This evening sees a full round of fixtures in Sprint Coatings Women’s Division One, with the league beginning to take real shape after last week’s extremely important return to action.
YMCA vs Leinster
Kicking off in Claremont Road for our featured game of the evening, Leinster visit YMCA and are the only side to clash with their hosts this season who haven’t been beaten by them as yet. The away side are yet to confirm their XI for the game, however last week saw low-key returns for Laura Delany and Sophie MacMahon in a thumping victory over then-league leaders Merrion who were very understrength. Ava Canning and Ellen Ridgeway were the stars with the bat, both of them made half-centuries in a comprehensive victory and with each of these four now back available, Leinster will likely be YMCA’s sternest opponents yet in the league. Their bowling will centre around Canning and MacMahon’s abilities to keep it tight again, however there have been good spells this season from Katie Dillon, Joanna Loughran and most recently Sophia Nulty in last week’s game, with the visitors once again developing a well-rounded attack to keep them going for the rest of the season.
YMCA on the other hand come into this week’s game off the back of a thumping victory over an also understrength Pembroke last week, with their captain Gaby Lewis continuing her brilliant form with an unbeaten 154 in their record breaking score of 259/0, Jennifer Gray was also in the runs in that opening partnership. Siuin Woods and Kate McEvoy both return to the YMCA side this week and will add more depth with both the bat and ball, the bowling stocks for the home side look quite full now, with Georgina Dempsey, Alice Tector, Laura Tuite and Vanshika Shukla all in the wickets in their last few games, however it is fair to say that with the bat, they will once again be hoping that captain Lewis can find support towards the top of the order and propel them to another strong performance.
In spite of YMCA’s reliance on Lewis, against a batting line-up like Leinster’s top four, they will need someone to stand up with the ball, Georgina Dempsey will likely find herself bowling to her fellow Irish international all-rounder Sophie MacMahon at some stage, if she can dismiss her opposite number, YMCA’s chances of keeping Leinster’s usually dominant batting under wraps will be greatly enhanced.
KEY BATTLE: Georgina Dempsey vs Sophie MacMahon
The Hills vs Pembroke
Next up, Pembroke visit The Vineyard to face The Hills side who will be absolutely chomping at the bit to get back out on the field this evening, with their break extended by a further week when they received a walkover from Phoenix in last week’s fixture. Pembroke meanwhile will be hoping to get back to winning ways after their side, devoid of some international stars, were comprehensively beaten last time out. The away side will be hoping Jane Maguire and Robyn Searle can lead the way again with the bat tonight, with that pair being vital to their good batting efforts so far this season, whilst there have been good contributions from their middle order batters, Cliodhna O’Reardon and Rebecca Gough. Gough and Maguire have provided good spells with the ball, whilst they welcome back Amy Benson who was a strong performer for the side last season, Searle’s leg-breaks will also be important in the middle part of the game against Pembroke’s strong batting line-up.
The away side come into this game hoping to get a win to ensure they don’t get cut adrift from the title race somewhat, with back-to-back losses being potentially very problematic in terms of keeping them in the hunt. Their batting is boosted by the rejuvenated form of Clare Shillington, whilst Lou Lou Little’s ball striking at the top of the order is going to play a vital role for her side in the Power Play, skipper Mary Waldron’s form with the bat was strong before the international break and if that continues her side will be in a good position to put together a strong batting innings. With the ball, Louise McCarthy’s contributions opening the bowling have been excellent this season, whilst Little has also performed nicely since she has begun bowling again in the past number of matches. The side do miss Orla Prendergast’s presence in the side with the new ball, however the seam bowling of Anna Beale and Mhairi Nicoll has been consistent and done plenty of hard yards to help account for their star bowler’s absence.
With a dearth of matches over the last few weeks, no doubt Robyn Searle will be bursting at the seams to get out and show The Hills faithful what she can do with the bat again, her battle against Anna Beale through the middle overs is likely to be very important in determining how much momentum the home side can put together with their batting.
KEY BATTLE: Robyn Searle vs Anna Beale
Clontarf vs Merrion
Next up, Clontarf welcome Merrion to Castle Avenue, with the visitors again another side hoping to avoid the potentially fatal back-to-back defeats in such an important phase of the season. The home side could not benefit from the addition of Bhavi Devchand to their side last week and will be looking to bounce back after a somewhat chastening loss to Malahide, who occupy a similar area of the table to them. Devchand, Aoife Brennan and Christina Coulter-Reilly will be the main contributors with the bat for the home side, whilst with the ball, Devchand and Coulter-Reilly will support Freya Sargent, Anna Marshall and Julie McNally in a youthful, well-rounded attack which has shown plenty of ability to bowl sides out so far this season.
Merrion will be hoping to welcome back several internationals for this fixture, with the series against South Africa seeing Leah Paul, Rachel Delaney and Celeste Raack all away from the side for a number of weeks. Skipper Raack and Paul are arguably the two most important players in the side, both providing good spin bowling and controlled batting at the top and in the middle order, in the main, when this pair have played well, their side has tended to follow suit. If Rebecca Stokell is returning to the side this week, her batting at the top of the order would be crucial as her more aggressive style allows Merrion to take advantage of their Power Play overs. With the ball, Niamh MacNulty has quickly moved towards being Merrion’s most important seam bowler, her partnership with Julianne Morrissey with the new ball has blossomed and performed in the main extremely well in the early stages of their bowling innings’ so far this season.
For Clontarf, Bhavi Devchand’s batting is again going to be absolutely vital in terms of getting them to more regularly competitive scores, and this game would be the ideal time to start a run of form for her, if she can navigate Celeste Raack’s spell of leg spin in the middle overs, it will be a big help to the home side’s chances of putting Merrion’s batting under pressure itself.
KEY BATTLE: Bhavi Devchand vs Celeste Raack
Phoenix vs Malahide
Finally we look to the Phoenix Park, where the visitors are a Malahide side who will be hoping to take advantage of Phoenix’s dreadful run of form of late, which has seen them muster just four bonus points in the 6 games played so far this season. The home side are back to somewhere resembling their full complement of players for this week’s game, Ali Keenan, Sophie McDonough and Alison Black will be the main bowling options in the side, whilst McDonough, Black and skipper Nevedha Saravanarajan will be the three who’s batting will be relied upon to put together a decent total when the side is asked to bat.
Malahide enter this game with their skipper Caoimhe McCann in flying form, and Amy Hunter back in the side again to add her classy shot making at the top of the order, that opening partnership continues to go from strength to strength, and even with Hunter failing to fire in last week’s game, McCann was able to guide the side to a good win. Arlene Kelly’s performances this season have seen her earn an Ireland cap in recent weeks, and she will be important with both bat and ball yet again, whilst Anna Kerrison’s left-arm spin is always a vital attribute for the home side. Sarah Condron and Beth Deacon proved to be a formidable pair with the ball last week, both taking wickets consistently throughout Clontarf’s innings, whilst Deacon is missing this week, Condron will be looking to pick up where she left off in last week’s game.
After her excellent opening spell last week, Sarah Condron will hope to repeat the dose again for Malahide against a Phoenix side which they could look to knock over relatively cheaply with early wickets. Nevedha Saravanarajan will be the key to preventing Phoenix suffering any early issues and she will be crucial in counter-attacking against the strong Malahide bowling attack.
KEY BATTLE: Nevedha Saravanarajan vs Sarah Condron