Limerick open Premier League campaign with win over Kerry

IN his first game as first XI skipper, Anvesh Bogavelly enjoyed an opening fixture victory on Sunday afternoon when his Limerick side ran out victors by a margin of four wickets against County Kerry. In a day which promised glorious sunshine throughout, it was the visitors who won the toss and elected to bat first as Bogavelly lined out his first bowling attack of his tenure, with the pair of Ramoji Alla and Prasad Hegde bringing great vigour with the new ball. Four wickets came in the opening ten overs, with Alla in particular on fire dismissing Iqbal, Ali and then Butt. This was efficiently backed up by Sharma and Hari at first change with tactical stump-to-stump bowling paying dividends.

In a time where consistency needed to be maintained, Bogavelly brought himself and the young Ayan Ullah on as Ullah took the wicket of Warnke to send him packing after just three deliveries. Hari was reintroduced and finished off the tail with Kerry tallying to 140 as their innings came to a close. The response was mature from the hosts who batted out the powerplay for the loss of two wickets, losing Nishant Kumar and Karthik Karur in the early stages. The innings was then anchored by opener Bharat Dahima, who began to construct partnerships and chew up the deliveries.

READ NEXT: Shannon 'accepts the decision' to award result of abandoned AIL rugby playoff to UCC Kerry’s purple patch came when they dismissed Ullah and Bogavelly in quick succession at the turn of the 20th over, with Dahima holding firm on 27. Then came the match-winning partnership, with Hedge coming in at 6 and turning the game in his team’s favour. A slow start which consisted of rotating the strike gathered fast momentum, with some lovely shots over the extra-cover and mid-off region in particular. Hedge was unlucky to depart for 44 but the score was 129-6 at this point, with Sharma and Venkatesh finishing off the innings to wrap things up in the 36th over.

Limerick’s second XI could not bounce back from their opening defeat last weekend as they fell 21 runs short in their chase against Nenagh on Saturday afternoon. Limerick skipper Waqas Mehmood lost the toss and was put in to field by his opposition counterpart. The breakthrough for the Shannonsiders came in the 11th over through Samad Malick, whose pacy delivery forced Vimal to find the safe hands of Eshan Tanveer in the field. It was Asif Hussein, whose consistency in line and length, brought two further wickets to his side at 82-3.

Nenagh’s fourth wicket partnership accrued to 56 runs with the dismissal of Joseph falling in the 34th over at 138-4. Mehmood and co. did well to limit the scoring in the final ten overs, taking the final six wickets before the end of the innings with a target of 187 set. Abubakar and Srivastava started off the Limerick innings but couldn’t get past double digits. Mehmood played a couple of nice boundaries but was caught by Sree for 15 from 16 balls as Nenagh began to exert pressure on the middle order.

Ullah and Hussein carved out an important partnership for their side for the fifth wicket, amalgamating to 50 runs or so, before Hussein’s dismissal meant the scoreboard read 114-5. Ullah continued to control the innings and maturely made his way to another club half-century, making 50 from 74 balls, including 4x4s. The experience of Ramay was not enough as wickets fell around the veteran in the final pursuit of the run chase, as the home side finished on 165-8 after 38.5 overs. Limerick’s third XI got their league form back on track in style with a comfortable 98-run win over County Clare in Shannon on Sunday afternoon.

The Limerick innings was anchored by top-order batsman Monish Pawar, whose knock of 82 runs was a joy to watch, making a whopping seven 6’s, to torment the Clare bowlers. He was able supported by skipper Sathya Prabu, who marked his return with a solid 35 runs from 37 balls to ensure Pawar was partnered with longevity. Prabu’s side did well to bat out the overs as they welcomed 53 extras on their way to 231, setting a target of 232 for the hosts. The momentum didn’t halt after the break, with Shinde and Prabu getting on top in the early stages.

Clare never really got going, with many starts not being converted into significant scores. Limerick interchanged their bowling well, with wickets taken by Nagaraju, Patel, Ramay and Chandra. It was the youngster Yousaf Ramay, who was the real thorn in the Clare side throughout, with his pace and precision causing a plethora of problems for the batsmen. They had no answer for Ramay, who at just 14 years of age was able to take his second five-for in his debut for the 3rd XI side.

A remarkable achievement for a cricketer who continues to show great potential with bat and ball as Clare eventually finished all out for 133 runs. Next weekend sees all four men's teams in action as well as two games for the women who play back-to-back on Monday to kickstart their season. On Saturday, Limerick’s second XI face a crucial encounter against County Kerry in Adare with the 4ths making the short trip to Knockshigowna to face Nenagh. Limerick’s first XI take travel to Tralee for the return fixture against County Kerry on Sunday afternoon in the Premier League.

Meanwhile, Sathya’s third XI will welcome Cork County to the Manor Fields in Division 2. The Mardyke will be the venue on the bank holiday where Limerick’s women will firstly take on Cork County before facing the challenge of Lismore in 15-over aside contests.