WINS FOR BALBRIGGAN, PEMBROKE, CLONTARF AND THE HILLS - ED SPORTS PREMIER LEAGUE! (16.07.26)

An exciting evening's action in the ED Sports Premier League saw Merrion suffer their first defeat of the season, to Balbriggan, whilst The Hills claimed their first victory of the season, on a night where Pembroke and Clontarf were also victorious.

Starting off in Rathmines, it was firmly the Susie Whaley show, she claimed 4/17 in the first innings to help restrict Leinster to just 78/9 in their 20 overs, as there were also two and three wickets respectively for Marama Downes and Mhairi Nicoll. Whaley then continued as a one-woman band with the bat, as her unbeaten 48 took just 26 deliveries, and included 9 boundaries in sealing a 9-wicket win for Pembroke in jig time.

In Ballsbridge, Merrion batted first and had a flying start thanks to Bella Armstrong (35) and Annabel Squires (49) however the introduction of Julia Hoal to the attack stalled matters, as her 4/11 restricted the cup champions to 161/6 after a far bigger score looked likely. Courtney Gounden got something of a start once again, making 21, before an excellent stand between Lara Maritz and Madison Landsman (57) put the vicitors well ahead of the game. Maritz then dominated the unbroken 3rd wicket stand of 45 with Hoal (17*) as the skipper finished unbeaten on 57 to seal an 8-wicket win.

Clontarf put on a dominant display to see off Malahide. Batting first in Castle Avenue the hosts saw 30s from opener Robyn Searle, number three Genevieve Morrissey and number 4 Alice Walsh guiding them to the verge of a big score, before Julie McNally thumped an unbeaten 29 to boost them to 175/4. For Malahide, only Freya Sargent could offer much resistance, as an excellent all-round bowling performance restricted them to just 107/7 in their 20, Sargent unbeaten on 50, as Hannah Lee was the pick of the bowlers with 2/11.

Finally in The Vineyard, Phoenix batted first and scrambled their way to a below-par 110/4 in their 20 overs, with Aditiba Chudasama's 48 the driving force. Eve Meachen started off what would prove to be a good outing for herself personally by taking 3/25 to be the pick of the bowlers for the hosts. It was Lara McBride however who bossed proceedings in the second innings, she was unbeaten throughout making 65, and sharing an excellent stand of 89 for the second wicket with Meachen (30) in sealing The Hills first victory of the season!