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In a match that will see seven members of the recent Test squad from Lord’s return to red-ball domestic cricket action, Leinster Lightning will face off with Northern Knights in the Test Triangle Inter-Provincial Championship at Pembroke Cricket Club starting Tuesday.
The Inter-Provincial Championship hasn’t received much luck from the weather so far this season, which has left the competition wide open for any of the three teams to stamp their authority on. These two sides have had some very well matched and tight limited-overs games between each other this year, and there is no reason to suggest that it won’t be exactly the same over the coming three days in the longer format of the game.

The two sides go into this game having had a draw apiece against the North West Warriors in the competition, and both teams will be very eager to get a big win on the board.

Leinster Lightning have made two changes from their last squad in this format, with Stephen Doheny, who has been in stellar form of late, coming back into the squad alongside left-arm seamer, Josh Little. Fionn Hand and Gareth Delany have dropped out of the squad for this fixture. Their side includes four men from the Irish squad last week in Lord’s – Andrew Balbirnie, Kevin O’Brien, Lorcan Tucker, and Simi Singh.

Northern Knights will be very happy to be returning to Pembroke, where they had an extremely successful T20 festival earlier this summer followed by a great win against the Lightning in the IP50 competition. Gary Wilson is back to captain this side, with Harry Tector taking the reins of vice-captain. Mark Adair has been named in the thirteen man squad for this game, as well as David Delany, the Clontarf quick who made a name for himself last year representing the Munster Reds in the T20 competition. Test opener, James McCollum is in the side alongside Shane Getkate, who has been brilliant for Ireland in the limited-overs games this summer against Zimbabwe. They will be looking to take Leinster’s scalp in another format of the game this summer and continue their good record at Sydney Parade.

Players to Watch: Leinster Lightning

As previously mentioned, the Lightning has four of the Test squad within their ranks for this game alongside five other fully capped Internationals, so the side bolsters a lot of strength in all aspects of the game. However, so often in these games it is the start of an innings that can be the key to success. Three of Leinster’s uncapped players in Jack Tector, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin, and Stephen Doheny have all been in good recent form with the bat in club cricket. Tector and Doheny registered centuries for their clubs only two weeks ago, while McLoughlin-Gavin has been scoring regular runs at the top of the innings for the Hills throughout their successful campaign. It will be very interesting to see whether these players can translate their good recent club form into this game.

Image: Test No.3 Andy Balbirnie is on home turf

Players to Watch: Northern Knights

Due to his eye-catching performance in the Test Match last week, all eyes will be on Mark Adair to see if he will line out this week for the Knights. However, they are a side full of bowling options. Matthew Foster was used to good effect in the recent Irish Academy side tour to play England u19s while the spin twins of James Cameron-Dow and Jacob Mulder have caused Leinster plenty of issues this summer already in different formats. Gary Wilson will be looking to put in a big performance with the bat for his side and could potentially take the gloves with Neil Rock off on Irish u19 duty. Harry Tector’s all-round ability will also be a key asset for the Knights.

Potential Clash: Revenge on the Menu?

This is one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the Inter-Pro series for quite a while. The Knights have already turned over the established guard of the Leinster Lightning twice this season – on both occasions, it was the spin of James Cameron-Dow and Jacob Mulder that caused the biggest issues for Leinster and they will be looking to eradicate those memories by putting in a big batting performance. Will the strong bowling attack of the Lightning keep the Knights at bay, or will be it three in a row for the Knights in a clean sweep this year at Sydney Parade?

Play starts at Pembroke Cricket Club on all three days at 11 am and entry is free.

The squads

Leinster Lightning
George Dockrell (captain), Andrew Balbirnie, Peter Chase, Stephen Doheny, Tyrone Kane, Josh Little, Barry McCarthy, Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin, Kevin O’Brien, Simi Singh, Jack Tector, Lorcan Tucker.

Northern Knights
Gary Wilson (captain), Harry Tector, David Delany, Marc Ellison, James McCollum, Chris Dougherty, Shane Getkate, James Cameron-Dow, Josh Manley, Jacob Mulder, Matthew Foster, Murray Commins, Mark Adair.

Andrew Blair White
Test debutant Mark Adair is in the Knights squad
No
Connaught