Laois Cricket Club

Saturday 29 August.

Second II vs. North Kildare (A)

Laois lost the toss but were pleased to be asked to bat first in any case on what was a sponge pudding of a wicket.With a wet, long, lush grass on the outfield, any score over 150 was considered to enough to win the game.

Mudasir and Ali opened the innings and showed great temperament and good technique to keep the ball out.They used their feet well countering the lack of bounce, but despite the wicketstill managed to smote 3 large straight sixes in his 40, eventualling holing out attempting another.

Mudasir played an innings in stark contrast to the bullying knock of 157 in the Dick O'Neil final against Mullingar.His patience in building and carefully compiling 53 runs, most coming in an opening partnership of 80 with Ali, were the reason Laois won this game.

Skipper Nigel Pyne did the damage for North Kildare taking 3 for 26 off his 9 overs, but in the midst of a collapse, Irfan batted well for his 20, similarly showing the patience needed.This allowed Laois to bat out the 40 with Andrew King (20*) and Usman (6) putting on 30 odd for the 9th wicket with some breathtakingly risky running.The final score of 166 for 9 was impressive on this wicket.

The Laois bowling attack was strong but needed to be managed carefully if the win was to be secured in comfort.King and Clint Auret opened in style removing 3 Kildare batsmen in the first 10 overs for less than 20 runs.

With North Kildare needing over 5 an over the task looked increasingly difficult for them.Laois aimed to get that rate to over 6 an over, hoping that their patience wouldthin.However,experience meant that Kildare were willing to buildand work for their runs, looking for singles rather than big hits.

Laois countered with some tidy bowling but it was the excellence shown byyoungside that led to the break throughs.A smart run out and some good catching maintained the pressure on North Kildare and despite a 67 run partnership for the 8ththey succumbed eventually for 122 from 32.4 overs.
This moves Laois slighlty further away at the top of the League with 2 games to play.

Usman took 1 for 19 and Woodward 3 for 22.

Saturday 30 August.

First II vs. Merrion (A)

Laois first team were beaten away to Merrion in Dublin on Sunday. Bowling first on a good batting wicket, Laois allowed Merrion to score quickly early on, and looked in trouble at drinks with the score on just over 100 with 2 wickets down. However, a solid spell of spin by Rashid (0 for 35 off 10) helped keep the run rate under control, and Merrion finished the innings on 235 for 9. Apart from a good individual performance from Clint Auret (2 catches and a direct-hit runout), it was a pretty ordinary effort in the field by Laois. However, with the wicket seeming to favour the batsmen, the target looked gettable none the less.

Laois knew that if a solid partnership could settle early on, the game was easily winnable. After opener Rixi Fuller was dismissed by LBW (the first of six LBW’s in the Laois innings), Rashid (25) and John Ozenbrook (52) looked steady, with a partnership of fifty. However, when the wicket of Rashid fell, Laois began their familiar decline down the order, with no batsmen succeeding to build an innings. Armand Smit provided a glimmer of hope when he came in at number seven, by scoring a very solid 24 not out, but with wickets falling at the other end, he was unable to prevent defeat, with Laois finishing all out for 162 in the 42 over – losing by 73 runs. The result is unlikely to effect the Senior II league outcome, with Laois sitting
mid-table with 2 games remaining.

Third II vs. Dundrum (H)

Laois third team suffered their first defeat in the Leinster Junior B League on Sunday when they lost to Dundrum in Togher by 58 runs.

Fielding first, Laois took nine wickets (Ben Hur 4 for 27) as Dundrum scored 178 runs in their 40 overs.

In reply, Laois were dismissed for 120 runs (Clive Wardrop 42).

Sunday 30 August - Laois First team vs Merrion.

Saturday 29 August - Laois Second team vs North Kildare