Ted Williamsons Latest Article From Tuesdays
Both Munster Senior Cup semi finals
were played last weekend and if they’re anything to go by the final
should be an absolute cracker. Harlequins hosted Limerick at Farmers
Cross and on winning the toss batted first. Openers Robin Russell and
Cormac Wilcox got their side off to the best possible start with a swift
100 run partnership made at just over a run a ball. Some wayward bowling
from the Limerick pacemen contributed enormously to this and the end
total of 52 extra’s with didn’t help the visitor’s cause. When Wilcox
fell for 41 to a superb catch by wicket keeper Morgan O’Callaghan the
score was on 105. A couple of moments of madness then from skipper Morne
Bauer and Cory Atkinson ensure a nervy 10 overs for the favourites.
Bauer, after hitting a couple of glorious boundaries presented an easy
return catch to Shani Alam and Atkinson took on the arm of one of the
best Limerick fielders and was run out by a country mile.
Robin Russell meanwhile seemed oblivious to the surrounding mayhem and
while he wasn’t at his fluent best showed some steel in nudging the ball
around continually finding the gaps. He was again guilty however
throwing his wicket away and when he went for 65 this brought the first
of the non specialist batters together. Mike Reid (37) and David Gash
(15) , who aren’t well known for their skill with the willow, counter
attacked slapping the ball to all parts and saw the home side register a
very competitive 230.
Limerick got off to a flier with Sanath Jayasuria and Shani Alam
smashing a boundary in each of the first 10 overs. Quins cause wasn’t
helped with speedster Bauer only able to bowl 4 overs due to injury.
Cory Atkinson’s 3 for 30 made inroads into the visitor’s middle order
and at 100 for 5 Limerick looked dead and buried. However Adil Rashid
and Ahmed Khan began an assault on the hapless Quins bowlers that hasn’t
been seen in a long time. They hit 12 sixes and four 4’s and saw their
side get to 200 for 7 with 10 overs left. All Limerick had to do was
execute some smart batting to work the ball around without taking any
risks. They decided though that they’d continue to go for the bit hits
and it cost them. Young leg spinner Anthony O’Reilly claiming two
valuable wickets and in the end the home side won by a narrow 14 runs.
The other semi final between Galway and WIT at Orranmore was even
closer. Batting first, Galway crawled to 23 after 10 overs but in the
17th over the students made their first break through which unusually
helped the home side. This brought Nathin Bintin to the crease and he
was soon joined by Waqqas with the score at 85 for 2. They opted for the
ariel route and gave the innings the momentum it needed by amassing 92
runs in 8 overs. The best of the bowlers for WIT was Rashid who finished
with 4 for 28. Their final total of 234 all out should have been more
than enough but the students fought fire with fire by attacking from
ball one.
While Shavan and Haq were at the crease Galways hopes looked dashed but
two quick wickets from Ted Turton all but put pay to WIT’s run chase and
the 3 run margin was tighter than the home side expected.