Limerick’s bid for Premier League success took a step closer to glory on Sunday afternoon as Bogavelly and co. saw off the challenge of County Galway at the Manor Fields. A familiar bowling performance restricted the visitors to a score of 155 before a clinical run-chase, which ended with an impressive partnership between Bogavelly and Hegde, ensured another home win for the Shannonsiders, maintaining their 100% record in Adare for the season.

Hegde rightfully took the plaudits from this encounter, firstly down to his wonderful start with the new ball, dismissing both Lella and Reddy with safe hands for the latter for a caught and bowled. He was partnered by Karur, whose medium pace upset the opposition batters, resulting in figures of 1-18 from five overs. A 49-run partnership for the fourth wicket got Galway to 82-3, before a flurry of wickets soon after changed the scoreboard to 95-7. Ramay and Bogavelly were central to the middle order collapse, with Bogavelly’s economy of just 1.6 runs per over restricting the scoring also. Hegde came back into the attack after Galway surpassed their innings century to dismiss dangerman K Mehmood, with the batsman making contact with his own stumps to see his innings close. The final two wickets were taken by Ramay and Madyalkar, with the former finishing on 2-39 from 9.3 overs, to round off another impressive bowling display with a target of 156 to chase.

Kumar accelerated in the powerplay whilst Karur, at the other end, displayed a fine rearguard to keep the new ball at bay. Kumar’s dismissal for 16 (4x3s) at the end of the seventh over brought about a procession of wickets as Karur, Venkatesh and Madyalkar fell shortly after with a worrying total of 77 with just six wickets remaining. Bogavelly took matters into his own hands thereafter, nicely rotating the strike with Hegde, who came to the crease with just over 50 runs still required. The pair were ruthless in their match-winning stand, with Bogavelly making another half-century, which saw 10x4s and 1x6, on his way to an unbeaten 66*. Taking inspiration from his skipper, Hegde played his natural game from the other end, with some big hits over the infield as he hit seven boundaries on his way to 38 not out, with the final 6 marking the end of the game with a lofted drive over the head of mid-on. The win now sees Limerick having three games remaining with victories in all three ensuring a league title.

RESULT| MCU Premier League 

We defeated County Galway by 5 wickets today.

County Galway 1: 155 all out off 45.3 overs.

Anvesh Bogavelly 3-16

Prasad Hegde 3-17

Limerick 1: 158-5 off 29 overs.

Anvesh Bogavelly 66*

Prasad Hegde 38*

                                           * * *

Limerick’s 2nd XI suffered another defeat in Division One on Saturday afternoon, stifling their chances of a top-half finish as Waqas Mehmood and co. slumped to 159 all out in response to a score above 200 in the first innings. 

Quins opted to bat after winning the toss and put together two consecutive partnerships of 43 and 27 runs to get themselves to 70-2 after 17 overs. Limerick bounced back in what was a purple patch just after, with Asif Hussein claiming two dismissals for 83-4 after 20. The Quins middle order took back control of the game shortly after, as Whitaker and Singh propelled the hosts to above 200. Limerick did well to restrict Quins in the final few overs, taking four wickets through the bowling of Sathya Prabu and Eshan Tanveer, complemented by two run outs, as Quins finished on 233 all out. 

The Shannonsider’s response hit some speedbumps early on, with three wickets falling in the powerplay before Limerick could get the score above 30+. Venkatesh and Kumar tried to rebuild in the middle order, with the pair putting on close to 50 runs together for the fifth wicket before Kumar saw his effort caught off the bowling of Hickey. Venkatesh wasn’t phased by this however, and put on another stand of close to 50 runs with Basheer for the seventh wicket, as Limerick pushed above 150. With Venkatesh’ end coming shortly after, the final few wickets fell in quick succession as the visitors finished their innings on 159, 74 runs short of their target.

RESULT| MCU Division One 

We lost to Cork Harlequins by 74 runs today.

Cork Harlequins 2: 233 all out off 45 overs.

Asif Hussein 2-15

Muhammad Aziz 2-34

Limerick 2: 159 all out off 32.2 overs.

Sumukh Venkatesh 48

Nishant Kumar 23

* * *

Limerick’s 3rd XI’s push for a title surge was halted on Sunday afternoon as they pushed a strong Waterford Vikings close at Gracedieu. What looked to be an insurmountable total to chase, Sathya Prabu’s side conjured up a late acceleration in the back end of their innings to bring the game into real contention.

The youngsters took centre stage in the first innings, as Abubakar Aziz and Arham Ullah clinched early wickets with a score of 50-3 on the board after 10 overs. However, a monumental partnership of 139 runs swung the game back in the hosts favour, with Limerick’s attack having no answers until the turn of the 30th over. At 186-4, the Vikings used their wickets in hand to play more freely in the final ten overs, as Aziz reintroduction resulted in the crucial wicket of Francis, dismissed for 84. Darshan Gopal got in on the act, taking one wicket and finishing with figures of 1-51, as Vikings finished on 268 from their 40 overs.

Gopal opened the batting with Chandrashekharaiah, and the two synced up nicely to go at blasting 10 runs per over in the powerplay. Limerick lost three wickets in the opening 11 overs, which didn’t stifle their run rate as they continued to move above a run per ball. All seemed bleak upon Shah’s dismissal for 164-6, with Limerick needing over 100 runs from their remaining 11 overs or so. Nonetheless, the baton was handed to Srivastava and Prabu who put on a stellar partnership, making 62 off just 43 deliveries between the pair of them.

The 33rd over produced 17 runs with Limerick’s equation now reduced, and more importantly, achievable. Despite both going on to make half-centuries with a plethora of boundaries between them, the ask became too tall an order as both batsmen lost their wicket in the dying stages. A late flurry from the tail was welcome but couldn’t amount to the required, but a resilient effort which saw the Shannonsiders just 12 runs short of victory in the end.

RESULT| MCU Division Two 

We lost to Waterford Vikings by 12 runs today.

Waterford Vikings 1: 268-6 off 40 overs.

Abubakar Aziz 3-57

Arham Ullah 1-51

Darshan Gopal 1-51

Limerick 3: 256-9 off 40 overs.

Yash Srivastava 53

Sathya Prabu 53

* * *

Limerick’s U17 XI secured their place in the All-Ireland finals day with a win over Cork Harlequins at the Manor Fields on Monday, where they will face Railway Union on Wednesday, August 26th.

Skandan Lakshmanan was the step-in skipper for Monday’s encounter with Cork Harlequins, and was put into field after losing the toss. Arham Ullah struck early for the Shannonsiders, forcing the batsman into a cut which flew into the hands of Riyan Shah at backward point. The seamers then continued in similar fashion, with Ramay and Aziz both taking wickets, being rewarded from bowling a good line and length. Limerick restricted Quins to 71-5 from 12 before McCutcheon picked up the crucial wicket of Kumar, with a short delivery finding the hands of Riyan Shah once again on the leg-side boundary. The attack put on a fine display of bowling to rattle off the tail in speedy time, with the remaining five wickets done in just 19 runs, with 91 the target to chase.

In response, Lakshmanan lost his partner Aziz early due to injury, but did well with Yousaf Ramay to consolidate a well-made partnership of 29 runs before Lakshmanan chopped on at 48-1. Ramay top-scored with an unbeaten 39 as he carved out the winning partnership with Alagesan, who contributed 16 from 20 balls as the pair saw their side over the line with six overs to spare.

RESULT| MCU U17 Superleague 

We defeated Cork Harlequins by 9 wickets yesterday.

Cork Harlequins U17: 90 all out off 18.4 overs.

Robert McCutcheon 3-17

Arham Ullah 2-11

Abubakar Aziz 2-12

Limerick U17: 92-1 off 13.5 overs.

Yousaf Ramay 39*

Atharvan Alagesan 16*

With their place in the finals secured, changes were wrung for the U17’s final league encounter, with the opportunity offered to some younger players. The game took place at the Farm (UCC) with County winning the toss and electing to bat.

Arham Ullah was into the wickets early as he demolished the off-stump of opener Aherne in the powerplay at 9-1. Gude started to pile on the runs for the opponents, taking advantage of some loose deliveries, before Ravishankar broke the partnership for Limerick, a nicely flighted delivery which drew the batsman into a lofted shot straight to mid-on for 48-2. From that point onwards, it was one way traffic for the remainder of the innings as County set a target of 188.

Skipper Yousaf Ramay started brightly for the visitors, going at just a little over 100 strike rate, before being bowled for 20 off 16 balls, which saw three boundaries. Ramay’s side struggled to stay at the crease, with dismissals occurring at regular intervals. Vercoe and Chaudhry re-established things slightly, with both batsmen finding a couple of boundaries each to add some pride to their team’s total before their demise, as Limerick finished on 85 before their final wicket fell.

RESULT| MCU U17 Superleague 

We lost to Cork County by 102 runs today.

Cork County U17: 187-2 off 20 overs.

Arham Ullah 1-16

Arnav Ravishankar 1-25

Limerick U17: 85 all out off 14.4 overs.

Yousaf Ramay 20

Tom Vercoe 15

Limerick’s U15 side made the trip to the capital on Thursday morning to face Instonians in their all-ireland semi-final clash, a contest which saw Instonians use their experience to good measure, albeit a resilient and spirited Limerick performance. Coming from winning their Superleague in Munster, Limerick’s starting XI would be up against an Instonians side featuring three internationals. 

Skipper Ghufran Chaudhry won the toss and elected to bowl on the mat wicket at CIvil Service Cricket Club, Limerick lined out with three players from the U13 side and a number of players who will be underage to play in this competition once again next year. Instonians started strong, using the leg-side to their advantage in the power play to get them motoring, with the reprieve for the Shanonsiders arriving in the fifth over, with Chaudhry pitching a good-length delivery which was flicked to the deep-leg boundary, safely pouched by Yousaf Ramay for 62-1. The game got away from Limerick through the next partnership, with Agnew and Geddam putting on 55 runs which was followed by a 110-run partnership for the third wicket brought the first innings to a close on 227-2 after 20 overs.

Despite Ramay unfortunately picking out the cover fielder in the second over, there were some flashy shots from Abubakar Aziz, who really took the game to Instonians before his cameo of 15 from 10 balls was cut short. The top order weren’t able to get into their stride as 48-5 after 7 demonstrated a long way back for Limerick in their run chase. Nonetheless, the middle order continued to fight and added some pride to the jersey with contributions from wicketkeeper Shah (27 from 25, 3x4s, 1x6), Alagesan (33 from 35, 4x4s) and Ullah (20 from 24, 2x4s) all adding to a total which surpassed the 100-run mark with a bit to spare. Limerick finished 92 runs short of their target, but can be very proud of their attitude with the bat in second innings against a strong bowling attack.

RESULT| All-Ireland U15 Semi-final 

We lost to Instonians by 92 runs today.

Instonians U15: 227-2 off 20 overs.

Abubakar Aziz 1-40

Ghufran Chaudhry 1-21

Limerick U15: 135-6 off 20 overs.

Atharvan Alagesan 33*

Riyan Shah 27

Limerick’s U13 side suffered defeat in similar circumstances on Tuesday morning, traveling to Derry where they faced the challenge of Coleraine in their semi-final encounter. Faizan Chaudhry led the team out, featuring players as young as seven years old, and opted to bat first having won the toss.

Bharadwaj and Singh started steadily to see of the new ball, before Singh was retired and Bharadwaj was dismissed by McCracken in the sixth over. 18-2 became 36-3, with Alagesan and Khan forming a consolidated partnership, with Khan in particular able to rotate the strike nicely before Alagesan was bowled by Smith for 6 made from 22 deliveries. Khan incidentally was the star of the batting line-up, making 20 from 23 in a good knock with Chaudhry and George able to add runs at the back end of the innings which got their side up to 72 on the board.

The total was significantly less than needed, with Coleraine able to chase down the runs scored just after the halfway mark in their innings. Leg spinner Behroz Khan took Limerick’s only wicket of the Coleraine innings, enticing the batsmen into a cut shot off the back foot which he edged straight into the gloves of wicketkeeper Findlay Mayo.

RESULT| All-Ireland U13 Semi-final 

We lost to Coleraine by 9 wickets today.

Limerick U13: 72-5 off 19 overs.

Behroz Khan 20

Leon George 10*

Faizan Chaudhry 10

Coleraine U13: 77-1 off 9.4 overs.

Vishnu Rao 1-14

Rithwik Malu 0-7 

* * *

Next weekend sees three of Limerick’s senior sides in action with All-Ireland youth finals day afoot as well. The club’s U17 side, lead by Ayan Ullah, will travel to the Mardyke to face the challenge of Railway Union on Wednesday morning, with an 11.30am start time scheduled. The winner will face whoever comes out on top between Donemena vs NCU side in the final later that day. Next Saturday sees Limerick's 2nd XI take on County Kerry in Tralee, with Sunday forecasted with Limerick’s 1st XI away to Cork County and Limerick’s 3rd XI making the short trip to Ballyneety to take on Limerick Blasters.