Mixed luck for Limerick Cricket Club teams in league action

LIMERICK Cricket Club's 1st XI were looking to bounce back from defeat to Cork Harlequins in the Premier League where they entertained County Galway at the Manor Fields in Adare on Saturday.

Limerick captain Prasad Hegde, coming into the game with some impressive form with both bat and ball, was unsuccessful with the toss and was put into field.

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The hosts had to wait until the 13th over to strike first, with Parth Borghare taking the wicket of former player Swaroop Burra. The next over brought more good fortune, with Hari dismissing Glohes to leave the score at 34-2 before Galway took control.

Back-to-back 50+ stands for the third and fourth wicket brought them into a strong position with another former player, Murtaza Sidiqi, proving a thorn.

Nonetheless, the Shannonsiders recovered well after Sidiqi’s dismissal, taking the final five wickets at the expense of just 30 runs with some tight spells in the latter overs bowled from Alla, Hegde, Borghare and Hari with the visitors finishing on 183 all out.

Limerick struggled to get going in reply, losing five wickets in the space of ten overs with opener Karthik Karur’s dismissal for 25 resulting in the scoreboard reading 59-5 and leaving a mountain to climb for the tail.

Hegde lead by example with a smashing knock however; coming in to bat in the 19th over, Hegde didn’t just maximise his time at the crease but also on the scoreboard with a stunning 78*, including a mammoth 8 6s, as the game swayed back in the home side’s favour.

A 64-run stand between the skipper and Nagaraju got the score above the 150 mark, but Limerick lost three wickets in four overs with the remainder of the tail unable to withstand the Galway seamers who were reintroduced in timely fashion.

RESULT| MCU Premier Division

Limerick Cricket Club lost to County Galway by 23 runs

County Galway 1: 183 all out off 49.5 overs.
Ajay Hari 4-35
Ramoji Alla 2-15

Limerick 1: 160 all out off 38.2 overs.
Prasad Hegde 78*
Karthik Karur 25

LIMERICK Cricket Club's 3rd XI were looking to close out another league victory on Sunday afternoon to keep their title hopes alive in Division Two as they welcomed Cork County to Adare in a crucial encounter.

In the absence of Sathya Prabu, step-in captain Vinaykumar Nagaraju’s first task was to devise a bowling plan after he too was put into field on the decision of the toss.

Nagaraju spread the bowling attack during the opening exchanges which paid dividends, using four different bowlers who all chipped in with key wickets. Both Borghare and Shinde were on target with Krishna taking the first of his treble at 53-3, which was soon followed by Waqar Ahmed’s castling of McNamara to ensure no early partnerships developed.

The momentum continued with youngster Ullah and Aziz getting dismissals in the middle order before Krishna and Shinde wrapped up the tail with County only just surpassing the 100-run mark.

What seemed to be an attainable target became a challenge, as Limerick went from 48-8 to 77-8 as the game was brought back into contention with a little over ten overs to go.

The hosts can be thankful of Prajapati’s stern knock of 23 from 52 opening the batting, whose time at the crease proved crucial in giving the eight wicket partnership just 28 runs. A tense finish was closed out by Limerick, with Sundar MK (20*) and Waqar Ahmed (11*) holding firm to clinch a two-wicket victory.

RESULT| MCU Division Two

Limerick Cricket Club defeated Cork County by 2 wickets

Cork County 3: 104 all out off 32 overs.
Jeevan Krishna 3-14
Waqar Ahmed 1-13

Limerick 3: 108-8 off 35.2 overs.
Pavan Prajapati 23
Sundar MK 20*

LIMERICK Cricket Club's 4th XI rounded off the weekend with defeat to the hands of Clare in Shannon on Saturday. Falling perhaps a handful of runs short with the bat, a brilliant 72 from 79 (7x4s, 2x6s) from Yash Srivastava showed resilience despite an unfortunate collapse of wickets around him.

A stand of 55 between himself and Ammar, who added 16 from 23 batting at 7, got the visitors up to 166 from 30.3 overs, setting a target of 167.

Clare had a nervy start to their innings, losing both openers in the first two overs as Gopal and Ramay bowled some wonderful spells with the new ball.

Ramay continued to bowl some unplayable deliveries, taking the wickets of Wariach and Rehman also, and finishing with the best bowling figures for his side. Clare proved however too dogged with the bat ultimately, reaching their target with seven or so overs to spare to give them the win.

RESULT| MCU Division Three

Limerick Cricket Club lost to County Clare by 5 wickets

Limerick 4: 166 all out off 30.3 overs.
Yash Srivastava 72
Muhammad Ammar 16

County Clare 3: 172-6 off 32.4 overs.
Yousaf Ramay 3-25
Darshan Gopal 2-22

AS THE season heads to a close, Limerick Cricket Club look ahead to two games next weekend with both the 1st and 3rd XI in action.

The thirds will host Limerick Blasters in Adare on Saturday afternoon with a win putting them closer to a title challenge, whilst the firsts look to right the wrongs of Saturday’s defeat when they’ll try to a league double over County Kerry at the Manor Fields on Sunday.

Limerick 3rd XI vs Cork County: Ramji Lakshmanan (coach), Ayan Ullah, Waqar Ahmed, Parth Borghare, Pavan Prajapati, Sundar MK, Deepak Nagaraju, Jeevan Krishna, Vinaykumar Nagaraju (Capt.), Skandan Lakshmanan (wk), Abubakar Aziz, Chinmay Shinde.

Limerick 4th XI vs Clare: Yash Srivastava, Sundar MK, Bhargav Kumar, Darshan Gopal, Shravan Chandra, Muhammed Ammar, Shayan Malik, Skandan Lakshmanan (wk), Monish Pawar, Robert McCutcheon, Yousaf Ramay, Riyan Shah, Ramji Lakshmanan (Capt.).