A brilliant anchoring innings by Sumukh Venkatesh in the middle order provided his counterparts with a licence to play.
With both 1st and 2nd XI taking respective breaks, attention turned to Limerick’s 3rd cricket team where some exciting T20 action was eagerly anticipated last weekend.
Off the back of a narrow defeat at the hands of Clare CC last weekend, Limerick had ample opportunity to bounce back with a double-header against Nenagh and Clonmel respectively.
Knowing nothing less than two wins from two would guarantee their spot in the finals day, Nenagh posed the first challenge, fresh off enjoying a 7-run win against the Limerick Blasters.
With the game reduced to 15 overs due to persistent rain, economical bowling was key to limiting the opposition. Dwarakanath and Bogavelly kept things tight with Nenagh struggling to gain momentum, complimented by a tight fielding display and good captaincy from Waqas Mehmood. Setting a target of 103 from 15 overs was no easy feat for Limerick with the bat, with a required rate of just under 7 runs per over.
Limerick made inroads into the target and, despite the loss of wickets, kept up with the run rate as they neared closer to victory. A brilliant anchoring innings by Sumukh Venkatesh in the middle order provided his counterparts with a licence to play. Needing 21 off the final two overs, Limerick had to pull it out of the bag and some brilliant running between the wickets was topped off with a six from the penultimate ball of the game to secure victory.
RESULT| MCU Division Two T20 Cup
Limerick defeated Nenagh by 5 wickets.
Nenagh 2: 102-6 off 15 overs.
Darshan Dwarakanath 1-11
Chandra Sekeran 1-18
Abdul Baqi Khan 1-18
Limerick 3: 103-5 off 14.5 overs.
Sumukh Venkatesh 38*
Kumar Divyesh 14
Fortunes were not to be in the second encounter, with Limerick looking fatigued from their previous game. Electing to bat first on this occasion, forging any sort of partnership proved difficult as wickets tumbled with the Shannonsiders up against it.
Another anchoring innings from Venkatesh gave something for the bowlers to defend with a target of just 88 on the board for Clonmel to chase.
Nonetheless, Limerick showed great belief to defend what they had and Clonmel found themselves up against it.
Limiting the boundaries and forcing the mistakes, Clonmel had it all to do when the capitulation of their top order left the score on 22-3 after 4 overs. The game really ebbed and flowed with both teams chipping away at their columns.
A very tense finish was in store with Clonmel losing their ninth wicket on 83-9, requiring just five runs to win. The game went down to the last over, and indeed the last ball. With the scores tied, a single off the final delivery meant Clonmel edged the game by just one wicket in another very entertaining finish.
RESULT| MCU Division Two T20 Cup
Limerick lost to United Cricket Clonmel by 1 wicket.
Limerick 3: 86 all out off 19.5 overs.
Sumukh Venkatesh 43*
United Cricket Clonmel 1: 87-9 off 20 overs.
Anvesh Bogavelly 3-13
Waqas Mehmood 2-15
Weather unfortunately proved to be the winner for the 4th XI on Saturday afternoon where skipper Ramji Lakshmanan was looking to get his side back to winning ways after suffering defeat to Cork Harlequins in their last game.
Both captains agreed to reduce the game to 20 overs to try get a match in, and despite Limerick being able to bat out their allocation, Clare were unable to complete their own as a ‘No Result’ was agreed by both skippers in the later parts of the afternoon.
RESULT| MCU Division Three
Match abandoned- no result.
Limerick 4: 138-8 off 20 overs.
Muhammed Ammar 23
Siva Gujjula 17
County Clare 3: 77-2 after 13.3 overs.
Chandra Sekeran 1-9
Ramji Lakshmanan 1-14
The T20s look set to continue next weekend with the 1st XI kicking off their campaign with a double-header at home on Sunday, taking on both Midleton and Cork Harlequins. The 2nd XI have qualified for their finals day which will take place on Saturday in Ballyneety, they will learn their destiny with the finals games of both pools being played midweek. Finally, the 4ths will have home T20s against Cork County on Saturday afternoon also.
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