Scorecard

Pembroke 2 v North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI on Sun 19 Jul 2015 at 16.00
North Kildare Cricket Club Won By 6 Wickets

Match report Following a couple of rather disappointing weeks for the firsts in the league - North Kildare could focus their attention on the Tillain Cup final - the first time an NK side had reached that stage in the competition. Thanks to some heroics in the semi-final in Clontarf that saw NK tumble over the finish line by just one run; it was Pembroke who awaited NK in Terenure which was the allocated neutral venue.

Neavyn lost the toss for the third straight game in a row and was asked to bowl first on the Terenure mat. This was somewhat disappointing as the dimensions of the Ternure ground resembled that of the Maws quite accurately. To add to this; the success NK had, had over the course of the tournament resulted in the firsts batting first every time, but nevertheless; NK took to the field and chose the spin route once again that had worked so well throughout the course of the competition.

Pembroke started off slowly thanks to some tight bowling from the spin kings - Manny and PR. Thanks to some exceptional fielding from the NK unit to support the already tight bowling, runs were tough to come by which was apparent in both openers' dismissals - both going to Manny Singh in almost identical fashion having been bogged down and pressurised into chasing the bowler which left the opposition at 22-2 from their first 5. The dismissal of opener, Mullen led to the arrival of the recognisable figure of Graham McDonnell who had put NK to the sword earlier in the season in the league with a huge 147 that nearly saw his side over the line. But; further pressure from Manny and PR led to McDonnell nearly falling for the same trap both openers had fallen for. When Manny tossed one up; McDonnell swept hard and it looked as if it was straight down Dollar's throat, but Dollars' eagerness to attack the ball meant that it just cleared him and went for 6 which looked to be a huge moment at the time.

Thankfully for NK and more importantly, Dollars; McDonnell went in Manny's very next over when he tried to run one down to third man, only to nick off into the grateful hands of Bob who took a very sharp catch behind the stumps to provide the vital breakthrough of McDonnell. At 46-3 with half their overs gone, Pembroke were in serious trouble, particularly as Manny had removed their top 3 as well as PR going for just 21 runs from his five at the other end.

Vossie and Imran were brought into the attack and maintained the squeeze that the spin kings had provided early doors. Despite the very occasional boundary; Immy and Voss kept control of the Pembroke batsman and took wickets regularly thanks to some excellent catches and ground fielding from the firsts as a unit. Despite the opposition getting 12 from the last over; all four bowlers had produced a serious first half display that was backed up by every fielder with Chaser, Wazzle, Imran and Clint all thick in the action; saving runs and applying pressure at will. Because of the first half effort NK had displayed, Pembroke were made to defend the total of 114-8 which was, in truth, way below par.

So - after a phenomenal team performance in the first innings, NK were one run chase away from lifting their first ever Tillain Cup. Given that NK had scored big runs already in the competition; there were very few nerves in the dressing room during the break, but cup cricket can and has produced many upsets in the past that NK were wary of.

Unfortunately for Bob and for North Kildare; there was to be no fairytale 10-wicket victory. Facing just his second ball; opener, Balbernie put one in the slot for Bob which he went hard at and got a decent piece of bat on it. To the dismay of NK's first-team captain as well as everyone who looked on - the ball that Bob had drilled over mid-on (or what it looked like at the time) was somehow plucked from mid-air by Ahmad Carr who grabbed the wicket of Bob with a breathtaking catch that has often led to spurring a team on to victory in similar scenarios.

At 0-1, PR strode out to the middle licking his licks at the opportunity to score the runs himself. Bob's early exit wasn't made to count however, as Manny and PR batted steadily through to the 12 over before Manny was eventually dismissed for a well-made 32 runs that surely made him the MVP of the competition. The pair added 64 together during their stand which steadied the ship after the early breakthrough as well as going at the required rate. Imran came and went quickly, but when Immy holed out looking to go big - PR felt it was time to finish things off alongside TS who had just arrived at the crease. PR smoked 15 off the 14th over which brought NK to within 20 runs of victory as well as bringing up yet another half century and arguably his most important for the firsts yet. PR battled hard early doors and hit a lot of good shots for one's and two's, but as his innings progressed the first team coach dismissed the opposition bowling attack and held the NK innings together. With just one run needed to win, Balbernie decided to rain on PR and NK's parade as he knocked over Paulo's middle-stump from a good yorker, which saw Vossie knock off the winning runs and NK bring home the Tillain Cup for the first time in the club's history.

The firsts collected their trophy and medals deservedly having beaten four teams on the road during their campaign. North Kildare produced some of the best cricket the club has displayed over the years and other than a nerve-racking century from Bobbo Forrest for Clontarf in the semi-final, there were very few who could compete against the strength of the first team in the t20 format. With every single first team player contributing in some way on their way to victory, as well as the effective tactic of using spin (64 overs out of of a possible 80) that NK stuck to, the firsts were a force to be reckoned with in the shorter format of the game and if they can replicate the cricket they displayed in 20/20's, there may still be a small glimmer of hope for promotion.

The firsts' victory also comes on the back of the grief and loss of Mr. George Walshe who had passed away during the week. The passing of an old-time member, the father of Ian and Johnnie Walshe, provided an extra incentive for the firsts to bring home the cup as a tribute to his memory. May he rest in peace.


Scorecard:

Pembroke Innings:

1) C. Mullen - Caught & Bowled, M. Singh - 14(19) - 1x4's
2) A. Carr - Caught I. Ul-Haq, bowled M. Singh - 3(5)
3) G. McDonnell - Caught behind R. Neavyn, bowled M. Singh - 14(12) - 1x6's
4) D. Hogan (+) - Caught P. Ryan, bowled N. Vorster - 26(35) - 1x4's, 1x6's
5) S. McDonnell - Caught I. Ul-Haq, bowled N. Vorster - 3(6)
6) B. Whaley (C) - Caught I. Ul-haq, bowled N. Vorster - 20(21) - 2x6's
7) A. Mays - Caught T. Satchwell, bowled I. Ul-Haq - 7(9)
8) M. Byers - Run Out P. Ryan/R. Neavyn - 7(5) - 1x4's
9) F. Khan - Not Out - 12(6) - 1x6's
10) H. Balbernie - DNB
11) JJ. Garth - DNB

Total: 114-8 from 20 overs

North Kildare Bowling:

M. Singh: 5-0-23-3
P. Ryan: 5-0-21-0
N. Vorster: 5-0-33-3
I. Ul-Haq: 5-0-34-1

North Kildare Innings:

1) R. Neavyn (C)(+) - Caught A. Carr, bowled H. Balbernie - 0(2)
2) M. Singh - Caught H. Mays, bowled JJ. Garth - 32(35) - 2x4's, 1x6's
3) P. Ryan - Bowled H. Balbernie - 52(47) - 3x4's, 2x6's
4) I. Ul-Haq - Caught F. Khan, bowled JJ. Garth - 11(9) - 1x6's
5) T. Satchwell - Not Out - 12(5) - 1x6's
6) N. Vorster - Not Out - 4(1) - 1x4's
7) L. Hofmeyr - DNB
8) S. Dalton - DNB
9) W. Ali - DNB
10) A. Chase - DNB
11) C. Auret - DNB

Total: 118-4 from 15.4 overs

Pembroke Bowling:

H. Balbernie: 3.4-0-23-2
A. Mays: 5-0-37-0
F. Khan: 3-0-17-0
JJ. Garth: 5-0-37-2

NV

Pembroke 2 Batting
Player name RunsMB4s6sSR
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 8 wickets
0
114 (20.0 overs)		     
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI Bowling

Player NameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

North Kildare Cricket Club Men's 1st XI Batting
Player Name RMB4s6sSRCatchesStumpingsRun outs
extras
TOTAL :
 
for 4 wickets
0
118
(16.4 overs)		    
Robert Neavyn   1
Manjeet Singh   1
Paul Ryan   1
Imran ul-Haq   3
Tom Satchwell   1
Neil Vorster  
Louis Hofmeyr  
Sean Dalton  
Wasif Ali  
Clint Auret  
Andrew Chase  

Pembroke 2 Bowling

Player nameOversMaidensRunsWicketsAverageEconomy
No records to display.

  • Umpire :
  • Scorer :
    Naomi Scott-Hayward