KERRY IS LOOKING ROSEY

SEE THIS YEAR’S ROSE CONTESTANTS

IN the context of a hectic and rain affected summer, Cork County struggled to find a full strength second squad for the Munster Division 1 Fixture at the Oyster Oval on Saturday.

But to their credit, they travelled across the county bounds with a team bolstered by no less than five underage players. Not surprising then, that Kerry won convincingly, but those who watched were left in no doubt that County have seriously talented young cricketers coming up through the ranks.

Kerry batted first and amassed 368 for 6 wickets off 45 overs. Awais Saghir led the way with 107, Usman (76) Bilal (54) and Qassim (52) all notching up half centuries. Akhiyar Hussain was the best of the bowlers for Cork taking two wickets for 52 runs.

In reply John Power made an impressive 57 (seven x 4s and two x 6s), but found little support as Cork County were bowled out for 111. Sean Rutland took three wickets for four runs off five miserly overs, Mohsin Taj took 3-36, and Cathal Sheehan-Churchill finished with figures of 3-1-6-2. Kerry 2 beat Cork County 2 by a winning margin of 257, but the Cork youngsters impressed far more than the scorebooks might suggest.

The Munster Junior Cup-Final at Farmers Cross on Bank Holiday Monday, was a low scoring match between Kerry 2nds and home squad Cork Harlequins 2nds. But as is often the case in low scoring games, the tension was perfectly suited for a Cup Final.

Kerry batted first, but though Bilal and Ahmed both went off like rockets, Bilal was all too soon judged LBW and Ahmed struck two blazing boundaries before running himself out looking for a single that never was.

But it was mostly excellent bowling from Quins that was re- sponsible for the procession of Kerry batters heading out to the wicket and promptly heading back to the pavilion. Only Junaid kept his head, compiling an impressive 36, finishing as the only Kerry batsman to get into double figures.

At 3 for 21 in the 10th over, Kerry looked in danger of a complete disaster, their final total of 97, represented something of a recovery, but still looked way below par. Farhan was the stand out bowler for Quins finishing with figures of 7-1-14-4, while Syed took 3 for 20 and Nabeel 2 for 25.

In reply, the Quins openers looked well set on 19 without loss at the start of the 7th over, but Junaid broke through thanks to a brilliant diving catch by Bilal and the following over produced a run out; Kerry were fighting back.

Wickets began to fall, but amid increasing tension, not as quickly as Kerry would have liked. Quins were one run adrift when they lost their seventh wicket, and the eighth fell with scores level.

Joe Herrigan claimed the honour of hitting the winning runs to retain the Junior Cup for Cork Harlequins. Man Of The Match, Nabeel and Zuhair both scored 27 - top scoring for Quins, while Sajeed took 4 for 25 and got Kerry remarkably close, but not close enough to produce an improbable outcome.

Congratulations to Cork Harlequins on their two wicket victory, and to both squads for a fantastically competitive Cup Final.

Fixtures

THE Munster Senior Cup Semi-Final – (Sunday 6th) was rained off and rescheduled at 5.30pm on Tuesday 8th. (Adare) The Kerry v Limerick match will be played asaT20.

Sat. 12th August, Senior Cup Final @ The Marydyke: Cork County v Kerry OR Limerick

Sat. 12th August, Munster Division 1 - Tipperary County 1 v County Kerry 2. Venue: Ballyeighan.