Double success for Dundalk Cricket Club

Dundalk Cricket Club enjoyed another weekend of double success, with both teams securing comfortable wins at home.

On Saturday, the first team, currently battling Swords for the league title, secured a 115 run win against Longford. Electing to bat first, Andrew Pike and Michael Hughes dug in but it soon seemed Dundalk were in trouble. At 63/5, Longford had the upper hand but a stellar innings from Phil Osborn, backed up by the sleek hitting of Sanjay Kumar powered Dundalk to a fine total of 217 from their allotted 40 overs. Man of the match Osborn finished 88 not out, but it was Kumar’s 37 that kickstarted the innings, the pair putting on 82 for the sixth wicket.

Longford’s chase began disastrously, with opening bowler Andrew Williams combining with Kevin Waterman for a catch off the first ball. Williams then repaid the favour twice-over, taking two catches for Waterman, whose 4-31 ripped apart the Longford batting line up. Longford were always on the back foot and Conan Martin wrapped up the win in the 29th over, giving Dundalk a crucial full bonus point win.

The following day, the second team cruised past Phoenix CC in overcast conditions. Batting first, Dundalk started slowly, and lost Derek Turner to Theo Dempsey’s bowling with just 7 on the board after 10 overs. However, Phoenix couldn’t capitalise and Dundalk put on 99 for the second wicket, with man of the match Glen Armstrong smashing his way to a first half century, the highlight of which were two huge sixes straight down the ground. Peter Phillips anchored the other end, playing a very intelligent innings for a career-best 38. Big-hitting cameos from Jiwan Jodhani and Faheem Khan pushed Dundalk past 150, before Michael Mullen slogged 18 off the penultimate over to set up a convincing total of 193.

The breakthrough in Phoenix’s innings came from a brilliant Derek Turner run out followed up by Sanjay Kumar sending James Maginninis back to the pavilion for a golden duck. Dempsey solidified the innings for the Dublin outfit, but wickets fell around him as he was caught in the deep by Kumar off Mullen’s bowling. Kapil Pun finished off the rout, taking three wickets in quick succession to wrap up the game for Dundalk, with Armstrong capping off the day with a superb one handed catch at mid off. The result leaves Dundalk precariously poised in the race for promotion, with second-placed Balbriggan travelling to Dromiskin next Saturday.

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Dundalk I (v. Longford): M. Waterman (c/wk), A. Pike, M. Hughes, S. Jayaseelan, S. McGrath, A. Williams, P. Osborn, S. Kumar, M. Mullen, K. Waterman, C. Martin

Dundalk II (v. Phoenix): J. Jodhani (c), M. Mullen (wk), P. Phillips, D. Turner, G. Armstrong, F. Khan, S. Kumar, B. Shanmugam, K. Pun, S. McDermott, U. Ofterdinger

Triple weekend success for cricketers

The Dundalk Cricketers who travelled to North Kildare last Friday

On Friday last, Dundalk Cricket Club played out a very enjoyable double-header under the hospitality of North Kildare Cricket Club.

There were notable performances with the bat, with Glen Armstrong, Ian McEvoy, Michael Mullen and Gerry McKeever reaching the retirement score. Deborah Challoner, Eddie Bosano-Andrews and Ulrich Ofterdinger all stood out with their bowling. However, it was a unanimous post-match decision to award man of the match to Catherine Raftis, who took her first senior wicket in the game.

Dundalk (vs. North Kildare): Michael Mullen ©, John Finnegan (wk), Catherine Raftis, Louise Challoner, Deborah Challoner, Liam Gaynor, Gerry McKeever, Ulrich Ofterdinger, Eddie Bosano-Andrews, Glen Armstrong, Ian McEvoy, Pat Kavanagh

On Saturday, Dundalk 1st XI took on Slieve Bloom CC in Dromiskin. Slieve Bloom started the game well, but great bowling from Conan Martin (3-47) and Lethin Mathew (3-35) restricted them to just 141. Dundalk wobbled at the start of their run-chase, losing Andy Pike in the first over but clinical batting from captain Mike Waterman (25), Lethin Mathew (40) and Sajan Jayaseelan (73 not out) gave Dundalk a comfortable seven wicket win and cemented their place at the top of the table.

Dundalk I (vs. Slieve Bloom): Mike Waterman (c, wk), Andrew Pike, Conan Martin, Lethin Mathew, Zaheer Babar, Rana Shoaib, Kevin Waterman, Michael Mullen, Jiwan Jodhani, Sanjay Kumar, Sajan Jayaseelan

On Sunday, Dundalk Seconds completed the remarkable weekend with a 45-run win over Clontarf in Mount Temple.

Dundalk had a shaky start to the game, losing 4 wickets in the opening overs before Kapil Pun (16) and Aijaz Ali (14) solidified the innings. However, Dundalk still looked uncertain on 79/9 before a massive 67-run last-wicket partnership from Sanjay Kumar and Seamus McDermott, which gave Dundalk a defendable total of 146. Two early wickets from Glen Armstrong (2-18) removed the Clontarf openers before Dundalk were pegged back by an Abdul Kahn half-century. Khan’s dismissal from Dundalk captain Tom Ryan started the collapse for Clontarf, with Ryan picking up figures of 4-13. Fiachra McDermott briefly offered resistance before being caught by McDermott off Mullen’s bowling to keep the Seconds in contention in the league.

Dundalk II (vs. Clontarf): Tom Ryan ©, Scott McDonnell (wk), Michael Mullen, Sanjay Kumar, Yassem Mohammed, Glen Armstrong, Gerry McKeever, Kapil Pun, Seamus McDermott, Meet Choudhary, Aijaz Ali

The Dundalk side who beat Slieve Bloom at the weekend