Tomorrow we have another full card of fixtures in the SportsHub Senior League Cup, as the race for semi-final spots begins to really heat-up. In Group A, last weekend’s fixtures saw little change, as Clontarf and Merrion retained their unbeaten records to tighten their respective grips on the qualification slots. Whilst in Group B, wins for North County and Railway Union pushed them right up into contention for a semi-final berth, with Pembroke still unbeaten at the top of the pile.
Kicking off in Group A, where the first fixture sees Leinster hosting North Kildare in Observatory Lane. The away side remain winless after a defeat in The Mardyke last weekend, whilst Leinster’s only win came at the same ground 7 days earlier.
Leinster have seen some individuals put in good batting performances in recent weeks, without really threatening to put together an all-round effort, Saqib Bahadur’s century in week one, along with Gareth Delany’s half-century last week have been the brightest moments, however they need to provide a more solid base to build from if they are to run up big scores. With the ball, Ben Mitchell has had a good impact in general, and last week completed a clean sweep of wickets of the Tector brothers, he’s a genuine wicket taker and Leinster will be hoping himself along with Joey Carroll and Bilal Azhar can provide enough firepower to blow away North Kildare’s top order.
NK on the other hand will have to do without the services of Muzamil Sherzad this weekend who is injured, he has given them a flying start with the ball in most games so far this season and will be a huge miss to the side. Without him it will be up to his younger brother Yaseen alongside the veteran Manjeet Singh and young Devansh Bansali to shoulder much of the wicket-taking responsibilities. With the bat, Monil Patel had a fine record in his time playing with Leinster and NK will look to him as a man to make runs on a ground he knows so well. Waqar Azmat and Murtaza Sidiqi are the other two experienced run-makers in the middle order who they’ll be counting on to build a score.
With a weakened bowling line-up, wickets will be vital for North Kildare, Manjeet Singh has many, many years of experience under his belt and will need to put it to good use. Leinster will look to Saqib Bahadur’s shot making ability in the middle order to run up a score against an understrength NK side.
KEY BATTLE: Joey Carroll vs Manjeet Singh
Up next, YMCA travel to The Mardyke to face Cork County in a huge game for the visitors, they cannot afford any slip-ups if they are to keep tabs on the top two in the group heading into the final two games.
YM’s batting was boosted last week by ultimately quite a comfortable run chase in Observatory Lane, their top 4 all getting in but losing a couple of wickets late on that they would have preferred not to, as it gave away an extra potential bonus point. Jack Tector has been in good form so far this season meaning in the main the Claremont Road side have had solid starts, allowing a good platform for Harry Tector and Curtis Campher to enter the scene on in the middle order. With the ball, Rory Anders’ five-for last week was an emphatic return to the bowling crease, whilst fellow seamers Reuben Wilson, Tom Anders and Campher can always be relied upon to keep it tight. Jamie Forbes and Harry Tector will provide the dual spin threat in a reasonably well rounded attack.
Cork County bounced back nicely last weekend having let a game slip from their grasp against Leinster. Their bowling attack has been boosted massively by Byron McDonough’s return from the injury which prevented him from rolling the arm over last season, Sukphal Singh and Nabeel Anjum have also bowled economically in recent weeks, with the former bringing a level of Leinster leagues experience to the table from his time with Terenure. Youngster Ehsan O’Sullivan provides a nice spin option to the side with his off-breaks and will need to be on the button against this YMCA line-up.
With YM getting good starts so far in games this season, Cork County will be looking to Byron McDonough to get them off to a good start, if Jack Tector wins the early exchanges with him though, it could be a long day for County’s bowlers against a very powerful batting unit.
KEY BATTLE: Byron McDonough vs Jack Tector
Next up we have the absolutely vital top of the table clash between Merrion and Clontarf, at Anglesea Road. Merrion have yet to really be tested this season, losing four wickets having done all the hard work in last week’s chase against Rush was something they will hope they don’t come to regret further down the line.
The home side field an unchanged line-up from last weekend, meaning they once again will have a team chock full of run-scoring power, Jack Carty and Stephen Doheny will both be aiming to fire against a bowling line-up which has blown-away opposition top-orders so far this season. If they can lay a platform it will give the middle order of Anderson, Modgil and Lewis a chance to accelerate against a Clontarf spin attack which has generally done most of it’s bowling on the front foot this season. With the ball, Muhammed Sinan has proven to be an excellent new addition to the side and was in the wickets again last weekend, again his impact has allowed Merrion’s spinners to bowl when on the front foot so far this season, Tom Stanton and Amish Sidhu both thrive when they can immediately squeeze batsmen and therefore this has been a huge help to that pair.
Clontarf on the other hand have been very one or the other this season, having blown Balbriggan and Cork County away they were made to fight tooth and nail to defeat North Kildare in their other completed fixture. David Delany’s fine form with bat and ball has been a huge help for his side this season, but Tarf skipper Eoghan Delany will be hoping himself and opener PJ Moor can help lay a stronger foundation and keep their eccentric all-rounder in the hutch for longer than he has been in the last couple of weekends. With the ball, Delany is supported by Mick Granger at the top of the innings, this pair getting Tarf onto the front foot has helped them in a big way so far this season and they will be hoping for some early wickets again this weekend. Ruan Cronje has bowled excellently so far, and whilst the enigmatic Paul Ryan wasn’t even required to remove his cap against Balbriggan, he too has performed well when needed so far this season.
The away side’s flying starts with the ball have been the very reason they have won all of their games so far this season, David Delany has been destroyer-in-chief and will once again be fired up to give his side the perfect start, if he can knock over Stephen Doheny it will be a massive step for ‘Tarf in their quest to sink their teeth into the strong Merrion middle order, which as yet hasn’t been exposed to new-ball spells.
KEY BATTLE: Stephen Doheny vs David Delany
Finally in Group A, Rush host Balbriggan in a game where the home side will be sniffing a chance to turn over their Premier League opposition who arrive into this weekend licking their wounds from another chastening defeat last weekend.
Rush are set to see Neil Rock return this weekend which again means that Llew Johnson will have another accomplished, free flowing player to bat alongside and hopefully from a Rush point of view, allow the home side to run up a big score, Jack and Finn McGee will be looked towards in terms of setting a platform, but Rush will be hoping that the free scoring Johnson can spend plenty of time at the crease again, given his destructive method of batting, if he bats for any length of time Rush will have made a big score. With the ball, Jarred Barnes and AJ Neary will be supported by Asher Abbasi, whilst Brandon Morris’ spin has been consistent and economic thus far this season.
With the bat, Balbriggan have several players who are more than capable of scoring big runs at this level, but nobody has really put their hand up and grabbed the opportunity as yet, Connor Fletcher and Ghanim Dara are the pair that set the tone at the top of the order and realistically, if the side is to make a big score, that pair need to deliver a good start. Farooq Nasr, Greg Ford and Nathan Rooney are strong players in the middle order, whilst Chris de Freitas showed last season he’s more than capable of being a consummate all-rounder, between that 6, Balbriggan will surely find someone who makes a decent score. With the ball, Ryan Hadley has this week been named in New South Wales’ 2022/23 season squad and Balbriggan will hope that provides him with a bit of confidence going into this fixture, he has not quite hit his straps as yet this season, but Rush’s bouncy wicket ought to suit his style of bowling and this could be a game where he finds his feet. Dylan Lues’ spin will be vital this weekend, as Rush is so often a graveyard for spinners on their first visit to the ground.
With Rock returning for Rush tomorrow, the wicket of Llew Johnson becomes even hotter property to Balbriggan, if they both get firing there could be huge trouble for the away side. Ryan Hadley will be the man tasked with taking early wickets for the visitors and if he is on form could be the man to trouble Rush’s hard hitting Kiwi.
KEY BATTLE: Llew Johnson vs Ryan Hadley
In Group B we kick off with the weekend’s featured game, the fixture in College Park between Dublin University and Phoenix. This fixture is now played for the Pasley Trophy, which was donated by the family of Graham Pasley who played a large part in both clubs before his untimely passing in 2012. Dublin University are the current holders of the trophy after an exciting game in the Phoenix Park last season, but Phoenix are sure to be doing their level best to win it back this weekend.
The home side mustered up their first win of the season last weekend, scraping past Terenure by one wicket with two balls to spare, and they will have certainly gained some confidence from getting over the line in that game. Will Bennett was the man in the runs in that game along with Dev Ranolia but Phoenix will need bigger contributions from the players around them in the order if they are to see off The Students this weekend. George Dockrell is sure to relish playing against the club he represented during his time in Trinity College and will be keen to get into the runs this weekend having gotten starts both last weekend, and mid-week for the Lightning. With the ball, Dockrell and Ben White will be crucial back on Phoenix’s significantly slower wicket in keeping DU to a score which their line-up will be able to surpass. Seamers Tyrone Kane and Aaron Cawley will play a role early in extracting any lateral movement from the pitch.
Dublin University go into this game off the back of a rain-affected defeat against North County last weekend and will be hoping their trio of spinners also relish Phoenix’s slow surface. Gavin Hoey, David Vincent and Matthew Humphreys all offer something unique in their own slow bowling discipline and if they can bowl economically will deliver 30 overs of high quality spin. Meanwhile Lightning mid-week debutants Theo Dempsey and Mikey O’Reilly will both be desperate to get their side off to a good start. Whilst Dempsey and Hoey will be looking to bounce back for their club having suffered somewhat chastening experiences against the Munster Reds on Tuesday afternoon. With the bat, Sanil Gupta and Nicolaas Pretorius have both been in good nick so far this season and given the new ball is likely to be the best time to bat, the pair will both be looking to tuck into their opposition’s seamers from the get-go, and allow their middle-order a good base to accelerate from.
With such a destructive ball-striking ability and spin bowling available to both sides, it’s probably the two all-rounders who will both bat and bowl against each other who hold the keys to this game, if Gavin Hoey can get the better of Lightning skipper George Dockrell, it will give The Students a massive chance of turning over their opposition.
KEY BATTLE: George Dockrell vs Gavin Hoey
Next up, Malahide visit Sydney Parade to take on a Pembroke side which is bouncing through it’s current campaign. They hammered The Hills last weekend thanks mainly to a century from Lorcan Tucker, half-century from Diarmaid Tucker and four wickets for Donncha Tucker as the home side put together a performance where not one element was out of place. This week sees Andy Balbirnie appearing for the first time this season, whilst Piyush Sharma also returns to the side to bowl his seamers. Pembroke’s batting line-up therefore looks extremely strong and they are sure to be aiming to bat an out-of-sorts Malahide team right out of the game. With the ball, Pembroke have plenty of options with Barry McCarthy and Poonish Mehta leading the seamers, whilst Paul Lawson and Donncha Tucker provide varied spinning threats.
Malahide will be looking to get their season on track in some way this weekend, after a gritty opening win against Phoenix the wheels have somewhat come off in the last couple of weeks and they will need to improve dramatically to trouble Pembroke this weekend. Skipper Matt Ford will be crucial to the batting chances of the side along with Arjun Muntha, Callum Riches and Ryan Hackney, on paper Malahide have a top 4 who could be the envy of all others in the league. With the ball, the return of David O’Halloran is a big help to the side, James Newland has been as consistent as ever, whilst Diarmuid Burke and Cameron Shoebridge provide support to the side’s two main seamers.
For Malahide, wickets are set to be crucial if they want to have any chance of restricting Pembroke to a total they can out-score. David O’Halloran’s return is a big boost as a bowler who can deliver spells which can cause trouble to the strongest line-ups. He’ll be tasked with getting at Lorcan Tucker this weekend, with the Lightning vice-captain in excellent form following on from last weekend’s century.
KEY BATTLE: Lorcan Tucker vs David O’Halloran
In Terenure, North County are the visitors to a side which will have taken plenty of confidence from last weekend’s performance against Phoenix, even though they just failed to secure victory. Séamus Lynch scored an excellent half-century in that game, and his form will once again be vital to the home side. Setting a platform will be crucial in terms of making a good score in Terenure, and when Lynch does do this his strike rate often gives their middle order players plenty of time to build their innings. With the ball, Mark Thomas and Bhavic Tukrel return for the home side this weekend and will support Zubair Khan and Raghav Grover in a strong seam-bowling attack.
North County will be hoping a win could potentially catapult them into second in the table depending on how other results fall, and will look to the classy Malcolm Nofal to be the main man in their batting effort, Eddie Richardson’s excellent ball striking in the middle could help his side run up a score if conditions allow, whilst opener Niall McGovern has a useful record away in Terenure. With the ball, Abdul Ghaffar relished his chance to bowl at this ground last season, whilst Andrew Sheridan’s extra bounce will also be a useful asset, however Nofal’s left-arm spin could be crucial again, given how much purchase George Dockrell was able to get on the ball in last weekend’s game.
Considering his efficient stroke making and ability to make huge runs when he gets in, Malcolm Nofal is no doubt North County’s most important player in this game, Terenure will be looking to Mark Thomas on his return to be the man who can make Nofal’s life as difficult as possible at the top of the innings, if Terenure can dismiss him cheaply, they will have a great chance of unsettling North County’s middle order.
KEY BATTLE: Mark Thomas vs Malcolm Nofal
Finally this week there is the game from Park Avenue, where The Hills visit Railway Union, who have come to life in the last two rounds of this season with victories over Phoenix and Malahide.
The Hills will be happy to have seen some good performances from individuals in last week’s defeat to Pembroke, however they will be looking for more of the same and then some when it comes to this weekend’s fixture. With the ball, Tómas Rooney-Murphy, Dylan Blignaut and Ashley Bain all produced wickets last weekend, even if the latter two were more expensive than ideally hoped by their skipper, however their support outside of those three bowlers wasn’t as good as would have been hoped and ultimately allowed their opposition run up a good total. With the bat, Blignaut then produced some good strokes on his way to 71, whilst another start for Murray Commins who made 40 will be encouraging. They will hope Mark Donegan and Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin can also come to the party this weekend on a ground where batting is far from easy.
Railway Union have put together a couple of excellent performances in their last two games, helped in no small part by the form of Kenny Carroll who has made half-centuries at the top of the order in each of those fixtures. Liam McCarthy and Philippe le Roux in the middle order provided some good runs last weekend, something which Railway will hope they can build on moving into this week’s game, whilst their lower order boundary hitters of Fakhar Zaman and Hamza Maan will be relishing the chance to bat on home soil again. With the ball, McCarthy will lead the way alongside Alan Mathew who has proven to be a very consistent bowler at the top of the order, whilst Hashir Sultan and Kashif Shah back that pair up, spin will be provided by Zaman and Maan who have been economical in Park Avenue so far this season.
With how important the top of the innings will be for both sides in this game, Kenny Carroll is a key wicket for Railway Union and his battle early doors with Dylan Blignaut will be important to Railway’s efforts in putting together a competitive total.
KEY BATTLE: Kenny Carroll vs Dylan Blignaut
SPORTSHUB SENIOR LEAGUE CUP - 14TH MAY
GROUP A
At Observatory Lane - Leinster vs North Kildare
At The Mardyke - Cork County vs YMCA
At Anglesea Road - Merrion vs Clontarf
At Kenure - Rush vs Balbriggan
GROUP B
At College Park - Dublin University vs Phoenix
At Terenure - Terenure vs North County
At Sydney Parade - Pembroke vs Malahide
At Park Avenue - Railway Union vs The Hills