Matthew Pollard produced a Man-of-the-Match performance as Balbriggan created history by winning the Alan Murray T20 Cup, beating nearby rivals The Hills by 54 runs in the showdown at Sydney Parade. Pollard thumped five sixes in his 42 from only 22 balls to get Balbriggan up to 161 for 7 - around 20 more than looked likely for the majority of their innings. Conor Fletcher's good T20 form continued at the top of the order as he too made 42 (4 fours, 2 sixes), while Cameron Rowe made a steady 30 after the innings had faltered - two wickets apiece for Jonathan Tall and Nicolaj Laegsgaard. The Hills hopes for a repeat of Laegsgaard's semi-final heroics were quickly dashed, bowled for just two in the second over by Sam Willemse. When Murray Commins fell, it sparked a flurry of wickets - four for just four runs - and at 41 for 5 the contest was effectively over. Andrew Kavanagh (34) ensured they got over 100, but it was a small consolation in a game where Balbriggan were dominant. Left-armer Sam Willemse took 3 for 25, while there were two apiece for Dylan Lues, Matt Pollard and Farooq Nasr. Another year, another trophy for Balbriggan, who on this form will be maybe right in the mix for the biggest trophy of them all - the Bob Kerr Irish Senior Cup. They will of course get a chance too at being All-Ireland T20 champions, representing Leinster in the four-team competition in August.

Nicolaj Laegsgaard produced one of, if not the most destructive innings in the history of T20 cricket as The Hills powered past Merrion to reach the Alan Murray final. Chasing Merrion's 166 for 6, the Danish international hit a barely believable 15 sixes and 2 fours in his unbeaten 100 which took only 37 balls. He shared an opening stand of 134 in 10.3 overs with Cormac McLoughlin-Gavin as a shell-shocked home attack were battered into submission. McLoughlin-Gavin made an unbeaten 44 (5 fours, 1 six) as the Milverton side cruised to the 9-wicket win. Earlier Stephen Doheny's hard-hit 65 from 39 balls (10 fours, 1 six) was the highlight of the home side's innings, sharing stands of 56 and 52 for the first two wickets with Jack Carty and Sam Harbinson - both of whom made 23. The innings lost its way somewhat as Tomas Rooney-Murphy and Jonathan Tall took a combined five wickets to apply the brakes. Sean Stanton and Max Sorensen struck a few lusty blows as 30 came in the last three overs. It looked a challenging total but Laegsgaard's boundary blitz - 98 of the 100 came in boundaries - made it look woefully inadequate.

Balbriggan reached the final with a fine batting effort which once again showcased the depth and quality of the squad that Andre Botha has assembled. Railway had started well and with Riley Mudford hitting 9 sixes and 6 fours in a brilliant 101, the prospect of Balbriggan featuring in the decider looked a remote one. Mudford shared a fourth wicket stand of 104 in just 10 overs with Liam McCarthy (28) and at that stage, 200 was on the cards. However, 'spin to win' saw Dylan Lues and Farooq Nasr share seven wickets, and while a total of 171 for 9 was a good one, they hadn't batted Balbriggan out of the game. Farooq Nasr got the chase off to an excellent start, as he hit 5 fours and 2 sixes in his 56 from 33 balls, sharing half century stands with Conor Fletcher (25) and Cameron Rowe (22). Chris De Freitas also chipped in with 21, while skipper Greg Ford brought his side home with a hard-hit 41 from only 18 balls (4 fours, 3 sixes) as they clinched the win with seven balls to spare.