Dundalk Cricket 1 reach cup final, Thirds keep winning

Sat 25 Jul – T20 Junior Cup (Semi Final)

Rush 3: 86/9 (20 ov) Pedersen 29, Adarsh 3-16

Dundalk 1: 90/2 (10.2 ov) Yash 59*, Jones 1-1

Dundalk won by 8 wickets

Sun 26 Jul – Division 17A

Swords 6: 201 (37.3 ov) Janak 68, Prashant 4-28

Dundalk 3: 202/6 (36.4 ov) Prashant 85, Ratheesh 2-28

Dundalk won by 4 wickets

Sat 1 Aug – Division 17A

Balbriggan 5: 218/8 (40 ov) Bhavesh 60, Pranay 3-35

Dundalk 3: 220/6 (37.5 ov) Vikrant 46, Abdul 2-19

Dundalk won by 4 wickets

Sun 2 Aug – Division 11

Clontarf 4: 205/6 (40 ov) Shafqat 90, Sanju Baby 3-31

Dundalk 1: 169 (38.2 ov) Shakeel 50*, Onel 3-36

Clontarf won by 36 runs

Dundalk Cricket Club picked up three wins from four in the last fortnight, including an important win for the Firsts who have reached their second T20 cup final in a row in style.

Hosting Rush in the Junior Cup semi-final, Dundalk captain Syed Ibnan won the toss and put the visitors in to bat.

This proved a good call as wickets fell early, with Rush openers William Walsh and Evan Mitchell both dismissed in single figures with the score at 16 for 2.

Women’s First Team batters Cate Pedersen and Subramanya Ramnathpur provided some middle order resistance with a 48-run partnership, but Dundalk’s bowling proved too strong as Rush were limited to just 86 for 9 at the break.

Yash Verma and Sakhi Jan made light work of the chase, with the former hitting his sixth 50 of the season to end up 59 not out as Dundalk booked their place in the August 29th final with eight wickets to spare.

Team 3 have also been solid chasers of late, reaching two 200-plus targets in seven days for victories over Swords at home and Balbriggan away respectively.

Prashant Nair was the difference maker at Hiney Park on the 26th, claiming a 4-wicket haul before hitting a career-best 85 off 74 balls to close out Dundalk’s July with one of the most memorable individual performances of the summer so far.

The following Saturday at the Jack Harper Ground was a true team effort, the town fielding well in the first innings with many solid bowling contributions before Pauric McCrum (45), Vikrant Verukhia (46) and Kapil Paija Pun (43) all showed good touch with the bat en route to a 4-wicket win.

On the 2nd, the firsts were back in action at the scenic Castle Avenue in Clontarf for a 40-over league game. Having limited the hosts to 205 despite an impressive 90 runs from Clontarf’s Shafqat Ayub, Dundalk would’ve fancied their chances of a victory after the break.

Clontarf bowled well and took their catches in the second innings however, and the visitors fell 36 short despite excellent batting displays from hard-hitting Mohammad Emran at 7 (41 off 41 balls) and the ever-reliable Shakeel Qamar at number 2, who made a 50 and saw out the whole innings to carry his bat.

Next weekend’s league fixtures: Swords 2 v Dundalk 1 (Division 11, Sun 16 Aug, away), Dundalk 3 v Balbriggan 5 (Division 17A, Sun 16 Aug, home).

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