Limerick’s 1st XI were met with two crucial games over the weekend with the squad in both T20 and limited-overs action. The first of the two games came on Friday evening with the visit of Kerry to the Manor Fields where both sides were looking to kick on their T20 league campaigns.

Having won the toss, skipper Prasad Hegde opted to bowl with expected rain during the second innings. The Shannonsiders got the upper hand early on with Ramoji Alla finding the off-stump with a full-length yorker which had the batsman all ends up. Hegde joined the party when a short pitched delivery was gloved through to wicketkeeper Vinaykumar Nagaraju for the team’s second.

Some contributions from the middle swayed the game back in Kerry’s favour but Limerick’s bowling continued to be savvy, manipulating the batsmen into some skyward shots which were easily pouched in the infield. A late surge however got the away side up to a score of 130 from their 20 overs with the outfield drying slightly for the second innings. 

Despite a decent start, the loss of Kumar, Borghare and Bogavelly inside the eight over meant the majority of runs needed to come from the middle and late batting order. Limerick were deceived into playing shots which resulted in only half shots, with a number of catches being taken on the leg side as 39-3 was 72-7 just seven overs later. Limerick tried to make big shots turn the scoreboard for them but continued to lose wickets and with just three overs and over 50 runs needed, Kerry won the game on DLS as incessant rain forced umpires Declan Earley and James Spencer to call a halt to the second innings as the visitors ran out comfortable winners in the end.

RESULT| MCU Premier T20 League.

We lost to County Kerry by 39 runs yesterday. (DLS)

County Kerry 1: 130-7 off 20 overs.

Ramoji Alla 2-22

Prasad Hegde 2-27

Limerick 1: 80-8 off 17 overs.

Usman Khan 20

Sourabh Teke 18

Limerick had an immediate chance to bounce back from Friday’s defeat with the trip to Lydican, Galway on Sunday afternoon in a 50-over contest. Limerick had a number of changes to make with the squad not at full availability. 

To that end, spin was opted with the new ball as leg-break bowler Parth Borghare was given an opening spell with his skipper Hegde taking matters from the opposite end. Borghare took the wickets of Nasim and Giohes but a strong third-wicket partnership between Mishra and Singh brought Galway well above the 100-run mark. Whilst first change bowlers Hari, Bogavelly and Prabu chipped in with one a piece for the visitors, the hosts faired better after drinks and steered their way past 200 to set a target of 236 to win. 

Limerick were short of quality in response- early wickets for the Tribesmen gave Limerick a tough mountain to climb which couldn’t be done. The middle order had a handful of starts but weren’t able to convert into significant scores with Manoj Sharma top-scoring with 18 from 42 balls. 

RESULT| MCU Premier Division.

We lost to County Galway by 158 runs yesterday.

County Galway 1: 235-8 off 50 overs.

Parth Borghare 3-60

Prasad Hegde 2-47

Limerick 1: 77 all out off 32.3 overs.

Manoj Sharma 18

Nishant Kumar 14

                                           * * *

It was a disappointing weekend for the 2nd XI also who had high hopes of bringing back the Junior T20 Cup on Saturday from Farmer’s Cross in Cork. Waqas Mehmood and co. were denied this chance with defeat to Cork Harlequins in the semi-final by a margin of 54 runs. The skipper elected to bowl after winning the pre-match toss. 

Neeraj Kumar, making his debut for the 2nd XI, took on the challenge of the new ball in style, his opening spell of 1-13 from 4 overs was economically damaging for the batting side early on. Quins got back into the game and crucially put on 66 runs between the fifth and tenth overs to accelerate things in their favour. Both Mehmood and Malik battled heard to earn themselves three wickets a piece which stemmed the momentum at times but ultimately still lead to a decent total of 157 from 20 overs. 

Early momentum did not come Limerick’s way in response, with the top 5 only making 8 runs between them, it was curtains before they could even get into it. It was a sad end to heatedly contested affair with Limerick just batting for pride from the halfway point onwards. They managed to reduce the deficit to 54 runs by the end of the game and a spirited performance was brought to an eventual end on 103-8.

RESULT| MCU Division One T20 Cup.

We lost to Cork Harlequins by 54 runs today.

Cork Harlequins 2: 157-9 off 20 overs.

Mohit Malik 3-27

Waqas Mehmood 3-33

Limerick 2: 103-8 off 20 overs.

Mohit Malik 29*

Waqas Mehmood 25

                                           * * *

All four teams will be back in action this weekend with games on Friday evening straight through to Sunday. The 1st XI will continue their T20 league campaign as they return to Lydican on Friday evening to face County Galway. The 2nd and 3rd XIs will both face off against Nenagh on Saturday and Sunday respectively. The 4th XI return to Adare where they will take on Cork County on Saturday, with action from the Manor Fields expected to start at 11am.