Botha's 57 helps the cause

CRICKET:NORTH COUNTY continued their unbeaten start to the season yesterday with a comfortable 106-run victory over Fingal rivals The Hills in their opening encounter in Section A of the Whitney Moore League at Balrothery.

Ireland international Andre Botha top-scored with 57, while there were valuable contributions from Adrian Murphy (44), Brian Shields (35) and Richie Lawrence (34) as the home side made 231.

The Hills would have been confident of chasing that down, but only Barry Archer, with 42, made a score of note as Eddie Richardson and pro Denver De Cruz picked up three wickets apiece to help bowl them out for 125 in the 39th over.

Leinster recorded an eight-wicket victory away to Malahide, their 16-year-old spinner George Dockrell impressing with five wickets for 30 as the home side were bowled out for 157.

Opening batsman Mark Jones hit 79, with Leinster skipper Anton Scholtz finishing unbeaten on 58 as they knocked off the runs in the 29th over.

Clontarf got off to a poor start in their defence of the title on Saturday as they went down to a 51-run defeat to Merrion at Castle Avenue.

Shorn of Rod Hokin (wrist injury) and Alex Cusack (strained back muscle), Tarf's bowling attack struggled on a good wicket; Merrion opener Alex Morison fell three short of a well-deserved ton, while there were half-centuries from John Anderson and Kade Bealsey as they posted 287.

Eoghan Delany's 40 was the only real contribution from Clontarf's top order, with skipper Greg Molins's 65 helping his side pick up a few bonus points before they were bowled out for 236 off the penultimate ball of the match.

Railway Union went to the top of Section B with a 10-wicket demolition of Munster Reds at Park Avenue.

Ireland international Thinus Fourie recorded a hat-trick and returned amazing figures of six for 10, with Mohammed Tariq picking up the other four wickets as the Reds were bowled out for just 79.

A century from Simi Singh helped Old Belvedere into second position as they took maximum points thanks to a 144-run win at home to Phoenix, while Pembroke continued their fine start to the season with a seven-wicket victory over CYM at Sydney Parade.

WM League Section A

At Balrothery: North County 231 (48.4 ovs) (A Botha 57, A Murphy 44, B Shields 35, R Lawrence 34; Mark Dwyer 4-26, M Sorensen 3-24, A Van der Merwe 2-38), The Hills 125 (38.2 ovs) (B Archer 42, M Sorensen 29; E Richardson 3-18, D De Cruz 3-24). North County (25pts) beat The Hills (0pts) by 106 runs.

At Malahide: Malahide 157 (32.2 ovs) (J Henry 70, P Markey 27; D Dockrell 5-30, K Todd, 2-28, Leinster 161-2 (28.4 ovs) (M Jones 79, A Scholtz 58no). Leinster (24pts) bt Malahide (1pt) by 8 wickets.

At Castle Avenue: Merrion 287-7 (50 ovs) (A Morison 97, J Anderson 56, K Beasley 51, D Poder 44; G Molins 3-53), Clontarf 236 (49.5 ovs) (G Molins 65, E Randall 43, E Delany 40; J Short 2-2, S Morrissey 2-39, T Patel 2-41). Merrion (22pts) bt Clontarf (3pts) by 51 runs.

Section B

At Cabra: Old Belvedere 290-6 (50 ovs) (S Singh 141, Yogesh 70; D Langford-Smith 3-41), Phoenix 146 (34.1 ovs) (K Edwards 46, D Langford-Smith 31; S Dutt 4-28, Raza 4-36). Old Belvedere (25 pts) by Phoenix (0pts) by 144 runs.

At Park Avenue: Munster Reds 79 (29.1 ovs) (M Martin 29, T Fourie 6-10 (inc hat-trick), M Tariq 4-10, Railway Union 81-0 (13.4 ovs) (K Carroll 38no, T Fisher 37 no). Railway Union (25pts) beat Munster Reds (0pts) by 10 wkts.

At Sydney Parade: CYM 155 (48.4 ovs) (M Launders 33 no, D Nichol 31, C Cotzee 29; A Balbirnie 4-29, J Cooke 3-35), Pembroke 156-3 (29.1 ovs) (A Balbirnie 63no, R Francis 60). Pembroke (24pts) beat CYM (1pt) by 7 wkts.