Limerick were able to see off the challenge of County Galway yesterday in a testing opening round fixture in the ARachas National Cup which took place at the Manor Fields in Adare. After a tremendous performance was spoiled last week by the weather, the Shannonsiders were searching for a repeat of fortunes as they welcomed the Tribesmen to Limerick for the first time this year.

Limerick 1st team vs County Galway: (Back row, l-r) Prasad Hegde, Tim Smithies, Yogesh Borghare, Mosawar Sidiqi, Mirhamza Ahmedzai, Arslan Sayyam, Shani Alam. (Front row, l-r) Sarfraz Ramay, Ajay Hari, Stephen Hackett (Team Manager), Arslan Anwar (Capt.), Asif Hussein, Sumukh Venkatesh (wk).

Limerick were put into field as the searing heat transcended, and although it was Galway who started the better, Limerick struck back with opening bowler Prasad Hegde taking consecutive wickets during his opening spell. He was soon joined by Mirhmaza Ahmedzai, a bowling partnership which is becoming quite fruitful at both junior and senior level. The afghani youngster was in the thick of the action as he broke into the middle order with an LBW followed by a sharp run out as Galway lost their fifth. Limerick really piled on the pressure with the ball after drinks with seldom boundaries accrued, the away side could only muster 156 with other bowlers Shani Alam, Arslan Anwar and Asif Hussein all chipping in with wickets.

LCC Openers Yogesh Borghare and Arslan Sayyam prepare to face at the start of the innings.

Limerick knew a solid run-rate of four runs an over would be enough to get them over the line but early pressure meant Limerick were 30-2 and needed to construct a partnership. The trusted duo of Anwar and Smithies were once again in decent form, taking the sting out of the attack and getting LImerick over the 100-run mark with plenty of batting still to come. Despite losing both to close LBWs, the middle order, namely Sumukh Venkatesh and Sarfraz Ramay, were able to close out the game by a margin of four wickets.

Arslan Sayyam cuts over deep-backward point

RESULT| Arachas National Cup.

We defeated County Galway by 4 wickets yesterday.

County Galway 1: 156 all out off 33.5 overs.

Mirhamza Ahmedzai 3-39

Shani Alam 2-25

Limerick 1: 159-6 off 36.5 overs.

Tim Smithies 50

Arslan Anwar 24

* * *

The results kept coming for Limerick over the weekend, Saturday’s action saw both the 2nd and 4th XI in T20 encounters.

Having already qualified for the knockout stages, Limerick were looking to seal top spot in Group B against County Kerry with the game taking place in the neutral venue of Ballyeighan. Skipper Sumukh Venkatesh used the game to give opportunities to some emerging players, one of which was Karthik Karur who put his name in the mix for the finals day with a well-made 47, anchoring the innings as others chipped in.

Limerick 2nd team vs County Kerry: (Back row, l-r) Ajay Hari, Ramoji Alla, Stephen Hackett, Nishant Kumar, Mosawar Sidiqi, Karthik Karur. (Front row, l-r) Prasad Hegde, Shaoib Zazai, Manoj Sharma, Sathya Prabhu, Sumukh Venkatesh (Capt. + wk), Sourabh Teke.

Although not an insurmountable total by any stretch of the imagination, Limerick’s bowling quickly quenched any chances of an expected run chase. As Kerry struggled to establish any meaningful partnerships, they too were faced with a sturdy fielding performance from the away side with very few drops and misfields to take advantage of, a key aspect of the T20 format.

A late rally from Kerry’s tail wasn’t enough and Limerick were deserved winners by 24 runs.

RESULT| MCU Junior T20 Group B.

We defeated County Kerry by 24 runs today.

Limerick 2: 144 all out off 19.5 overs.

Karthik Karur 47

Sourabh Teke 25

County Kerry 2: 120 all out off 18.3 overs.

Prasad Hegde 3-20

Ramoji Alla 3-29

* * *

It was a simple ‘do or die’ scenario for the 4th XI against United Cricket Clonmel on Saturday afternoon, the first of two T20s in Adare that day with only the winner progressing the semi-finals next weekend.

Despite only reaching 120 batting first, Limerick amazingly came back with some brilliant spells of bowling, most notably from stand-in captain Siva Gujjula and Christian Matthew. As the game ebbed and flowed, it was anyone’s contest in the final few overs as both teams missed chances to snatch victory. Wali Safi came back into the attack to bowl the final over in which the away side needed 12 runs to win, but Safi held his nerve to concede just 9 runs resulting in a Limerick victory by the smallest of margins.

Limerick 4th team vs United Cricket Clonmel: (Back row, l-r) Ashkay Kudva, Irfan Solazai, Alan McCutcheon (wk), Siva Gujjula (Capt.), Niamat Khan, Wali Safi, Laxman Prasad. (Front row, l-r) Olid Mia, Waqas Mehmood, Nikul Kevadiya, Christian Matthew, Naveed Zazai.

RESULT| MCU Division Three T20 Cup Group B .

We defeated United Cricket Clonmel by 2 runs yesterday.

Limerick 4: 120-9 off 20 overs.

Laxman Prasad 30

Mohammed Fawwad 18

United Cricket Clonmel 2: 118-7 off 20 overs.

Siva Gujjula 4-17

Christian Matthew 2-10

RESULT| MCU Division Three T20 Cup Group B .

We defeated County Kerry by 35 runs yesterday.

Limerick 4: 183-9 off 20 overs.

Christian Matthew 78

Nikul Kevadiya 33

County Kerry 4: 148-8 off 20 overs.

Olid Mia 3-7

Nikul Kevadiya 2-7

* * *

Next weekend sees another jam-packed weekend of action with our 4ths and 2nds competing in the finals of their divisional T20 competitions. Our 2nd XI will take on Midleton in the semi finals on the bank holiday Monday as they go in search of their first Junior T20 title since 2020, whilst the fourths travel to Clonmel for their finals day which will start off against Lismore 2nds at 10.30am.

The main event of the weekend however will take place on Sunday as Limerick look to avenge last year’s loss to Cregagh as they once again go head to head with the Belfast outfit at the Manor Fields with an expected start time of 1pm. A win would see Limerick progress to the quarter-finals of the competition.