Dundalk Cricket Club open home account with a win

Knockharley 3: 76-5 (20 ov) Adi 35*, Alwin 2-8

Dundalk: 78/3 (13.4 ov) Singh 34*, D. Beacroft 2-19

Dundalk 2 won by 7 wickets

Dundalk’s seconds continued their winning start to the T20 Minor Cup with a comfortable home victory against Meath’s Knockharley CC on Bank Holiday Monday.

Knockharley won the toss and opted to bat first. Overcast and windy conditions at Hiney Park gave the fast bowlers an advantage and Dundalk capitalised, picking up some early wickets with a couple of great catches by Prashant Nair at third man.

After slumping to 26-5, Rajesh Adi and Paul Beacroft managed to steady the ship for Knockharley with a 50-run partnership. Needing 77 to win, Dundalk also had a poor start with the bat, with Regin Samuel, Pauric McCrum and captain Jiwan Jodhani all dismissed early on.

The chase then got underway with Avijot Singh and Shibu Uthaman partnering well to see Dundalk over the line with an impressive 6 overs to spare.

Dundalk will hope to make it three on the bounce as they kick off their league campaign with the long away trip to Wexford Wanderers on the 11th.

Dundalk Firsts Fall Short in Marlay Park

Sandyford 2: 171 (39.1 ov) Padam 60, Syed 3-25

Dundalk 1: 162 (38.4 ov) Verma 44; Padam 3-19

Sandyford 2 won by 9 runs

Dundalk’s first team came painfully close to securing a first league victory of the season on the 5th but were just pipped at the post by Sandyford 2.

The Division 11 fixture took place in sunny Marlay Park with Dundalk looking to put on a good performance after a heavy loss to Lucan the weekend prior.

Despite being made bowl first after losing the toss, the town got off to a great start and had Sandyford at 60-6 after 20 overs, with Adarsh Hegde the pick of the bowlers early on.

However, Dundalk struggled after the drinks break and the final 4 wickets fell for over 100 runs, with steady work at the crease from Sandyford’s Satyaki Ganguly and Sudhakar Padam bringing the hosts to a respectable 171.

After an electric 2nd-wicket partnership from Yash Verma and Subtain Gondal, Dundalk looked well on course to chase down that total.

However the tailenders failed to get over the line, ultimately falling just 9 runs short as Sandyford’s off-spinners managed to cut through the middle order with little resistance. Dundalk 1 will hope to put things right in their first home game of the season, welcoming Lucan to Hiney Park on the 12th.

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