With Limerick’s senior team out of action this weekend, attention turned to the 2nd XI who faced a tricky test away to a much-changed Cork Harlequins on Saturday afternoon in Farmer’s Cross.
Skipper Nishant Kumar won the toss and elected to bat with crisp, near-perfect conditions of play. He too would open alongside the returning Karthik Karur. Kumar moved through the gears in typical fashion with Karur anchoring from the other end. Once Kumar departed for 23, Limerick’s middle order struggled to build with Hussein (5), Ramy (6) and Borghare (12) going early at 74-6.
This became 108-6 with 15 overs to go former skipper Dharmesh Patel was bowled by youngster Magee but a much-needed stand of 71 from Venkatesh and Nagaraju gave the visitors a way back into the competition. High strike rates from both players allowed a late acceleration of runs but also wickets,when Venkatesh was caught out on 53, Quins were able to grab two late run outs as Limerick ended on 215-9, setting a target of 216.
There were some bright spells from Limerick with the ball during the Harlequins response, spinner Ajay Hari was summoned early and took the wickets of Jaitley and Kulkarni with pacer Ramoji Alla also picking up two from the other end as the duo worked in tandem. Kumar opted to continue with spin in the form of Sarfraz Ramay and Sumukh Venkatesh, with Ramay in particular causing a lot of damage with two maidens and three wickets in his team’s best spell. The home side however used their tail to their advantage as Limerick will rue some missed opportunities late on with a number of catches dropped at vital stages.
Despite Alla’s dismissal of Sajib in what became a tense finish, Quins managed to get over the line with just under four overs to spare.
RESULT| MCU Division One.
We lost to Cork Harlequins by 2 wickets today.
Limerick 2: 215-9 off 45 overs.
Sumukh Venkatesh 53
Vinaykumar Nagaraju 34*
Cork Harlequins 2: 216-8 off 41.1 overs.
Sarfraz Ramay 3-31
Ajay Hari 2-38
Ramoji Alla 2-38
* * *
The following day saw Limerick’s first Division 2 game of the season, returning skipper Waqas Mehmood had a number of changes from last year’s team with debutants in action, young and old, against Cork Harlequins on Sunday afternoon in Adare.
Limerick 3 vs Cork Harlequins: (Back row, l-r) Bharadwaj Mysore, Monish Pawar, Waqas Mehmood (Capt.), Darshan Dwarakanath, Shozab Ali Taj, Bharatkumar Dahima. (Front row, l-r) Neeraj Kumar, Muhammed Ammar, Sathya Prabu, Chinmay Shinde, Vinaykumar Nagaraju (wk).
Mehmood was happy to bat from winning the toss, Bharadwaj Mysore was again showing his worth as an opener with ‘run a ball’ 30 before being dismissed at 44-2.
The middle order woes continued across the board as the concession of wickets mounted every few overs and an uphill battle was in store once again at 98-6. Shozab Ali Taj reintroduced himself in fine fashion, and if his well-made half century was backed up by others around him, the hosts may have had an eye on 200+. Not to be however, and Mehmood & co. had to settle for 177.
Limerick struck in the seventh over through Dwarakanath who was again enjoying his time against opposition batsmen as he dismissed Jaitley for 9. Mehmood searched through Shinde, Prabu, Mysore and Ammar for breakthroughs but not enough to offer any detrimental effect. It was to be a 57-run partnership for the fifth wicket which allowed Cork Harlequins to comfortably reach their target of 178 in the end.
RESULT| MCU Division Two.
We lost to Cork Harlequins by 5 wickets yesterday.
Limerick 3: 177 all out off 39.4 overs.
Shozab Ali Taj 55
Bharadwaj Mysore 30
Cork Harlequins 3: 178-5 off 31.5 overs.
Darshan Dwarankanath 2-18
Bharadwaj Mysore 2-29
* * *
The club’s final game of the weekend saw the 4th XI back in action as they took on Nenagh at the Manor Fields on Monday afternoon. Limerick skipper Ramji Lakshmanan was unfortunate to lose the toss as he was put into field by the opposition.
Limerick 4 vs Nenagh: (Back row, l-r) Samantha Chiganmi, Sundar MK, Ashokkumar Jayaraman, Darshan Gopal, Jeevan Krishna, Param Kumar, Ganesh Kumar. (Front row, l-r) Ramjji Laksmanan (Capt.), Skandan Lakshmanan (wk), Riyan Shah.
Limerick struggled to stem the Nenagh partnerships as the visitors gathered momentum at key stages in the early exchanges. The visitors had surpassed the century mark before drinks and despite 139-2 turning into 154-5, the hosts had no answers to a late flurry from the tail as Nenagh made 221, setting a target of 222.
An early start was needed to keep pace with a high run rate of 5.55, unfortunately for Limerick the top order never really got going as wickets tumbled quickly. Ganesh Kumar offered some resilience with 32 from 49 balls in his debut season, nonetheless it was to only be a conciliation as the hosts found themselves 99 runs short of their target and all out for 122 halfway through the 27th over.
RESULT| MCU Division Three.
We lost to Nenagh by 99 runs today.
Nenagh 3: 221 all out off 37.3 overs.
Ashokkumar Jayaraman 3-30
Ganesh Kumar 2-21
Limerick 4: 122 all out off 27.3 overs.
Ganesh Kumar 32
Skandan Lakshmanan 16
* * *
The 1st XI will have more time to tease out their weaknesses with another bye week this weekend, however Limerick’s remaining three teams will all be in action. The 2nd XI will look to bounce back from their defeat to Quins with a home game against LImerick Blasters on Saturday. The 3rds and 4ths will be up against Nenagh and County Kerry respectively as they too will be looking to finally kick start their seasons with league victories.
