Back-to-back victories were secured in the Premier League on Sunday afternoon with a comfortable victory by nine wickets at the Manor Fields. Bogavelly returned to captain the side and enjoyed a run chase in less than 20 overs where the Shannonsiders reached their target of 108 runs in the second innings. 

Needless to say, the damage was done with the ball after losing the toss and being put into field. Bogavelly entrusted the new ball once again in the hands of Alla and Hegde, with Alla stealing the show in the powerplay as he earned three wickets in his opening spell. This say Quins on 33-3 as Bogavelly brought himself and Sharma on at first change. There was no let-up with the bowling switches, with Bogavelly dismissing Ullah in his third over, followed by the caught and bowled of opposition skipper O’Reilly a few sets later. Sharma’s pressure from the other end paid dividends, firstly dismissing Masina (also caught and bowled) before taking two wickets in as many overs to really sink the opposition ship as the score read 75-8.

Hari and Potgeiter were introduced just before drinks and ensured little wagging from the tail. Potgeiter (0-10) bowled tight deliveries as Hari (1-18) dismissed the threatening Umer Khan whose 38 caused some late problems for the home side. Incidentally, it was Potgeiter who ensured the tenth wicket, running out Kumar for a duck, as Quins fell all out for 107 runs.

There was early fireworks with the opener Nishant Kumar conceding his wicket in the first ball of the innings to see the visitors put one on the board inside the first over. From that point on however, it was smooth sailing for the Shannonsiders with Karur and Dahima showing maturity in their respective knocks. The pair saw off the new ball without trying to accelerate the innings too quickly in the early stages, moving from 21-1 after 5 to 43-1 after 10 in timely fashion. The foot then went to the pedal soon after, with multiple boundaries in the consecutive overs taking the wind from the sails of the bowlers. 

The 16th over saw 13 runs off the bowling of Jaitley, a punishing blow as Dahima secured another half-century just a few deliveries later, as the duo ensured full bonus points for their side and reaching the target with scores of 38 not out (Karur) and 56 not out (Dahima) to end proceedings. 

RESULT| MCU Premier League 

We defeated Cork Harlequins by 9 wickets yesterday.

Cork Harlequins 1: 107 all out off 32.3 overs.

Ramoji Alla 3-15

Manoj Sharma 3-16

Limerick 1: 108-1 off 19.4 overs.

Bharat Dahima 56*

Karthik Karur 38*

                                           * * *

Limerick will have to wait another year in search of Minor Cup glory as they suffered defeat at the hands of Nenagh on Sunday afternoon in Knockshigowna. A small total with the bat from the first innings wasn’t enough to defend, despite favourable conditions for bowlers, as a sturdy sixth-wicket partnership from Nenagh saw them home in the run chase.

Under pressure from the off, Prabu and co. had to look to rebuild after losing openers Aziz and Srivastava in the first two overs. Pawar, batting at 3, relieved some doom for the visitors as he consolidated a well-made 31 from 53 deliveries to steady a rocking boat. At the other end however, further trouble ensued as Limerick’s middle order struggled to come to terms with the opposition attack and fell to 45-6 at the end of the 18th over. Prajapati did well to withstand the opposition bowlers after drinks, with a gutsy 41 from 53 deliveries to earn Limerick a more respectable total as the innings finished on 126.

Limerick’s bowlers came out fighting strong, with no other choice but to take wickets. The cat was put amongst the pigeons through Prabu, taking two wickets in his first spell, complimented by a run out from the help of Sarfraz Ramay, as Nenagh found themselves on 32-3. The dismissal of Scaria was earned from the bowling of Abdul Baqi Khan, the off-spinner putting an end to a long innings from the opener for 42-4. After this, the game swayed back in Nenagh’s favour, with a couple of partnerships of enough to get them over the line despite two wickets from Sarfraz Ramay after the midway point, to earn them a spot in the next round.

We lost to Nenagh by 4 wickets yesterday.

Limerick 3: 126 all out off 35.4 overs.

Pavan Prajapati 41

Monish Pawar 31

Nenagh 2: 127-6 off 34.2 overs.

Sathya Prabhu 2-17

Sarfraz Ramay 2-29

                                 

                                           * * *

Two wins for Limerick’s women's side on Saturday afternoon saw them surge to the top of the Superleague table with two games left to play. The wins put them 20 points ahead of second-placed Galway with a high win percentage to their name also. 

It was a tail of two games with Limerick’s bowlers earning their crust in the first encounter against Lismore. A reduced match saw just eight overs aside for both innings, adding a pressure to restrict and be economical in attack. This was delivered in tight spells from Nimbalkar (0-6) and Mahmood (1-5), both in two overs. Westmoreland and Sibi followed suit, with Sibi in particular the pick of the bowlers as she finished with 2-5 as Lismore were then limited to 25-5. The response was swift, as Shashikumar, Sibi and Westmoreland completed the task in just six overs to give Limerick a comfortable victory.

Cork County proved a much sterner test, Limerick opting again to bowl first and hoping to repeat similar patterns from their first game. Westmoreland entrusted Mahmood and Nimbalkar once again with the new ball, who didn’t disappoint. Mahmood castled Padaniya in the first over before removing Kamel in the following delivery, a straight and full delivery adjudged LBW to see County two down. Although a hat-trick wasn’t to be, the Shannonsiders were on the up and maintained a relentlessness throughout the innings. Credit to the skipper Holly Westmoreland, whose bowling changes proved crucial as wickets continued to tumble. A near run-a-ball target of 45 was set as Nimbalkar, Harishankar and Westmoreland all chipped in wickets later on.

After conceding in the first over, a 26-run partnership between Vercoe and Westmoreland saw Limerick reach 27-2 with the game in the balance at the end of the fourth over. Now needing, 19 runs from 24 balls, Westmoreland powered on, scoring 28 from 24 and carrying her bat. The captain wasn’t phased with the loss of consecutive wickets in the sixth over, as she responded with two boundaries in a row in the seventh to clinch the win by a margin of six wickets.

RESULTS| MCU Women's Superleague. 

We defeated Lismore Cricket Club by 9 wickets. 

Lismore W: 25-5 off 7.5 overs.

Snighda Sibi 2-4

Saadia Mahmood 1-5

Limerick W: 28-1 off 5.4 overs.

Holly Westmoreland 8*

Sanjana Shashikumar 7*

We defeated Cork County by 6 wickets.

Cork County W: 44-5 off 7.5 overs.

Saadia Mahmood 2-7

Holly Westmoreland 1-4

Limerick W: 46-4 off 6.3 overs.

Holly Westmoreland 28*

Charlotte Vercoe 6

* * *

Another astounding victory for Limerick’s U13 side sees them now top of both of their league tables as they put County to the sword on Saturday afternoon at the Manor Fields, Adare. Skipper Faizan Chaudhry lost the toss and was put into bowl by the opposition skipper. 

Chaudhry got his batting order spot on, with the new ball doing little damage to the Limerick top order. Anvit Bharadwaj opened the batting in spectacular style, with his innings of 38 from 51 comprising two boundaries and some silky shots around the circle. The running between the wickets earned Limerick a partnership of 76 runs for the first wicket. Alagesan and George then entered the fray and continued to accelerate for their side, with scores of 26 and 25* respectively. Limerick’s middle order tagged on another few towards the end, as the Shannonsiders batted out their full allocation with a very respectable 175-3 from 30 overs the result. 

The hosts used all eleven bowling options in the second innings and did well in limiting extras as well as taking their catches to ensure partnerships did not develop. Two bowlers, namely Ritwik Malu and Kulwant Singh, were the standouts for their side, both taking three wickets each in short spells to diminish the top and bottom order of the batting side. Chaudhry (who also took two wickets himself) and co. managed to dismiss County fully by the 21st over, claiming a 96-run victory and securing full bonus points from their super, team performance.

RESULT| MCU U13 Superleague 

We defeated County Cork by 96 runs.

Limerick U13: 175-3 off 30 overs.

Anvit Bharadwaj 38

Leon George 26*

Atharvan Alagesan 25*

County Cork U13: 79 all out off 21 overs.

Kulwant Singh 3-4

Rithwik Malu 3-6

Faizan Chaudhry 2-7

                                           * * *

Next weekend sees the return of the Senior Cup, as Limerick’s 1st XI will look forward to a mouth-watering tie against Cork County in Adare on Sunday. On the same day, Limerick’s 3rd XI will be back into league action with a clash against UCC away with the 2nd XI rounding up the weekend fixtures against Nenagh in Knockshigowna in Division One on Saturday afternoon.