Limerick Cricket Club maintain unbeaten league run with win over Clare

With the season drawing to a close, Nishant Kumar and the Limerick Cricket Club 2nd XI were hoping to continue their good form in the league with a win over Clare in Adare on Saturday afternoon.

With the first round almost over, Limerick knew that another win would take them close to top spot in the table.

However a rainy day followed, with the outfield extremely damp on arrival, umpires Paul McCutcheon and Simon Tiptaft agreed to a delayed start with light rain continuing to fall. It was not until late in the afternoon, sometime around 3pm, that the rain had completely stopped and then both captains and umpires agreed to a 20-over game starting at 3.50. Visitors Clare won the toss and elected to bat first.

The opening bowlers for Limerick created some real pressure in the middle with the ball swinging problematically. Kumar even decided to bowl both his openers straight, Waqas Mehmood and Ramoji Alla, after their combined spells had resulted in five wickets. Ayan Ullah kept up the pressure by dismissing Muhammed Akbar for just four runs, while Clare struggled to find their footing and meandered their way to a total of 96.

The opening pair of Arslan Sayyam and Karthik Karur gave a good response in the run chase, maintaining a good run rate and ensuring that no early concessions of wickets were made. Despite the dismissal of Sayyam for 18, Limerick chased down their target with nine wickets to spare, which would have secured full bonus points.

Karur finished not out on 27 while Yogesh Borghare’s 38 from 37 deliveries provided the remaining runs needed. The win keeps Limerick top of division one with just one final league game remaining, currently scheduled for a fortnight at home to Nenagh.

RESULT | MCU Division One

Limerick Cricket Club defeated County Clare by 9 wickets on Saturday

County Clare 1: 96-9 from 20 overs.

Waqas Mehmood 3-23

Ramoji Alla 2-15

Limerick 2: 98-1 from 16.5 overs.

Yogesh Borghare 38*

Karthik Karur 27*

AFTER the first match against Galway CC was called off due to rain, Limerick lost the toss to Cork CC and were sent to bat. Saadia Mahmood and Ashitha Dabbadka opted to bat through all their available players and were sent to bat first. They started the Limerick Ladies well with a solid opening partnership.

After taking the singles and Dabbadka producing an impressive leg-grace past third man for four runs, the pair were run out in the fourth and fifth overs respectively for a total of thirteen runs, before giving first Sanjana Shashikumar and then Sheena Van de Munckhof the chance to enter the field.

After taking a couple of good singles together, a miscommunication led to a very tight run out, despite an impressive dive from Van de Munckhof. Madhu Marimuthu was next to step up to the crease, who put a couple of quick singles on the board before her partner, Shashikumar, was out. Nisha Patil and Marimuthu then continued with the quick singles as they worked through the seventh and eighth overs.

A well-taken cough behind the Cork wicket-keeper saw Marimuthu run with Snigda Sibi replacing her at the crease for the eighth over, followed shortly by a clean bowled delivery from Cork CC’s Alex that sent Patil chasing her partner. A quick single for Sibi and a leg boundary from Holly Westmoreland made for a quick partnership in the final two overs of the game, before Sibi saw herself clean bowled by Cork CC’s Alex.

Maria Van de Munckhof was called to bat with one ball to go, but she quickly hit the ball to the leg side for a final single, ending the first innings at 37/3.

With the ball, Mahmood and Sibi opened the bowling with tight lines and good pace, restricting the experienced Cork openers to just six from the first three overs, including a well-held catch from Dabbadka after Sibi’s bowling. Tight bowling from Dabbadka kept the Cork team at bay for a while, before Cork CC’s Sara hit a number of well-timed boundaries to settle the match in the seventh over.

A special shout-out would also like to be extended from Limerick women to Nick Van de Munckhof who once again volunteered his time to referee the match, with Cork CCs coach Mick. Further thanks to head supporters Katy, Zahra and Henry, and scorers Yousaf and Evelyn.

RESULT| MCU Women’s T10 Superleague

Limerick Cricket Club lost by 7 wickets to Cork County

Limerick: 37-3 from 10 overs.

Ashitha Dabbadka 7*

Saadia Mehmood 6

Cork County: 39-1 from 8.1 overs.

Snigda Sibi 1-8

Saadia Mahmood 0-2

LIMERICK CC U15s recorded a fine 40-run win against the much-vaunted Cork County team in the T30 Superleague.

After winning the toss, the LCC captain elected to bat. The Limerick openers found the first overs tough but did enough to take the shine off the new ball. No 3 batsman Charlie Wharton bravely endured some hostile bowling, his score of 14 from 23 balls helping to steady the Limerick ship.

He was accompanied by captain Ayan Ullah who made an impressive 50 before his mandatory retirement. His innings was matched by the equally impressive Yousaf Ramay who also reached the half-century mark. A lively contribution of 32 runs by Riyan Shah in 30 balls helped LCC reach a total of 214-7.

In response, County openers Connor Ahern and Eddie Ross kept the Limerick bowlers at bay for 13 overs, and recorded the match-winning partnership of 78 runs. However, Yousaf Ramey struck in the next over, taking 3 wickets, including that of dangerman Eddie Ross, in 4 balls. At drinks prices, County were 79-3. As County fell behind that asking price, more wickets were taken by Limerick.

In the 18th over Chinmay Shinde struck, as did Robert McCutcheon in the 22nd; a run out was also secured in the final over. A quick 52 off 30 balls from Musab Afzal was not enough to keep a dominant Limerick team at bay.

The final two wickets were taken by Charlie Wharton and Yousaf Ramay who finished with figures of 4-23. On top of his earlier half-century, this was a real player of the match performance.

Rivalries will be renewed next Saturday when Limerick host County in a T20 match. Until then, the boys from Limerick can enjoy their sweet victory over their southern rivals.

RESULT| MCU U15 Superleague

Limerick Cricket Club defeated Cork County by 40 runs

Limerick: 214-7 after 30 overs.

Ayan Ullah 50*

Yousaf Ramay 50*

Cork County: 174-8 from 30 overs.

Yousaf Ramay 4-23

Charlie Wharton 1-11

The action continues next weekend, with three more senior teams in action, plus two youth matches for the club.

Sunday afternoon sees the main event, with Limerick’s 1st XI facing a stern test in the form of Cork County at the Mardyke, as well as the 3rd XI’s Minor Cup quarter-final away to Waterford. Limerick’s 4th XI are back in T20 action with games against County Kerry and the Limerick Blasters at the Oyster Oval in Tralee on Saturday, while the U13s and U15s will be looking to keep their winning momentum intact with T20 Cup games against County Kerry and Cork County respectively.