Limerick Cricket Club suffer defeat to Cork County in their final T20 game

LIMERICK ended a disappointing T20 league campaign with a significant defeat to Cork County at the Mardyke.

Captain Ajay Hari was forced into a few changes from last week’s starting team with Anvesh Bogavelly and Mirhamza Ahmedzai returning and a first start for both Kumar Divyesh, behind the sticks, and Waqas Shinwari. Temperatures soared to record numbers for the year as Limerick lost the toss and took to the field in the heat. 

The Shannonsiders did well to contain the hosts in the early exchanges with a run-rate of in and around 5 runs per over during the powerplay. Ahmedzai would pick up two wickets on first change after openers Shani Alam and Prasad Hegde did well with the new ball. County however, turned the screw in the middle overs and accelerated things to above 8 runs an over. Struggling to take any wickets, County took advantage of a well-made third wicket partnership to push their total above the 200-mark, Limerick needing 215 to win in the chase.

With a big total on the cards, Limerick’s attempts of early momentum were short lived Wickets started to tumble with very little-counter attack and the away side started to fall out of the contest as the game progressed. Nonetheless, Limerick’s tail batted out the overs to salvage as much pride as possible but County were too strong on the day, and would clinch the victory with over 100 runs to spare.  

MCU Premier T20 League – Limerick lost to Cork County by 105 runs. 

Cork County 1: 214-4 off 20 overs – Mirhamza Ahmedzai 3-30 and Sarfraz Ramay 1-30  

Limerick 1: 109-9 off 20 overs – Pavan Prajapati 24 and Asif Hussein 14.

Saturday was a better turn of events for Limerick Cricket Club as the 2nd XI, led by Nishant Kumar, took a narrow victory home from Tralee after a hard-fought battle against County Kerry at the Oyster Oval. 

Having won the toss and electing to bat, Limerick fancied their chances of a high total with a tall batting order making up the bones of the starting team. Sourabh Teke returned to some good form with a solid 34 from 41. He would set the foundations for the middle order to progress as Limerick turned 75-4 into 201-7, with helpful contributions from Nishant Kumar (44) and Anvesh Bogavelly (23). Most notably however, was Sarfraz Ramay’s 63 from just 48 deliveries, including 6 x 4s and 3 x 6s, whose match-winning knock added some real power to the team’s innings. Limerick set the hosts with a target of 210, setting up the second half of the contest to be an entertaining affair.

Ramoji Alla marked his return to the side with three crucial wickets at key intervals during the Kerry innings, making the Indian the pick of the bowlers. However, vital contributions from Sathya Prabhu and Ayan Ullah, both taking two wickets a piece, put an end to some potential partnerships. Kerry’s innings took a similar shape to Limerick’s with the middle order making up some real ground. At 157-8, Limerick looked to be home and hosed before two late partnerships got Kerry within touching distance. Ullah would be the hero taking the final two wickets and holding his nerve as Limerick won the game by a margin of just nine runs.

MCU Division One – Limerick defeated County Kerry by 13 runs on Saturday. 

Limerick 2: 209 all out off 39 overs – Sarfraz Ramay 63 and Nishant Kumar 44

County Kerry 2: 196 all out off 34.1 overs – Ramoji Alla 3-50 and Ayan Ullah 2-7

Another tightly contested affair was in store for Limerick’s 3rd XI as they made the short trip to Clonmel on Sunday afternoon, looking to get their league campaign back up and running after a mixed start to the season.

Bharadwaj Mysore continued his form with the bat, carving a patient 24 runs from 32 deliveries before being dismissed just after the tenth over. With the score then at 45-1, Limerick may be somewhat disappointed to set a target of just 166, but there was some impressive shots from Ayan Ullah (24), Abdul Baqi Khan (19*) and Chandra Sekaran (20*) at different stages to still set a very defendable total. 

Limerick were dominant with the ball, and despite allowing Clonmel to get the better of them during the powerplay, their bowlers fought back well with 35-0 turning into 66-5 as the advantage went back in the visitor’s favour. Clonmel never gave up on the chase and some late runs down the order kept them in the contest right until the final over. With an ever-increasing run-rate however, the Shannonsiders can thank some economical bowling to compliment others who chipped in with wickets. Skipper Waqas Mehmood lead from the front in this regard, taking three dismissals as Clonmel ended up all out with 156 on the scoreboard. 

MCU Division Two – Limerick defeated United Cricket Clonmel by 9 runs. 

Limerick 3: 165-7 off 40 overs – Bharadwaj Mysore 27 and Ayan Ullah 20

United Cricket Clonmel 1: 156 all out off 38.1 overs – Waqas Mehmood 3-25 and Chandra Sekaran 2-18

Limerick’s 4th XI faced a tough contest from visitor’s County Kerry on Saturday afternoon in Adare. A strong outfit decided to bat first and put on a lot of early pressure on Limerick’s bowling. Despite chipping away with wickets at irregular intervals, Kerry had a long batting order who took control in the latter stages to set the home side a significant total of 234 to chase. 

It wasn’t to be for Limerick in the batting department that day, despite some players making starts it was too much to push on for a lot of players who were just making their debut season with the club. Limerick managed to put just 87 runs on the board before being bowled out in the 19th over. 

MCU Division Three – Limerick lost to County Kerry by 146 runs on Saturday.

County Kerry 4: 233-6 off 40 overs – Deepak Nagaraju 1-24 and Shubham Mehta 1-25

Limerick 4: 87 all out off 19 overs – Ramji Lakshmanan 12 and Shubham Mehta 10

A quiet weekend on many fronts for the club next weekend with just the 2nd XI in action, but some of the club’s youth teams will be returning to action with the U15s in action on Sunday in their first 30 over game of the season. The 2nd XI will look to continue their run of form as they take on County Clare in Adare on Saturday afternoon, with the visitor’s taking confidence from defeating title favourites Limerick Blasters three wickets last weekend.