National Cup woes continued for the Shannonsiders on Saturday as they suffered defeat at the hands of Bangor on Saturday afternoon. Despite Bogavelly’s century in a respectable total of 228 from 40 overs, Limerick struggled to break down some long standing partnerships in Bangor’s innings and had to make the long journey home without victory. 

Bogavelly won the toss and elected to bat with Sarfraz Ramay’s promotion up the order a good decision as he steadied the ship after the early loss of Sourabh Teke who was trapped LBW. Once he departed for 33 from 45, Limerick needed to up the run rate at 51-3 after 14 to bring themselves back into the competition. Anwar, batting at 5, looked to be in good nick but his pull shot to the deep mid-wicket found the fielder leaving the visitors on 79-4 after 18. Bogavelly absorbed a lot of the pressure after drinks as his partner, Shozab Ali Taj, played through the line from the other end which ended in reward rather than risk as the 100-run mark was reached. 

The innings began to swing in Limerick’s favour as Bogavelly found his touch, himself and Ali Taj finding a plethora of boundaries in the long on and long off regions as well as some nice cuts behind point which brought their partnership over the 100-run mark. With five overs remaining, the pair really began to tee off with some overs surpassing the 20-run mark as Bogavelly’s flick to deep leg landed him his century off 105 balls (13x4, 1x6), he would hole out to cover in the final ball of the innings to end a magnificent partnership as a target of 229 was set. 

Bangor settled into their innings nicely however and ran well to keep the asking rate achievable. Different bowling options were tried but no breakthrough before drinks meant advantage to the hosts at 118-0. The opening wicket from Patel came as only a short reprieve as 141-1 left Bangor just 88 runs shy and nine wickets in hand. At 172-3, the home side lost two set batsmen, an opening that Limerick couldn’t capitalise on as McCullough and Kirkpatrick navigated to the target with a bit to spare. 

RESULT| CI NationalCup.

We lost to Bangor by 7 wickets yesterday.

Limerick 1: 228-5 off 40 overs. 

Anvesh Bogavelly 111

Shozab Ali Taj 58*

Bangor 1: 229-3 off 39.2 overs.

Dharmesh Patel 1-25

Anvesh Bogavelly 1-33

Sarfraz Ramay 1-39

                                           * * *

Limerick’s 3rd XI finally kickstarted their league campaign with a gritty victory on the road to a strong Cork Harlequins side. After a tough defeat last weekend, Mehmood was looking for a performance and adequate victory from a side which deserved to have more from the season so far. Mehmood lost the pre-match toss and was put into field by the opposition.

Mehmood’s side were up against it with the ball on a hot day at Farmer’s Cross but took more control of their opposition’s innings with the introduction of Parth Borghare and the experienced Sathya Prabu. Borghare tore the partnerships apart with four wickets in his spell as Prabu created pressure from the other end and was unlucky to not have one of his chances snatched by his fielders. Limerick got the better of the hosts in the later exchanges who could only add 24 runs for the final 10 overs to set a target of 221. 

The game ebbed and flowed during the Limerick response, whilst Bharatkumar Dahima’s maiden half-century in LCC colours with 68 from 70 deliveries (7x4s, 2x6s) proving a thorn for the Quins bowling attack, the batsmen struggled to get going with few starts being converted into such scores. Dahima’s dismissal on 124-5 meant the uphill battle was imminent and 178-9 a few overs later shifted the game in the host’s favour. That was not until a heroic partnership between tailenders Mohit Malik and Muhammed Ammar turned supposition into reality as the two recorded a remarkable 43-run partnership for the final wicket to earn their team their first win of the season. 

RESULT| MCU Division Two.

We defeated Cork Harlequins by 1 wicket today.

Cork Harlequins 3: 220 all out off 35.1 overs.

Parth Borghare 4-52

Muhammad Ammar 2-31

Limerick 3: 229-9 off 39.2 overs.

Bharatkumar Dahima 68

Mohit Malik 34*

                                           * * *

The women’s side were faced with T15 matches in Lydican on Saturday afternoon which saw debutants as well as some returning faces. The team was led by Saadia Mahmood who elected to bowl upon winning her opening toss of the year.

She would go on to pick up her side’s first wicket as she bowled the County opener for just 4 but an 85-run partnership for the second wicket pulled the game away for Limerick who nonetheless, battled until the final ball with Snighda Sibi chipping in with two wickets to stem the flow as a target of 116 was set.

Limerick had to credit the County bowling they faced, with a quality display on hand the visitors struggled to keep up with the asking rate in limited overs. Sana George’s 41 runs from 33 balls (7x4s, 0x6s) kept her side moving forward but would ultimately fall 25 runs short on 91-3 by the end off the innings. 

RESULT| MCU T15 Women's Superleague.

We lost to Cork County by 25 runs today.

Cork County W: 116-3 off 14.4 overs.

Snigdha Sibi 2-22

Saadia Mehmood 1-17

Limerick W: 91-3 off 14.4 overs.

Sana George 41*

Maria Van De Munckhof 11

Limerick batted first in their second game against County Galway and found themselves under pressure to score, the dismissal of key player Sana George for 20 gave the hosts the upper hand to capitalise as perhaps the effect of playing back-to-back games impacted her side’s batting performance. Galway chased down the target of 76 with just under five overs to spare, a tough outing for the Shannonsiders this time round but with some solid standout performances with bat and ball, the side will be looking to bounce back in similar fashion to last year in their upcoming games.

RESULT| MCU T15 Women's Superleague.

We lost to County Galway by 9 wickets today.

Limerick W: 75-4 off 15 overs.

Sana George 20

Maria Van De Munckhof 12*

County Galway W: 76-1 off 10.3 overs.

Saadia Mehmood 1-14

Sana George 0-14

                                           * * *

The club’s biggest win of the weekend came from the U13 side who continued form from an unbeaten 2024 MCU campaign with a stylish victory against Cork County in the Mardyke on Saturday morning. Led by Yousaf Ramay again this season, the skipper won the pre-match toss and elected to bat.

Despite the loss of opener Behroz Khan and Hadi Alam during the opening exchanges, Faizan Chaudhry and Arham Ullah negotiated the following overs superbly, forging a match-winning 84-run partnership in just 10 overs to bring Limerick to 101-2 after 12. Both fell in quick succession but a maiden career half-century for Atharvan Alagesan from 50 balls (8x4s, 0x6s) steered his side upward of 200 with the wicketkeeper-batsman’s brother Apoorvan providing an entertaining came of 16 from 26 balls from the other end.

The visitor’s were out for blood with little to no respite allowed early on. Ramay lead from the front with the new ball as he ripped through the top order in style, finishing with figures of 4-24 making him the pick of the bowlers. He was soon to be complimented by Faizan Chaudhry (1-7 from 4 overs) and the impressive Leon George who managed to pick up three wickets in four balls in what was an agonisingly close attempt to a hat-trick. Hadi Alam made light work of the final wicket with his first delivery bowling the County opener to finish the innings on 93 all out.  

RESULT| MCU U13 League.

We defeated Cork County  by 132 runs today.

Limerick U13: 225-7 off 30 overs. 

Atharvan Alagesan 53*

Faizan Chaudhry 39

Arham Ullah 30

Cork County U13: 93 all out off 22.1 overs.

Yousaf Ramay 4-24

Leon George 3-7

                                           * * *

A busy period lies ahead for the Shannonsiders with five different teams in action and eight games in just five days. Limerick’s 4th XI will be first up as their T20 campaign sees the midweek clash against rivals Limerick Blasters on Wednesday followed up with a double header on Saturday against Cork Harlequins and County Kerry. Limerick’s 3rd XI will also be in T20 action with two games on Sunday against County Clare and County Kerry respectively. The 1st XI will start their Premier League campaign with the visit of reigning champions Cork County to the Manor Fields on Sunday afternoon whilst the 2nd XI will also be in Adare as they face off against County Clare on Saturday afternoon.