A PLACE in the quarter finals escaped Limerick CC as their run chase against Ardmore fell just 14 runs shy of victory in Derry on Sunday.
Anvesh Bogavelly and his side made the long, sub-650km round trip in search of another victory up north, but couldn’t chase down a gettable target in perfect playing conditions.
Bogavelly elected to bowl first having won the toss, a decision which, at the halfway point in the day’s play, looked to be the perfect one.
Ramoji Alla struck in the third over to bring his side’s first on 17-1, before some economical spells allowed the score to be kept below par after the power play.
The duo of Ramay and Bogavelly paid dividends with spin, with Bogavelly taking two in the nineteenth over to leave the score at 87-4 at drinks.
A good piece of fielding from Ullah ensured the runout of Safi at 93-6 as Ajay Hari and Prasad Hegde joined the party to take two and one wickets respectively, dismissing Ardmore fully for 154 runs.
The pressure was piled on early from the hosts as the visitors found themselves one down inside the first over, losing Nishant Kumar to the new ball.
Karur and Venkatesh attempted to stem the momentum and did well to take the shine off the new ball, but were both dismissed in the same over before Limerick lost Ullah in the 14th to 54-4.
Ramay, in at 6, was dismissed on the final ball before drinks to turn the tide in Ardmore’s favour as Limerick now relied on their tail to get them over the line.
Bogavelly and Hegde put together 37 runs, accumulating to their side’s highest partnership, before a late flurry from Manoj Sharma couldn’t be helped from the other end as the end of Borghare, Alla and Hari came in quick succession as the Shannonsiders finished on 140 all out, needing 14 runs from the remaining 15 balls before the final wicket fell.
Ardmore 1: 154 all out off 38.1 overs.
Anvesh Bogavelly 3-15
Ajay Hari 2-21
Limerick 1: 140 all out off 37.3 overs.
Prasad Hegde 29
Anvesh Bogavelly 28
Meanwhile, Limerick climbed back up to second place in Division Two with a strong win over local rivals Limerick Blasters.
Limerick Blasters 2: 160 all out off 38 overs.
Sathya Prabu 4-18
Robert McCutcheon 2-28
Limerick 3: 161-6 off 33 overs.
Abubakar Aziz 47
Nofil Khan 24*
And, what a grand day out for the 4ths at the weekend.
In a match that had spectators spilling their tea, Limerick clawed their way back from the brink of disaster to secure a famous victory over Cork County.
With Darshan captaining the side for the first time, LCC produced a superb all-round performance to secure a memorable victory.
Cork County 4: 179 all out off 39.3 overs.
Muhammad Aziz 4-47
Arham Ullah 3-23
Limerick 4: 180-7 off 32.4 overs.