The 2015 Minor Cup Final saw Division 3 league leaders, Cork County 3, take on Tipperary County 2 at Farmer’s Cross. In a low scoring match in difficult conditions, County emerged victorious by 45 runs thanks in main to a fabulous spell of bowling from Syed Ur Rehman (4-7) having set Tipperary a target of 151 to win.
Batting first, County lost the two early wickets of captain Abdul Jabbar Younus (4) and Chris Van Heerden (4) before an excellent third wicket partnership between Noelie Cronin (41) and Aidan Kelleher (36) stabilised the innings. After the loss of Kelleher, Narsa Renjarla (29) continued to the good momentum pushing County towards a very competitive total. However, following the dismissals of Cronin and Renjarla the final five wickets were lost for a total of just 7 runs leaving the men from the Mardyke to defend 150 to win.
The Tipperary reply found the going slow due mainly to a tight opening spell from young right arm seamer, Brian Kelleher, from the city end while Muhammed Younus gave little away from the clubhouse end. Great support was provided by first and second change bowlers Chris van Heerden and Tughral Khan but the match winning spell was provided by slow right armer Syed Ur Rehman who tore into the Tipperary middle order taking 4-7. Once the final resistance from J. Joseph (42) was removed by the bowling of Sachin Saxena and caught in the deep by vice captain Brian Kelleher then the Cup was headed back to the Mardyke.
Surprisingly, the Minor Cup was Cork County’s first victory in the competition since Dermot Giltinan led them to victory over Waterford Vikings back in 1996. In a fine gesture, Cork County’s captain Abdul Jabber Younus collected the Cup from MCU Chairman Peter Dineen with Mr Giltinan at his side.
Cork County 3 150 all out (Cronin 41, Kelleher 36, Mathew 3-40) beat Tipperary County 2 105 all out (Joseph 42, Ur Rehman 4-7, M. Younus 2-18) by 45 runs at Farmer’s Cross. scorecard
