The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
Kerry seniors lose to Cork County on Duckworth-Lewis Method
THE heavy rain storms through the last days of July had left the Oyster Oval at Spa in very poor shape ahead of the two semi-finals, planned for the August Bank Holiday weekend.
Saturday’s Senior T20 between Kerry and Cork County was rescued by delaying the start by twoand-a-half hours and by colossal work from the Kerry Senior skipper John Roux and his team of able helpers!
Munster Cricket Senior T20 Semi-final (Oyster Oval, Spa)
In overcast, bowler-friendly weather conditions, Kerry won the toss and raised a few eyebrows by deciding to bat first. Not surprisingly, the home batting line-up struggled to score freely in the gloom. Although Owais Bacca, (who top scored with 26) along with Khurram and Kashif hit a selection of massive sixes, Rudolph Pollard (3-19) and Harvey Wootton (2-23) prevented the runrate from escalating with some highly disciplined bowling. After the full 20 overs, Kerry finished on a modest 129-9.
In reply, Cork County had progressed to 35 for 1 after 6 overs when the rains returned producing near tropical conditions. After more than an hour of heavy rain, there was clearly no hope of further play, so the system for calculating results of incomplete matches – DLS – was brought into action showing the visitors to be ahead of the par score by 4 runs.
Kerry 1sts: 129 for 9 (20 overs) lost to Cork County 1sts: 35 for 1 (6 overs) by 4 runs (DLS).
THAT afternoon storm not only cut short the Senior Semi-final, but also forced a change of plan for the Division 3 Semi-final, due to be held at The Oyster Oval the next day. In the event, Cork city area escaped the deluge, so Sunday’s opposition, Cork Harlequins, kindly offered to host the match instead.
Munster Cricket Division 3 T20 Semi-final (Farmers Cross – Cork)
Batting first, Cork Harlequins 4th squad posted a competitive 136 for 5, with excellent contributions from Merrill Kahapola, 48n.o. and Freddie Froggatt 42. Richard Rutland bowled tidily enough to produce an outstanding return of 4-0-2-11. In reply, Kerry fell 13 runs short, Rutland completed an excellent all-round performance, top-scoring with 27; and he got support from Usman Butt (24) but it wasn’t enough. For Harlequins, Quinton Classen took 2 for 19 and
Dave Connolly took 2 for 21: but in spite of serious determination from the Kerry batting line-up, the bowlers did just enough to control the run-rate and send Harlequins through to the Division 3 final.
Cork Harlequins 4ths: 136-5, beat Kerry 4ths:123-7 by 13 runs.
Congratulations to the two victorious squads, and particular respect to Cork County for their sportsmanship in horrible conditions. Kerry CCC also send best wishes for a speedy recovery to Trystan Gibson, a Harlequins player who broke his arm during the Division 3 Semi-final at Farmers Cross on Sunday.