Dundalk Cricket Club (DCC) made history on Sunday 13th August 2023, winning their first ever T20 Tournament to lift the 110 Year old GS Cricket T20 Trophy and have their name sealed in Irish cricketing history. The club says they have had a very dominating season this year with both teams, but their firsts have been on another level winning 14 out of their 17 games and losing only two. They showed their great strength to beat Ongar last Sunday to win the T20 Tournament. The tournament was heavily contested and included 14 teams in total.
The match was played at a neutral venue, The Inch (North County CC Home Ground) on a nice sunny afternoon and was live telecast online so their fans got to view the exciting battle. Dundalk lost the toss and were put in to bat first. The pitch at The Inch proved to be a challenging one as DCC’s in-form batsmen couldn’t quite get their usual flair but nevertheless kept battling on until they were bowled out for 107 runs. Sakhi Jan scored 35 runs from 27 balls and Avijot Singh 26 from 27 balls. The low score gave the opposition great hope who believed they had the game in their hand, especially having bowled Dundalk out for their lowest score this season.
The chase started well for Ongar who fired away from the start with a couple of boundaries to get the start they needed to silence Dundalk. However Dundalk’s extremely strong bowling came in full force and started toppling their batsmen one by one and getting them all out for 44, which included 4 ducks and three batsmen only managing a single run! Umer Khan and Sanju Baby took 3 wickets each and were pick of the bowlers.
Player of the Match went to Umer for his bowling performance and removing Ongar’s on-form batsman. Bowler of the Tournament was won by Sanju Baby and Batsman of the tournament was Sakhi Jan.
Dundalk 1 are currently also leading their division while the Seconds are currently in 2nd place but have a very strong chance to win the league.
The club have had great support from local businesses and communities and would like to thank their sponsors Grafton Barbers, Phone X2 Dundalk, Vitality Sports, Marhaba Food Store, Sitara Indian Restaurant, Blueberry International and Therapeutic Touch Dundalk. They also would like to thank Dundalk FC, Dundalk Grammar School and Cricket Leinster who have supported them throughout the season. The club hopes that this win will get them more sponsorships and funding that allows them to build critical facilities at the premises like changing rooms, toilets and complete the training nets.
The club has had a record 45 player registered but unfortunately haven’t been able to recruit young talent. This win should inspire more to take on Cricket so that the club can continue their vision of having a youth and a women’s team.
Get in touch with the club if you would like to get involved in cricket or learn more about it. They can be reached on www.dundalkcricket.com or email contact@dundalkcricket.com
