Difficult weekend for Kingdom at the crease

THE Kerry 3rd squad lost out at semi-final stage of the Munster Minor Cup on a bad day for bowlers at The Farm, home of University College Cork, in the Curagheen Sports complex on Sunday. UCC took advantage of perfect batting weather to rack up 303 for the loss of just two wickets off their 40 allotted overs. The record books will need to be scoured, but the Ahmed brothers, Kaleem and Kashif enjoyed an unbroken partnership of 230; Kaleem hit no less than seventeen 4s and four 6s in his 129 not out - his brother also remained undefeated on 68.

The response from Kerry was positive, opener Prince Thomas smacked a bruising 45, Imran top scored with 61, and when he departed Darragh Lynch (40) and Ian Rutland (36) combined in a partnership that kept Kerry’s hopes alive.

But though the visitors maintained momentum for the first 25 overs, run rate pressure finally took its toll. Kerry finished all out on a respectable 252, but 51 runs short of their target.

Man Of The Match awards are not given in the Munster Divisions, but UCC’s star with the bat Kaleem, in addition to his superb century, took three wickets for UCC to help complete the victory.

There would have been no contest if that honour had been available.

UCC: 303 for 2 wickets, Kaleem Ahmed 129 n.o. Kashif Ahmed 68 n.o WON by 52 runs

KERRY 3RDS: 252 All out, Imran 61; Thomas 45; Lynch 40; Rutland 36; Khaleem 3 - 56

Munster Premier Division

KERRY clearly missed their skipper Yaqoob who was on Munster Reds duty in Dublin on Sunday.

He made a great contribution to Munster’s first two wins in the Inter-Pro T20 tournament, and Kerry needed his quality to help deal with Limerick’s Murtaza Sidiqi who chalked up his fourth century of the 2018 season at Adare.

Limerick batters were rampant piling up a huge total of 398 for 6 off their 50 overs. When Shane Burke(19) was bowled by Kashif, Limerick were on a fairly routine looking score of 112 for 4, but Farman Yousafsai (62) joined Sidiqi and together they added 157 for the fifth wicket, Sidiqi’s 175 came off just 138 balls (twenty 4s and five 6s) and when Yousafsai departed, Ramay smashed another 36 of 22 balls to add to Kerry’s woes.

In reply, Kerry failed to create any partnerships to challenge Limerick’s daunting total, only Alam Morshed (46) Owais Saghir (42) and Azeem (25) showed any significant defiance.

On this occasion, the Kingdom’s senior cricket squad fell well short, all out for 194.

LIMERICK 1STS: 398-6 off 50 overs; Murtaza Sidiqi 175 n.o. ; Farman Yousafzai 62; Kashif Khan 2-72 WON by 204 runs

COUNTY KERRY 1STS: 194 all out off 33.2 overs: Alam Morshed 46; Owais Saghir 42 Zia Khan 3-20; Sajid Younus 3-33

Fixtures

THE National Cup Draw has ensured there will be a Munster squad in the semi-finals for the first time. The match v Galway starts at 1pm - Sunday, July 15. Come and support the lads against Galway before checking in to the Oyster Tavern.

Sat. 15th July: Clear Currency National Cup Quar ter Final, County Kerry

1sts v Galway, Venue: Oyster Oval

Sat. 14th July: Munster Junior Cup Semi-Final, County Kerry 2nds v

Midleton 1sts, Venue: Oyster Oval