County 3rds took on Thurles in Division 3 on Saturday last. Thurles captain K.Marchbank won the toss and chose to bat first on a cold and showery day at the Mardyke. The Thurles skipper and fellow opener Jogash got to work quickly playing some nice shots to the leg side and moving the score to 12 before Marchbank(7) mistimed another shot through square-leg and lifted it straight back to the County bowler Narsa Renjarla(1-18) who took a good catch.
Renjarla and fellow opening bowler Chris Goncalves bowled well as usual but could not make another breakthrough as Thurles number 3 Sarath smashed his way to 18. After 4 over spells from the two seamers County captain James McCarthy brought slow-medium paced Aidan Kelleher, and left arm off-spinner Kevin O’Sullivan into the attack. The change of pace worked wonders for County and Sarath could not add to his total, lifting one up in the air behind square on the leg-side and watching in despair as wicketkeeper Scott McNamara took a magnificent diving catch to give Kelleher(2-5) the first of his two wickets.
Following a maiden from O’Sullivan’s first over Aidan Kelleher took his second wicket this time Jogash(7) directing one straight to James McCarthy at mid-wicket. The visitors were now struggling and things got worse for them when J.Marfield(3) attempted a pull shot off a quicker delivery by Kevin O’Sullivan(3-5) which found Aidan Kelleher at square-leg.
Romaldo(0) and F.O’Brien(1) were in all sorts of trouble facing Kelleher and O’Sullivan but it was the bowling of the spinner which did for them both, Romaldo lifting one to Aidan Kelleher at point and O’Brien top edging one to debutant David O’Donovan at short fine leg.
Between those wickets however was a very unusual run out. F.O’Brien who was out shortly afterwards, blocked a straight delivery back to Kelleher and called for a single. The suicidal attempt resulted in Thurles batsman Dell being run out by half the length of the pitch, Scott McNamara removing the bails without hesitation.
After a 10 minute rain delay Goncalves(2-22) returned to the attack and took the wicket of D.Richardson(0). This left Thurles 50-8 and they only managed to add 6 more to their total before Goncalves took the 9th and final wicket of the innings(Thurles could only field 10 players) when Ian Coleman took a sharp catch at short cover. County’s excellent work in the field and the bowling of Aidan Kelleher and Kevin O’Sullivan aswell as valuable contributions from Renjarla, Goncalves and Coleman restricting the visitors to 56 all out.
After a short break Cork County openers Renjarla(5) and Paul McDowell(12) set to work attempting to reach the target of 57. Some good shots through the off-side which the cover fielders found very difficult to stop propelled County to 15 without loss from 4 overs before Sarath(1-28) took a fantastic catch off his own bowling to dismiss Renjarla. Paul McDowell soon followed after he was bowled by Jogash, the seamer getting one to swing in and take out middle stump.
A solid partnership between Australian Bryn Nelmes and the County skipper James McCarthy(11) saw some lovely shots, both through the off-side and the leg-side. The 26 run partnership together with some wides from the Thurles seamers who both bowled 7 overs brought County to within 2 runs of the target but before they could reach the magic number James McCarthy was out, caught at cover off Jogash(2-26).
This brought Scott McNamara(2*) to the crease and although Thurles did change the bowling and bring in Romaldo, County needed just one of his deliveries to wrap up the victory in, Bryn Nelmes finishing on 20*.
Final Result: Cork County 3 beat Thurles by 7 wickets at the Mardyke.