It was a very successful weekend for Limerick Cricket Club on the pitch with wins at Senior and Junior level. Saturday also saw the women’s team picking up their maiden victory of the season over Galway, with Sunday providing a very entertaining finals day for the U15 side. 

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After winning the toss, Limerick skipper Ajay Hari elected to bat and set visitors Midleton a target. Hari was in search of his fourth league victory as Limerick captain this year with wins against County Kerry and UCC already chalked up. Hari himself opened the batting along with native counterpart Sourabh Teke who was starting to slowly come back into form. His 21 off 20 balls included some nice shots, including one 6, to get the home side up and running. Then came a very strong partnership in the middle order between Arslan Anwar and Anvesh Bogavelly, a much needed stand for the fifth wicket propelled Limerick up and above the 150 mark, with both players scoring 65 and 48 respectively. The tail couldn’t add too much however, the score trickled above the 200-run mark and a target of 213 was set.

In response, the Shannonsiders suffered an early blow as they lost opening bowler Asif Hussein after just four overs, the Pakistani sustaining a hamstring injury which ruled him out of bowling action for the rest of the game. Nonetheless, Prasad Hegde ensured momentum was maintained from the other end as he found some nice areas and picked up the opening bat in the meantime. Spin ended up being the solution as all remaining wickets were picked up from the four spinners, a notable performance from Sumukh Venkatesh as he finished with figures of 4-29 and Midleton were all out for 152.

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Junior Cup action on Saturday saw Limerick again taking on Midleton, this time away from home, with a place in the final on the line. A strong 2nd XI from the home side meant a tense tie awaited for Nishant Kumar and co. who were still unbeaten so far this season. 

Despite the loss of Arslan Sayyam early on, the captain himself steadied the ship with a well-made 36 from 40 deliveries. He was met with the same score from Karthik Karur at the other end which gave a good platform for the middle order to capitalise on. There were some significant contributions in this regard, firstly in the form of Ayan Ullah who surpassed his highest tally of the season with 59. Contributions from Venkatesh (44), Ramay (59) and Patel (39) ensured Limerick reached their highest total of the season thus far scoring a grand total of 313-9 from their 45 overs. With six players all scoring above 30, the batting lineup was able to repeatedly attack the bowling unit without break. 

Limerick continued their onslaught with the ball as Midleton were always up against it chasing such a high total, using the ever increasing run rate to their advantage. Strategic bowling from Ramoji Alla, one of Limerick’s most consistent performers all season, resulted in him picking up two wickets and finishing on 2-31 from his set of seven. Midleton hit back with some scores in the middle and late order proving a test for Limerick’s bowlers at first and second change. Ullah hit back for Limerick as he picked up three wickets and finished on 3-25 from his five overs, and Midleton had no response with their tail who eventually succumbed to 191 all out. 

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The MCU Women’s T10 Superleague continued in Adare on Saturday with two ties against County Galway and Cork County. Limerick’s stand-in captain for the day was Saadia Mehmood, taking on her first game as captain against County Galway in the opener. Limerick faced some stiff competition in this tie, Galway batted first and put on a total of 52, meaning Limerick would have to score their highest total of the year in order to clinch victory.

Despite losing Sanjana Shashikumar early on, Limerick rallied on over by over and edging closer to their target. Ashitha Dabbadka stole the show for Limerick with the bat, scoring 29 off 25 balls whilst opening the batting. She was backed up with scores of 7 from Maria Van de Munchof and Sana George to guide her team to victory in the ninth over. A day with history in the making which marked Limerick’s first ever women’s victory. 

In the second game of the day, Cork County proved too strong for the hosts as they completed 16-run victory to give them two victories from two.

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The final matches of the weekend saw Limerick’s U15 side in T20 Cup action with a ‘finals day’ format taking place in Clonmel. With the draw taking place earlier on in the week, Limerick faced Cork Harlequins in the semi-final with a place in the final against Cork County up for grabs. 

Quins started the brighter in this one, dismissing Limerick’s opening pair to get the better of the opening exchanges. Ayan Ullah put the breaks on the bowling momentum as he pushed the ball around and rotating the strike nicely. He was supported from the other end by Sohaib Akhtar (23) and Chinmay Shinde (13). Limerick also did quite well to bat 19 of their 20 overs, ensuring a significant amount of extras were picked up to add to the total. The Shannonsiders set a target of 106 meaning Quins were needing to score at over five runs per over. 

However, some tight bowling from both ends restricted Quins massively. Eshan Tanveer’s consistency proved too much, chipping in with two wickets and conceding just eight runs from his three overs. Yousaf Ramay provided the other stand out performance with the ball, he finished with figures of 3-11 from his three overs as he mopped up remainder of the Quins batsmen who concluded their innings on 76, giving Limerick a 29-run victory. 

It wasn’t to be in the final, Limerick struggled to continue their momentum after an exhausting day. County would eventually pick up an 80-run victory but Limerick can be very proud of a team which contained a number of U13 players who gained some valuable experience from these games. Incidentally, the U13s themselves take on Cork County in an All-Ireland qualifier this Wednesday with the winner heading to the finals in two weekends in Dublin. 

Finally, Limerick’s U17 side got their league campaign underway with games against Cork Harlequins and Cork County on Friday and Monday respectively. A very mixed side of experience came to terms with gelling in their opening encounter when a strong Harlequins side put a total of 143 on the board. Limerick in return struggled to forge any meaningful partnerships, with Ayan Ullah and Mirhamza Ahmedzai keeping their side in the game with some expansive shots. Ahmedzai himself would go on to hit a half century and give his team a real fighting chance, but as wickets tumbled Limerick ran out of overs and would fall some 15 or so runs shy. 

The game against County saw a turn of events- this time Limerick would bat first and despite only making a score of 92, County had to battle hard to chase down a seemingly achievable target. It was the young guns of Yousaf Ramay and Chinmay Shinde who provided some real impetus to the bowling attack. Limerick lost the game by three wickets but with a notable amount of U15 and even U13 players in the squad, can be very proud of their determined efforts.