Limerick’s 1st XI saw off the challenge of Midleton at the Manor Fields on Sunday afternoon to avenge their narrow defeat from earlier in the campaign. The victory sees the Shannonsiders back up to third place in the table with four games now played. Ayan Ullah captained the side for the fixture, replacing the absent Anvesh Bogavelly.

Bowling first, there were early wickets for Sathya Prabu and Ramoji Alla, with the new ball doing the work in the opening exchanges. The hosts continued to exert more pressure after the powerplay, which saw Potgeitier, Hari and Sharma all taking wickets as Midleton’s middle order somewhat collapsed. To right the wrongs from previous outings, no partnerships in the late batting order materialised, with the return of Alla proving a menace as he chipped in with two further dismissals. 

The innings dragged out but with Midleton well below a par score, Ullah and co. didn’t panic in their search for further wickets as Hari and Potgieter turned the screw on the tail as the visitors finished all out with 114 on the board.

The loss of Kumar early was quickly rectified with a strong partnership between Karur and Venkatesh consolidating the innings perfectly. Venkatesh, enjoying his new role at number 3, nurdled the ball around well with Karur anchoring from the other end. They brought their side past the 50-run mark with the target in near sight.

A quick succession of wickets after drinks saw Limerick reach 87-5 with the middle order now needing to see their side home. The finishing touches were displayed off the bats of Ayan Ullah and Manoj Sharma, both scoring 16 runs a piece to result in a comfortable, four wicket win.

RESULT| MCU Premier League 

We defeated Midleton by 4 wickets yesterday.

Midleton 1: 114 all out off 46.1 overs.

Ajay Hari 3-9

Ramoji Alla 3-20

Limerick 1: 116-6 off 36.4 overs.

Sumukh Venkatesh 28

Karthik Karur 27

                                           * * *

Limerick’s 2nd XI were within touching distance of a place in the Junior Cup quarter finals on Saturday with a nailbiting loss to the hands of County Clare at the Manor Fields. 

Winning the toss and electing to bat, Nishant Kumar exhibited another fine performance, opening with 42 runs from 65 balls and unlucky to not reach his half-century. Limerick somewhat stumbled in the top order thereafter, before Ayan Ullah’s 58 from 78 deliveries (3x4s, 0x6s) steadied the ship with contributions in the form of Dharmesh Patel (19) soon to follow. The partnership from the pair secured their side’s surpassing of the 150-run mark but nothing meaningful from the remaining batsmen resulted in the Shannonsiders finishing on 169-8 from their allocated overs.

The run chase brought a lot of ups and downs. Clare, who got the better hand of things early on, got themselves to within 87 runs of winning on 83-3. The tide soon turned in the home side’s favour however, as Mehmood (2-21) and Huessin (2-24) had other ideas. Each partnership down the order after drinks added something, as Limerick continued to take wickets to keep themselves in the game, albeit Clare getting ever closer to the target. Hussein’s dismissal of Pannerslevam, with just six runs still required, set up a nervy finish for the visitors and a thrilling final few overs. Clare salvaged it with the final partnership, ensuring a tight victory to take back to Shannon as the next round of the Junior Cup awaits.

RESULT| MCU Junior Cup.

We lost to County Clare by 1 wicket.

Limerick 2: 169-8 off 45 overs.

Ayan Ullah 58

Nishant Kumar 42

County Clare 2: 170-9 off 42.2 overs.

Dharmesh Patel 2-21

Asif Hussein 2-24

                                 

                                           * * *

The 4th XI suffered another loss on Saturday afternoon, with their visit to the Mardyke resulting in defeat by three wickets against Cork County.

Opting to bat first, both openers got off to a bad start as Limerick had to try to regather themselves from two early wickets. The innings was somewhat saved through the bat of Chinmay Shinde, with the youngster offering the real, only shining light for his side. Despite the loss of wickets around him, Shinde showed resilience in carving out a maiden half-century at senior level, making 51 from 76 balls. Responsibility was demonstrated in the nature of the knock, with no boundaries scored Shinde smartly looked for 1s and 2s, rotating the strike in a mature fashion throughout his innings. His demise in the 29th over was the crucial, with only 13 runs added thereafter to see a target of 153 set for the hosts.

Limerick looked to have County in a spot of bother at 54-4 and then 76-5, but much-needed sixth wicket partnership got County closer to the finishing line with the final 30 runs or so tagged on by the tail. Another learning experience for a young side, still learning their trade in adult cricket.

RESULT| MCU Division Five. 

We lost to Cork County by 3 wickets. 

Limerick 4: 152 all out off 33.2 overs.

Chinmay Shinde 51

Skandan Lakshmanan 14

Yousaf Ramay 14

Cork County 2: 153-7 off 27.2 overs.

Arham Ullah 2-23

Jack Vercoe 2-24

                                           * * *

Next weekend sees the women’s side back in action with Premier League and Minor Cup action on Sunday to follow. The ladies team will travel to Lismore for another double-header where they will face Lismore and Cork County respectively. Sathya Parbu’s side will travel to Knockshigowna to face Nenagh in their first round tie , whilst the 1st XI will be looking for back-to-back wins for the first time this season with the visit of Cork Harlequins to the Manor Fields.