FIRST SUNDAY GAMES OF 2026 (12.4.2026)

This Sunday will see the season kick into gear with 5 games taking place across 5 different divisions.

Tyrrelstown 3 will play host to North County 4, while Kilkenny 2 will make the longer trip to take on Sandyford at Marlay Park. Clondalkin 3 will get their division 16 season underway against Lucan 4 whilst league debutants Lucan 5 will host Tyrrelstown 5 in Division 17b at St Catherine’s Park. The highest level game of the weekend will see The Hills 3 travel to Poppintree Park to take on newly promoted Finglas 1.

TYRRELSTOWN 3 vs NORTH COUNTY 4

These teams have never met in open competitions before but will certainly be hopeful of stamping their authority over their opponent and getting their 2026 off to the perfect start.

Tyrrelstown will be confident of building on their 2025 effort having been promoted from division 12. Last season got off to a rocky start for them, with a rain off and a loss to Clontarf 4 meaning they went into week 3 of the season winless. From there though, they hit their straps only losing a further 2 games over the course of the season to secure promotion to division 11 for the 2026 season.

Particularly impressive was a win over North Kildare by 80 runs. After setting a disappointing 165 after a top score of 35 from Sharath Goud Yerakala, Santosh Konduru was the pick of the bowlers with 5/33 blowing away the North Kildare top order as they were bundled out for just 85.

Their main man with the bat in 2025 was Sarath Macha, amassing 299 runs at an average of 33.22 and they will no doubt be hopeful of more of the same if they are to challenge for back to back league titles.

After a middling start, winning 2 of their first 4 games, something the North County 4s would have been bullish about building on, the wheels somewhat fell of the for the Inch side as they failed to win another game in 2025 and in doing so unfortunately secured relegation from division 10. They will know what they have in their changing room however, and will be keen to put things right in 2026.

2025 was a tough season for North County undoubtedly but both Tariq Quadri (360 runs) and Rana Muhhamad (330 runs) shone bright with the bat, if they can have a similar showing in 2026 North County will be well on their way back to division 10.

This weekend is a huge game between these two sides as one looks to build on a strong 2025 while the other look to dispel the demons of theirs, it promises to be a cracker.

SANDYFORD 4 vs KILKENNY 2

This fixture is an exact match to last year’s opening game for 2025, with Kilkenny 2 once again making the long pilgrimage to Marlay Park. They will be hoping for better fortune this season with the 2025 game ending in a rain out. The other game between these two side in 2025 took place at Castleblunden on 29th June with the home side prevailing by 2 wickets in a nail-biter!

On that day, batting was tough with only 2 batters crossing the 20 run mark. In a tight game Viren Rathan Jeevraj shone for the Kilkenny team picking up 3/17 in leading his side to a hard fought victory.

Outside of that game it was an average season for Sandyford 4, winning 7 of their remaining 15 games. They will be looking for increased consistency in 2026 to be in with a shout for promotion come September time. Rahul Patil was their stand-out batter in 2025 with 327 runs at an average 40.88 per innings and was head and shoulders above his teammates. If he can start this season in similar fashion, Sandyford will have a great opportunity to start with a win.

That said, on the face of it, Kilkenny had a stronger showing than Sandyford in 2025, winning 11 of their 16 games and will want to go one further this season and push for promotion by the autumn.  

Kilkenny will be hopeful of a repeat of their 2025 win over Sandyford

CLONDALKIN 3 vs LUCAN 4

Clondalkin 3 put in a solid performance during the 2025 season winning 7 of their 14 games but lacked the consistency required for a title run. Their most impressive effort came on the 20th July last in a 7 wicket win over Halverstown 2. Anmol Rathi led the way with a remarkable 4/14 while there were also wickets for Muhammad Saud Memon (2/23), Basim Sabir 1/23), Abdul Basit Dalvi (1/14) and MD Mia (1/25). Semanta Das then led his side to a comfortable 7 wicket win finishing unbeaten on 54*.

Meanwhile Lucan 4 will be looking to maintain their form from last season which saw them secure promotion with wins in 8/13 league games whilst also reaching the semi-final stage of the Minor Cup competition.

There is no clear favourite in this game, Lucan will have the confidence and momentum from 2025 while Clondalkin have the experience of what it takes to survive in this league. One thing is for sure, in a tight league every win will matter!

LUCAN 5 vs TYRRELSTOWN 5

This will be Lucan 5’s first season in open competitions, while we have no recent form to go off for them from 2025, we can only assume that they will have been energised by their 4th XI’s 2025 showing and will feel they can make a similar mark on Cricket Leinster open competitions in 2026.

Lucan will be hoping for more silverware in 2026

Tyrrelstown 5 will be looking for increased consistency in 2026. Their 2025 was adequate, winning 7 of 15 games in the league. The issue for them was that there were never able to string together a run of wins at any stage in the season.

Their most impressive effort of the season undoubtedly came on 10th August when they defeated Carlow 3 by 10 wickets. It was team effort with the wickets spread between 5 bowlers, Saviour Nickolas Derel Joseph Fernandez the pick with 2/17. Their openers then took up the charge for victory with Nilesh Choudhary (69*) and Debjyoti Haldar (40*) putting on an unbeaten 138 to take their team over the line in style.

They will know that with the quality of players at their disposable that they should be competing for silverware this season.

FINGLAS 1 vs THE HILLS 3

This is the highest level game of the day as Finglas 1 host The Hills 3 at Poppintree Park in Division 9.

Finglas 1 had a hugely successful 2025 season that saw them promoted from Division 10 based on consistent performances on a week-in, week-out basis.

They put together a particularly impressive run of six wins in 8 weeks at the end of the season ensuring promotion to division 9 for the 2026 season.

Their standout performance came on 20th July at home against Mullingar 2 when they secured a 110 run victory. They piled on a remarkable 308 in 45 overs off the back of a magnificent 120 by Rahul Balachandran, he also had the support of Jayadev Divakar with 67. From there, 3 wickets a piece for Nishant Naik and Rintu Varghese blew away their Westmeath opponents for just 198.

Finglas will know 2026 will be a challenge for them as they step up a level however they will also be confident that they can make a strong start at home this weekend.

Finglas 1 are no strangers to a trophy

The 2025 season for The Hills 3 was a solid one with six wins in the league from 10 completed fixtures. 

Their strongest performer with the bat was Muhammad Hassan who scored 183 runs at an average of 26.14 in 2025. Their bowlers were led in 2025 by Mohammad Romal Hashimi (19 wickets) and that man Muhammad Hassan again chipping in with 15 wickets.

While The Hills 3 will be somewhat frustrated by their late season form in 2025, they will know that if they can replicate their early season form from last season, they will be in a great position for a 2026 title charge. Their 2025 season included league wins over Bagenalstown, Castleknock, Laois, Tyrrelstown, Sandyford and Malahide – plenty to build on for the season ahead.

These games promise to be crackers so make sure to follow along on the CL Match Centre (below) throughout the weekend to keep up to date with all the action.

https://www.cricketleinster.ie/match-centre