Cricketers come up short again to Cork opposition in Munster Shield Final

FOR the second year running Kerry have ended as runners-up of the Senior Shield Final after coming up short against Cork County last Saturday.

Last week it was incorrectly stated that Kerry won last year’s Munster Senior Shield but they in fact lost to Cork Harlequins in 2015. Last weekend’s final, therefore, was Kerry’s second attempt at claiming the trophy in consecutive years, but they were not looking to retain the title as suggested.

Unfortunately for Kerry, Cork County have the knack of switching in to top gear at critical moments, and though Kerry played good cricket the Marydyke home squad looked mainly unruffled in this match.

Batting first, the Kerry openers Usman Khan and Owais Bacca laid a decent foundation, but struggled to score quickly enough to put the home bowlers under pressure. Usman (14) was bowled with the score on 20 and Azeem, (fresh from a massive century a week ago) fell 17 runs later with his own score still on zero. Owais Bacca top scored with 33, but 69 for 3 wickets soon became 74 for 4 and 75 for 5; at this stage Kerry had used 20 of the 40 overs available and were clearly going to find it tough to post a competitive score. That said, Kerry bat deep, but though Shani Alam (17) and Sohail prospered briefly, Sohail got struck above the knee roll of his pads, clearly in considerable discomfort, he struggled running between the wickets, and indeed he was eventually run out. Danger man Alam Morshed only contributed 10 before being bowled by Groblar and that hastened the end for Kerry capitulating for 138, leaving 3 of the 40 available overs unused.

By contrast Mubeen (41) and Coleman (29), who opened for Cork County, put on 74 for the first wicket, Alam cleanly taking a boundary catch at deep square leg to dismiss Mubeen, but worryingly for Kerry the home team had only used 11 overs in the process. The second wicket fell just 4 runs later Boulding, fielding as twelfth man for the injured Sohail, safely pouched another fine catch just two yards in from the boundary rope. But it was too little too late for Kerry, Ross Durrity and Cormac Hassett combined effectively to complete the job for Cork with exemplary running between the wickets. Hassett was run out just a few runs short of victory but Cork eased pass their target with 15 overs to spare.

Cork County won the Munster Senior Shield by seven wickets. Kerry Innings: 138 All Out: Owais Bacca 33; Sohail 22; Groblar 8-1-4-15; O’Sullivan 7-1-18-3. Cork Innings: 139 – 3: Mubeen 41; Durrity 41 n.o. SUNDAY’S Munster Second Division match between Tipperary 2nds and Kerry 3rds was a tight contest at Ballyeighan. Kerry batted first and openers Jonathan Boulding (43) and Bilal Ahmed (45) got off to a great start. Tipperary tried 6 bowlers before removing Bilal, but Junaid Khalid came to the crease and smashed a vital 27 runs from only 14 deliveries (four 4s and a 6) before the Kerry innings ran out of steam. Arun picked up two wickets in consecutive balls and Thomas bowled a double wicket maiden. Those two and Traveen all picked up three wickets on the way to bowling out Kerry for 150, a total that didn’t live up to the promise of the top order batters.

In reply, Traveen top scored for the home squad with 49, ably supported by Shizu (32). But though Kerry bowlers dismissed the openers cheaply, they gifted too many extras, Traveen’s all round contribution was the key difference between the sides while Thomas stole the bowling headlines with three wickets for a meagre 13 runs off 6.3 overs.

Tipperary squeezed past their target to claim victory with two wickets and a single over to spare. Bilal 45; Bouldng 43; Junaid 27; Thomas 3-13; Arun 3-27; Traveen 3-41 Traveen 49; Shizu 32; Roux 4-34

FIXTURES

SATURDAY, AUGUST 20 Munster Division 1 Cork Harlequins 2nds v County Kerry 2nds in Farmers Cross SUNDAY, AUGUST 21 Munster Division 2 County Kerry 3rds v Limerick 3rds. Venue: Oyster Oval, The Spa

The Kerry cricket team in their new playing kit