Limerick Cricket Club’s final curse was once again present on Monday when they finished runners up to Cork Harlequins in their Minor Cup Final contest.
It was another episode of the batting woes for the Shannonsiders as they slumped from 52-2 to 82 all out in what ended up being a comfortable victory for Quins.
LCC captain Ajay Hari won the toss and elected to bat on what was a drying pitch after some light rainfall in Cork earlier that day.
Limerick started the brighter with 50 up on the board at the turn of the tenth over with just the loss of two wickets. However the falling of wickets seemed to become all too much of a procession from that point onwards.
Stephen Hackett would depart on 23 and Limerick’s batsmen couldn’t get out of single figure scores from that point forward.
Quins bowled the balls in some good areas and tightening the screw on Limerick’s middle order. With Limerick’s tail unable to offer anything further, the away side found themselves all out on 82.
Quins knew time was on their side and were patient with the new ball, controlling the innings from the get go. However, Limerick were able to stunt the home side’s momentum after tea.
Signs of an unbelievable comeback were starting to make headway as Limerick pulled it back to 48-4 and had Quins slightly rattled. But it wasn’t to be for Limerick as Quins scratched their way to their target on their fifth wicket despite the valiant effort of the Limerick bowlers.
There was however some positive signs for Limerick to take away from the weekend as club veteran Stephen Hackett brought up his maiden ton for the club on Saturday in Adare.
Hackett hit 15 4’s and 4 6’s on his way to his first century for LCC as he finished his innings on 116. Hackett didn’t just put himself on the Honours Board for that.
His opening stand with Jaitin Jaitley (46) surpassed a previous club record as the two put on 197 for the first wicket in just under 30 overs as Limerick finished on 273-6 from their 40 overs.
Limerick put away the opposition with the ball as they minimized Quins to 140 all out, John Daly picking up 3-18 from his 5 overs. The win puts Limerick 30 points clear at the top of Division 3, only needing one win from their last two league games to secure and regain the league title.
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