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DUBLIN – Waringstown and Rush continued their relentless charge for more All-Ireland Cup glory as they both moved into the semi-final of their respective competitions over the weekend.

Waringstown are looking to add a seventh Arachas Irish Senior Cup to their trophy cabinet following a 61-run victory over Merrion in the game of the day at The Lawn on Sunday.

Having posted 324-8 from their 50 overs, through half-centuries from Patrick Botha (59), Morgan Topping (77), and Greg Thompson (88), their bowlers proceeded to bowl Merrion out with 4.1 overs remaining. Thompson’s knock of 88 included eleven fours and three sixes.

Stephen Doheny and John Anderson did put up a 101-run partnership for the second wicket for Merrion, but a middle-order collapse proved their undoing.

Leinster won a low-scoring affair at Observatory Lane. They bowled Phoenix out for 92 in the 33rd over – Levon Shields the best of their batters with 35, while Peter Francis (3-24) and Saqib Bahadur (3-7) took six wickets between them. In reply, Leinster opening pair Bilal Azhar and Michael Hogan posted 49 to set them on their way to a four wicket win.

Nicolaj Laegsgaard, Murray Commins, and Mark Donegan all had scores in the thirties as The Hills beat Instonians by six wickets at The Vineyard. In an excellent all-round display all five of their bowlers took wickets. Cade Carmichael was the best of the Instonians batters, posting 33, while Nikolai Smith scored 29.   

There was a thrilling encounter at Sydney Parade between 2019 champions Pembroke and Cricket Leinster’s 2022 IBI Corporate Finance Premier League champions Balbriggan.

A half-century from JJ Garth, along with scores from Darcy Tucker (31), Theo Lawson (35), and Danny Hogan (30), saw Pembroke post a little a score of 236 all out, in a total that appeared to be a few runs short. However, despite an excellent 88 from Greg Ford, up stepped bowlers Nick Stapleton, (4-36), Gavin Hoey (3-40) and Fiachra Tucker (2-38) to bowl Balbriggan out for 212 as they sealed a spot in the semi-finals by 24 runs with three overs remaining.

In the Arachas National Cup Rush cruised to a 197-run victory over St Johnston at The Boathole. The visitors were put in to bat first and openers Llewelyn Johnson and Neil Rock went on to post a 145-run partnership. Asher Abassi (22) and Jared Barnes (35) also chipping in with runs. The hosts St Johnston could only muster 83 in reply with David Anthony top-scoring with 22. Cian Egerton was on fire with the ball, claiming a five-fer (5-12), while Neary took 3-16.

Derriaghy we’re comfortable seven-wicket winners over Munster side Limerick in a low scoring contest in Queensway, Belfast. They restricted the Shannonsiders to just 82, with only a 44-run third wicket stand between Sarfraz Ramay and Tim Smithies to show for their efforts, with Curtis Moorehead’s 4-13 an outstanding effort with the ball for the victors. Derriaghy then had little difficulty reaching their target as a 51-run partnership between opener Matthew Halliday (33*) and Sam Gordon saw them home inside ten overs.

Francis Collins scored 94 for Cliftonville Academy as they thrashed Killyclooney at the Castle Grounds. Jared Wilson (48), Abhishek Raut (42), and David Reid (38) also contributed handsomely to their total of 245-4. In reply, Killyclooney could only manage 76 – with their talisman Blayde Capell out for 23 – their top score on the day. Matthew McCord was superb with the ball for Cliftonville, taking a five-fer (5-6) in a quick-fire bowling spell.

Muckamore defeated last year’s runners-up Terenure by seven wickets at Moylena. Terenure struggled for meaningful partnerships throughout their innings, with only Donal Vaughan (32) and Bhavic Tukrel (23) posting any score of note, as they were bowled out for 145 inside 36 overs. Then, a 111-run third wicket partnership between Ewan Wilson and Canadian under-19 International Benjamin Calitz ensured victory for Muckamore.

Scorecards from the quarter-finals of both competitions are found here (go to the ‘Results’ tab and filter by competition name).