Merrion finished the season on a high as the 1sts registered a comfortable win against Pembroke and the 3rds beat Civil Service 1 in a high-scoring encounter.
MERRION 1 VS PEMBROKE 1
Read the full story here: https://www.merrioncricketclub.ie/blog/2022/09/11/merrions-1st-xi-finish-on-high/
MERRION 3 VS CIVIL SERVICE 1
A rainy night led to a late start and both captains agreed to a reduced 40-over game. Merrion winning the toss opted to bat first with Conor Austin [18] and Oisin Bhoja [22] setting the pace early. A mistimed lob and miscommunicated run saw the lads at 52/3 in just 8 overs.
This brought on Merrion powerhouses, Beant Bhathal [31] and Vikas Dhiman [138(19 4s,4 6s)] smashing a flurry of boundaries (leading to 3 lost balls!) for an outstanding partnership of 128 runs in 15 overs. With BB gone, Skipper Sai Reddy [44] blitzed a quick 44 and Vikas brought up his ton, the duo putting on 86 in the next 10. With 5 overs to go, Merrion wasn’t done as Akshay Dubey fired a quick 21 to bring Merrion to 315/9 at the end of 40. Dhiraj Shetty was the pick of the Civil Service 1 bowlers notching 4-53 in his 8 overs.
In the 2nd innings, Merrion struck early with 2 key run-outs thanks to Vikas Dhiman’s sharp throws and Vishal Singh‘s excellent bowling of 3-27 in 8 overs. Needing just under 200 at the break, Merrion seemed to be in the driver’s seat however Aamir Bafanda [113*] and Binson Thambi [44] kept chipping away at the total with some hard-hitting. The duo’s 73-run partnership was broken with an excellent catch from gloveman Akshay Dubey jumping high up to his left. Dubey’s quick feet behind the stumps accounted for 3 catches and 2 stumpings for the day.
With the middle order gone, Civil Service 1 were not perturbed as the skipper Arjun Chandrasekhar [22] and Aamir Bafanda put on a blistering 61 in overs 30-35 smashing Merrion all over Anglesea road (another 3 balls were lost in the neighbourhood!). With just 62 needed in the last 5, Oisin Bhoja [3-77] bowled a key 36th over giving away just 1 run and increasing the pressure on Civil Service. The visitors continued to target the short boundary, however, a strong fielding effort from Merrion saw the home side winning by 11 runs in the end.