Limerick suffered their third T20 loss on the trot on Friday night at the hands of County Galway.
Looking to bounce back after losing both games in last week’s double-header, captain Ajay Hari travelled to Lycidan with a mix of experience as well as youth.
Having lost the toss, Ajay’s team were put in to field and restrict the opposition to a low total.
Galway’s openers found early boundaries and started to put some really pressure on the fielding side. Early momentum turned into complete carnage as Galway pushed their run rate above 13 runs an over with Limerick having no answers to some real power hitting.
It would only be at the end of the 19th over, with seven balls remaining, that Limerick made the break through. Too little, too late, however, as Galway pushed past the 200-run mark, challenging the visitors to go at in and around 10 runs an over.
Despite some momentum from Limerick’s top order, there was a struggle to maintain this from start to finish, While there was reason to be optimistic at 58-2 at the end of the fifth over, Galway fought back into the game and strangled Limerick with frequent wickets.
A valiant effort nonetheless, finishing on a total of 137 all out and Galway taking victory 67 runs. Arslan Anwar and Sarfraz Ramay with top scored in the reply with 26 and 22 runs each.
Limerick’s 4th XI were also in T20 action last weekend, they travelled to Farmer’s Cross to face a Cork Harlequins side who were going well in all formats.
Captain Ramji Laksmanan was still looking to get his first win as skipper with several match-winners in his playing XI. In a similar turn of events to Friday, Limerick lost the toss and couldn’t find any breakthroughs.
Nonetheless, Quins would finish on a total of 163-0 at the end of their 20 overs. Despite not taking any wickets, Limerick had an achievable total in their sights with the bat.
Ayan Ullah stepped up with a well-made 39 before being eventually dismissed and despite some decent boundary hitting by the in-form Bhargav Kumar in the middle order, Limerick found themselves up and against it and finished just a little over 40 runs short in the end.
With two losses for the club recorded before Saturday afternoon, attention turned to the women’s side who were in action in Midleton on Saturday afternoon.
In two tightly-contested affairs, Limerick travelled home with a narrow defeat to Cork County and a tie against County Galway.
The Limerick top order of Katy Hewison and Holly Westmoreland provided a steady partnership in both games, with Westmoreland in particular playing to her strengths with some delicate boundaries through the infield.
The two compiled a stunning seven 4’s in just under 6 overs to get Limerick to 52-2 off their 10 overs. Despite being defeated by 7 wickets, Limerick pushed County to the final over where only then would County chase down the total.
Sana George continued her fine form with the ball, picking up two wickets in the second game against Galway to being her tally to three wickets for the year and keeping her at the top of the bowling records.
She was complimented by Saadia Mahmood who took a wicket in each game, dismissing the opposition openers on both occasion.
It was a dramatic finish with Galway needing 11 to win off the last over, Holly Westmoreland stepped up to keep her cool, conceding just ten runs and having the composure to take a run out, ensuring her team did not lose the game.
Limerick had just one game on the youth front this weekend, with the U13 side entertaining Cork County in Adare. The youth side had impressed so far and were looking to continue their unbeaten run to the start of their season.
Despite losing the toss and being put in to bat, this did not phase the top order who were getting into their work nice and early.
The run out of Behroz Khan saw skipper Yousaf Ramay to the crease who took matters into his own hands instantly. A composed 41 off 25 deliveries (including an impressive nine 4s) set a really good foundation for the middle order who were able to dually capitalise.
Contributions from Robert McCutcheon (18), Ghufran Chaudhry (15) and Faizan Chaudhry (15) propelled the home side deep into high score territory. Batting out the 20 overs meant Limerick took advantage of 68 extras on the scorecard and finished on 188-5 from their 20 overs.
Limerick faced some quality batting at the start of the innings with County forging significant partnerships for the first and second wicket to give themselves a shot.
At 47-1, the game was firmly in the balance before the Shannonsiders took back control. Some tight overs from Arham Ullah and Apoorvan Alagesan brought no wickets but created pressure in the middle where mistakes were realised.
Atharvan Alagesan and Vishnu Rao were the beneficiaries on this occasion as Limerick restricted Cork County to 113 and running out eventual winners 75 runs.
The U13’s will hope to bring their form into next weekend where they face both Cork County and Cork Harlequins in all-Ireland qualifiers on Saturday afternoon.
Limerick will take on Cork County at the early start time of 9.30am before facing Cork Harlequins at 1.30pm.
Three of Limerick’s four adult teams will take to the field next weekend, T20 action once again for the 1st XI who will look to salvage something from their double header against County Kerry and UCC respectively on Sunday afternoon.
The 2nd XI will return to the limited overs format, taking on Midleton away on Sunday and the 3rd XI will take on Limerick Blasters at home on Sunday afternoon.
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