It was a day to remember for youngsters Kyle Tierney and Jamel Saya in their debut season in adult cricket as the two made a 79 run partnership for the sixth wicket to grab the unlikeliest of victories away to table-toppers Midleton on Sunday.
The win gives Limerick Cricket Club (LCC) an outside chance of clinching the minor league if they can avoid defeat in the remainder of their league matches as the business end of the season begins to unravel.
Limerick lost the toss and were put into field by the home side at Midleton RFC, Ribu Varghese took the opening wicket with the new ball giving the away side something to cheer about.
In form spinner Abdul Baqi Khan came on before drinks to pick up a handful and put the home side in a deep hole at 57-7 after 20 overs.
However, Midleton dug deep and were able to find the boundary with some ariel shots over the outfield.
Limerick took their 6th when keeper Stephen Hackett collected a wide which he then threw in to inadvertently stump the batsman who was daydreaming out of his ground.
Midleton fought hard and continued to keep the scoreboard ticking over and ended up pushing the target to 192 from 32 overs setting Limerick 193 to win.
Openers Jaitin Jaitley and Stephen Hackett did well to see off the new ball, but their partnership was broken at the 11th over when Hackett tried to pull towards deep square to a straight delivery.
JJ soon followed his fellow opener into the pavilion and Limerick were stuck in a rut at drinks on 66-4.
Captain Ajay Hari came to the crease and added a vital 22 runs to his team’s chase. He put on a decent partnership with Jamal Saya to bring the Shannonsiders to 112-5 when former youth player Kyle Tierney came to the crease with 81 needed off just 69 balls.
Midleton played into the batsman’s hands by giving away plenty of extras in the closing overs, but credit where credit is due to the two boys fought hard to keep going at the required run rate and revert the pressure back on to the fielding side.
A tremendous effort in the final sive overs saw Limerick chase down the total with just 10 balls and four wickets to spare, Jamal Saya hitting the winning runs over long on to complete a brilliant victory for Limerick in just his second game for the club.
RESULT | Munster Division 2
Midleton 2: 192 all out off 32 overs; Abdul Baqi Khan 3-34, Ajay Hari 2-23.
Limerick 3: 193-6 off 39 overs; Jamal Saya 35*, Kyle Tierney 33*.
LCC were also back to winning way in the Junior league (Division One) as well when they edged out Cork Harlequins away on Saturday by 52 runs. Swaroop Burra’s half century proving crucial to the end result.
Limerick’s 4th XI will be needing a victory in their last game of the season at home to Lismore after going down to County Kerry in Tralee on Saturday in order to win the Division Three League.
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