Limerick faced back-to-back games to see the end to their Premier Division campaign last weekend. In a season filled with ups and downs, the Shannonsiders were looking to take something into the 2025 season with games against County Kerry and Cork Harlequins on Saturday and Sunday respectively.
A weakened starting XI made the trip to Tralee on Saturday where captain Prasad Hegde won the toss and elected to bat. Limerick struggled to come to terms with the opposition pace. At 28-3, the bowling side endured a serious momentum shift with Asif Hussein holding a solid rearguard from one end for the visitors but wickets tumbled from the other. No further partnerships were constructed and a mere 105 with exactly half of the allocated overs bowled.
Kerry made short work of the low score, with aggressive batting from both openers putting Limerick out of their misery with just 9.4 overs bowled and one wicket claimed.
RESULT| MCU Premier Division.
We lost to County Kerry by 9 wickets today.
Limerick 1: 105 all out off 25.4 overs.
Asif Hussein 34
Waqas Mehmood 17
County Kerry 1: 109-1 off 9.4 overs.
Mohit Malik 1-17
Waqar Ahmed 0-1
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A revitalised Limerick rang the changes for the welcoming of Cork Harlequins to Adare on Sunday, with only five players competing in both matches. Again, Prasad Hedge won the toss and elected to bat in what seemed to be overcast, but more importantly dry conditions at the Manor Fields. The opening pair of Nishant Kumar and Sourabh Teke provided a solid platform for the middle order to launch proceedings, forging 50 runs before being dismissed for 27 and 26 runs respectively.
Nishant Kumar pulls a short delivery to the leg side
A third wicket stand of 118 runs between Sarfraz Ramay (48 from 48 balls) and Anvesh Bogavelly set the tone for the rest of the innings, with Bogavelly caressing the ball beautifully around the outfield on his way to a maiden century for the club, which included 8x4s and 1x6. He would eventually be dismissed for 109 with just one over remaining and the score at 261-6, with contributions from Arslan Anwar (27 from 29) and the tail adding to a healthy first innings score.
Anvesh Bogavelly pauses to raise his bat as he crosses the 100-run mark
The bowlers followed suit with terrific opening spells from Ramoji Alla and Shani Alam stunning the Quins top order. As Alam got through the gears from the pavilion end to yield just 13 runs from 6 overs, Alla ripped through the top order in style to take four wickets in a thundering spell. The damage was done with the visitors staring down the barrel at 39-6 as medium-pacer Sathya Prabhu joined the party to dismiss Sumanasignhe for 14.
Ramoji Alla celebrates taking another wicket during his opening spell
Bogavelly found himself back in the game as he engineered the run out of Stevenson at 50-7, as the final three wickets fell to duo of Arslan Anwar (1-32) and Waqar Ahmed (2-10) to clinch a thumping 176-run victory.
RESULT| MCU Premier Division.
We defeated Cork Harlequins by 176 runs today.
Limerick 1: 268-8 off 50 overs.
Anvesh Bogavelly 109
Sarfraz Ramay 48
Cork Harlequins 1: 92 all out off 30.1 overs.
Ramoji Alla 4-19
Waqar Ahmed 2-10
Limerick 1st XI vs Cork Harlequins (Top row, l-r): Nishant Kumar, Prasad Hegde (Capt.), Arslan Anwar, Waqar Ahmed, Anvesh Bogavelly, Ramoji Alla. (Bottom row, l-r) Sathya Prabhu, Shani Alam, Sarfraz Ramay, Karthik Sridhar (wk), Sourabh Teke.
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Limerick’s 3rd XI have endured some tightly contested affairs as part of their bid to climb the Division Two table and Sunday afternoon was no different. The familiar faces of United Cricket Clonmel were standing between Limerick and the top 4 finish in Division Two. Clonmel won the toss and put Limerick into bat in Lisronagh.
A struggling top order could only get things to 22-4 with a tall order remaining for the remaining Limerick batsmen, nonetheless the experience of Ayan Ullah and Waqas Mehmood were able to forge a 100-run partnership for the fifth wicket, as Mehmood carried his form from last week to make another half-century in making 75 from just 52 deliveries. The tail could only ambled their way to a target of 191 with Clonmel needing just under 5 runs an over.
In almost identical circumstances, Limerick picked up four quick wickets with Mehmood doing the business with a a hat-trick of wickets in just his second over. Incredible seam bowling from Mehmood but the hosts did not drop their heads and repaired their innings in the middle, consecutive partnerships consisting of 46, 19 and then 32 runs put a spanner in the works for Limerick’s attack. An eight wicket stand of 47 runs got Clonmel close before the tail finished the game off but not before a nerve-jangling few overs with just one wicket ensued.
RESULT| MCU Division Two.
We lost to United Cricket Clonmel by 1 wicket today.
Limerick 3: 191 all out off 40 overs.
Waqas Mehmood 75
Ayan Ullah 39
United Cricket Clonmel 1: 192-9 off 36.2 overs.
Waqas Mehmood 4-31
Ayan Ullah 2-30
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Limerick’s 4th XI put in another brave performance, this time at the hands of Cork Harlequins at Farmer’s Cross on Saturday afternoon. Despite conceding 265 runs, the visitors knew a high-scoring ground would work in their favour at the change of innings.
Vinaykumar Nagaraju continued his fine form with the bat, opening once again and made a tone-setting 52 to get his side up and running. Contributions from the following batsmen came in but not with the concession of frequent wickets as there were too many runs to chase with the run-rate increasing for their tail. Pavan Kumar tried his best to edge his side closer to their target before being dismissed for 32 (from 44 balls) to leave Limerick just over 50 runs shy of the home side’s 265 runs.
RESULT| MCU Division Three.
We lost to Cork Harlequins by 56 runs yesterday.
Cork Harlequins 4: 265 all out off 39.5 overs.
Darshan Dwarankanath 2-37
Shravan Chandrashekharaiah 2-38
Limerick 4: 209 all out off 35.5 overs.
Vinaykumar Nagaraju 53
Pavan Kumar 32*
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And that’s a wrap! With the league standings being confirmed during the week, Limerick’s 4 teams will learn their confirmed final positions in the league standings from what turned out to be quite a long season. Whilst the Junior Cup will be the only bit of silverware celebrated between the men’s four teams, the club can be proud of their achievements from their youth and women’s sides for 2024 with much promise on the horizon for the 2025 season.
