The weekend saw a turn in the weather but this did prevent the Merrion teams on show putting in some excellent performances.
On Saturday, the 1st XI were the only team directly impacted by the weather – though in the end they were probably glad enough for the intervention. Batting first the game was set up nicely at mid-point with Merrion all out for 194 in the 50th over. With half centuries for openers Jack Carty [59] and Stephen Doheny [60], his first for Merrion, a larger total might have been expected. But it was not to be.
After a delayed re-start, Jack Tector fell early to Max Neville, a welcome return to Merrion colours after injury and a spell in Trinity, but YMCA consolidated and with reduced overs were in a strong position when the match was called off for bad light. Shared points probably not a bad outcome on the day.
All the other teams won. The 2nd XI were badly beaten by Clontarf the previous week and it was important that they got their league season up and running. They did not disappoint and had a comprehensive [full point] win over Railway Union. It was a solid team performance. 50s from Sean Stanton [51] and Niranjan Shankar [52] laid the foundation and with some late runs being provided by the Forkin brothers, Merrion were able to post a very good score of 240/7. Railway stuck in for a while but once the dam broke wickets fell steadily. The 2nd XI spin attack accounted for nine of the wickets to fall – leading the way JJ Walsh with 3/35 with two each for Sean Stanton [2/23], Daniel Forkin [2/21] and Peter Forkin [2/17]. In the end Railway were bowled out for 134 – a win of 106 runs.
The 3rd XI had an excellent Bank Holiday Monday game against YMCA 3rds in Wesley College. The home team batted first and made 212/9 in their 50 overs. A big enough total on the school ground and with second innings wickets falling regularly the game was evenly poised going into the last 20 overs. A seventh wicket stand between Sai Reddy [62*] and Vicky Delwani [22*] brought the game home for Merrion. Even at this point it could have been a close finish until Sai decided that he wanted to go home and hit five consecutive 6s [four in one over] to finish the match. Of course it actually probably took longer to finish the game given the time spent to find / replace the balls hit out of the park.
The 4th XI had a close enough win over Clondalkin. Merrion posted a total of 161, thanks mainly to Raghav Khurana [53] who proved that he is not just capable with the ball. In the end Clondalkin were bowled out for 138, with three wickets for Sid Kalra and two for Sidharth Muthu.
The 5th XI had an excellent result in Wexford on Saturday on a sporting pitch, winning by 130 runs. Mark Sandys and Sid Kalra [60] made runs but the highlight of the day must be the 5/11 off eight overs from Seb Dykstra. Wexford were bowled out for 53.
And finally, the Womens 1st XI had a comfortable win against Malahide. Details are scant but Merrion won by 89 runs. There were half centuries from Leah Paul [85], Cecelia Joyce [75] and Rachel Delaney [65] and Niamh MacNulty took 4/20.
A final note. On Friday night the Minor Boys lost their cup final against Rush by 20 runs. A disappointment certainly but the young team had done really well to get to the final, overcoming some very strong clubs on the way.