There was some very interesting cricket last weekend to decide the destination of the Leinster Senior League.
Interesting the cricket may have been, but much of it displayed a very low standard of batting. There were three contenders for the wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am batting collapse prize.
In the blue corner were The Hills who, batting first against Clontarf, folded to 46-6 in the 16th over, only Jeremy Bray being got and the other five being gimmes. Sensible batting from Max Sorensen (24) and Mark Dwyer (30) plus good hitting from Joseph Clinton (25) and brother Luke (33) got them to 179 all out off 50 overs, about fifty short of a score.
Alex Cusack bowled his ten overs straight through for 4/27. After a decent start from Greg Molins (20) and Bill Coghlan (40), and a gem of an innings of 52 from Andrew Poynter, Cusie saw 'Tarf home by five wickets in the 43rd over with 32 not out.
In the red corner were Merrion, who just didn't turn up at all up Cold Blow Lane, and were bowled out for 106 by Railway Union. Pradeep Lavang top-scored with 34, and Greg Lambert took 4/21 off his ten overs. Railway were 64-5, but Saad Ullah got them past the post in the 28th over with 37* and no further loss of wickets.
In the green corner were North County, who had Pembroke at 100-5, but allowed them to make 200-7 thanks to 41 from Allan Eastwood and 63* from Emmett Whaley. County tried to beat the traffic by winning inside 20 overs. They were a little delayed, lasting 23.4 overs for 135 all out, only John Mooney making a worthwhile contribution with 46. Eastwood capped a good day by taking 3/42.
The Section B match at Kenure was doubly irrelevant: (a) it could have no material effect on the league table for either team; and (b) it involved Old Belvedere.
The Jesuits' Boys' toothless attack conceded only 246-8 in 50 overs, Nazeer scoring 92* and Lionel Jansen 61, Sameer Dutt taking 3/42.
Belvo's batting was good enough to get within a hundred runs of that, by one. They were all out for 147 in 35.5 overs, Yogesh scoring 33, Amir Iqbal taking 3/15 and Nazeer finishing a fine season (599 runs and 30 wickets) with 3/28.
Saturday's events meant that Clontarf had to beat Leinster at Rathmines on Sunday to win the league. If they failed, the title would go to Railway.
At 97-1, Leinster were poised to get the freedom of Park Avenue, but after Hugh McDonnell was out for 36 and Craig Mallon for 34, they fell away to 131-6. They revived to 191-6 with 43 from Dave Lucas and 27 from Callum Patterson, but were 193 all out in 48 overs.
When Rod Hokin was fifth out for 43, the score was 111 in the 26th over, plenty of time for 'Tarf to knock off the runs as long as they kept wickets. Eoghan Delany survived the rarity of being dropped by Anton Scholtz, and he and skipper Joe Morrissey (19) added 48. Two quick wickets left Clontarf on 160-7, and then there was another rarity – Mark Jones dropped Richard Forrest.
Delany (47*) and Forrest (13*) did the business as the Bull's Meadow men won in the 48th over. Chris Byrnes bowled really well for Leinster, taking 3/35, and Will Lennon kept things tight with 1/27.
Congratulations to all Castle Avenue on another league and cup double.
The match this coming Saturday between North County and The Hills is now effectively a friendly, if there is such a thing between these Fingal rivals. I predict that cricket will be the winner.
Cheers,
Stu.
Copyright: Cover Point
