In the first Semi-Final of The Sunday Independent All-Ireland T20 Cup, Cork County took on Leinster champions Clontarf at Bready. The T20 Finals day brought together the four champions from each province in order to crown the All-Ireland winners.

Following a delayed start due to the wet overnight conditions, the game was reduced to 10 overs and after winning the toss, Clontarf skipper Stuart Poynter opted to bat first. Opener Coghlan batted through for an unbeaten 55 off 35 balls which pushed the Leinster champions to a total of 93-5 which looked tricky on a slow pitch.

The Dubliners had suffered a pre-game setback when fast bowler David Delany was withdrawn having tweaked a hamstring in Friday’s Wolves fixture. With his debut full cap beckoning this week a rest was the judicious solution.

In reply, County openers Cormac Hassett and Abubakar Saddique attempted to get the innings off to a positive start and after a slow first over then some began to find the boundary.

Clontarf bowlers Conor Kelly, Sameer Dutt and Obus Pienaar were particularly economical, and County losing wickets steadily, their task looked extremely difficult. Rob Duggan and Aaron Cawley hoisted a few plucky sixes towards the end but the Munster men fell 16 runs short.

ALL-IRELAND T20 CUP SEMI-FINAL

Bready, County Tyrone

Clontarf 93-3 [10 overs] (Coghlan 55*) beat Cork County 77-6 [10 overs] (Hassett 19, Kelly 2-12, Dutt 2-14) by 16 runs.  scorecard

(images courtesy of cricketeurope.com)