Cricket Weekend previewWith Section A of the WMK League fizzling out into a one-horse race, the same cannot be said of Section B, which is as open as it has been at this stage of the season for many a year.
Pembroke yesterday staked their claim for promotion to the top flight with an exciting win over YMCA at Sydney Parade. Needing 20 runs to win off the last two overs in a match reduced by overnight rain, Peter Byrne and Brad Stone saw the Broke home with just one ball and two wickets to spare.
That result means that Pembroke move up to fifth place with one game in hand over most contenders and two games more to play than second-placed YMCA. Rush remain on top and favourites to take the title but with two teams to be promoted, it is still all to play with YMCA, Old Belvedere, CYM, Pembroke and even sixth placed Merrion all in contention.
It could be a big weekend for Pembroke with two more games to look forward to. Today, they head to Terenure to take on CYM while tomorrow, they play Leinster at Rathmines. Merrion also have a double weekend, travelling to Cabra today and hosting CYM at Anglesea Road tomorrow.
Meanwhile, North County can all but end the race for Section A glory tomorrow as they take on their most likely challengers for top spot, Phoenix. If County win that game at Inch, they could only be caught through a series of bizarre and unlikely events.
In fact, even if they lose to the men from the Park, they will still be at least 53 points ahead, albeit with one extra game played. With eight wins out of eight in the league, it looks like the WMK League trophy is heading to Inch along with the Lewis Hohn Williams title, which they won back in July.
Also in Section A, Clontarf will be without the injured Trent Johnston for their double-header against Malahide (away today) and The Hills (in Castle Avenue tomorrow). Railway Union head to the Mardyke today, knowing that a win against the Reds is imperative if they are to stand any chance of avoiding relegation.
SECTION B
At Sydney Parade: YMCA 132 for 8, 29 overs (W Murray 39 not out, C Hosford 27; R Hastie 3-11); Pembroke 133 for 8, 28.5 overs (P Davy 46, H Fourie 21, P Byrne 18 not out; A Dunlop 3-29). Pembroke (21 points) beat YMCA (4 points) by two wickets.
Section A Team
P W L NR BP Pts
North County 8 8 2 - 7 187
Malahide 9 5 4 1 1 111
Phoenix 7 4 2 1 21 109
Clontarf 6 2 3 1 19 67
Munster Reds 7 2 3 2 9 65
The Hills 6 1 5 1 9 39
Railway Union 7 1 6 - 9 29
Section B Team
P W L NR BP Pts
Rush 8 5 3 - 27 127
YMCA 9 5 4 - 24 124
Old Belvedere 8 4 4 - 19 99
CYM 8 4 4 - 16 96
Pembroke 7 4 3 - 13 93
Merrion 7 3 4 - 25 85
Leinster 7 2 5 - 11 51
WEEKEND FIXTURES: Saturday: WMK League (12.30pm) Section A: Malahide v Clontarf, Munster Reds v Railway Union. Section B: CYM v Pembroke, Old Belvedere v Merrion. Intermediate Cup (final, 1pm) At Rathmines: Merrion 5 v Clontarf 4. Minor Cup (final, 1pm) At Inch: North County 5 v Leinster 7. Sunday: WMK League (12.30pm) Section A: North County v Phoenix, Clontarf v The Hills. Section B: Leinster v Pembroke, Merrion v CYM.
Waringstown wicket-keeper Jonathan Bushe has earned himself a recall to the Ireland squad to play Test side Bangladesh in two one-day internationals at the end of this month.
IRELAND SQUAD (v Bangladesh on August 29th in Stormont and August 30th in Limavady): Jason Molins (capt), Jeremy Bray (both Phoenix), Andre Botha, Paul Mooney (both North County), Eoin Morgan (Middlesex/North County), Jonathan Bushe (Waringstown), Gordan Cooke (Brigade), Peter Gillespie (Strabane), Dominick Joyce (Dublin University/Merrion), Kyle McCallan (Cliftonville), Adrian McCoubrey (Essex), Naseer Shoukat (Rush), Andrew White (Instonians).
