/7, seeing Rush stuck in the mud, and allowing her side to gain a 6-run victory.