A five-wicket haul and a winning six in the penultimate over from Sajesh led NUI Galway to something of a surprise win over favourites DBS in the final of the Irish Universities Indoor tournament at Jordanstown.

DBS had finished above Galway in the group stages where they were unbeaten, but having reached 64 for 2 at the halfway stage, DBS slumped to 74 all out with Sajesh the destroyer-in-chief.

Galway were always in control of the chase, but a maiden in the seventh over had the nerves jangling with the finishing line in sight.

Sajesh however thumped the winning six with eight balls left to seal victory, amidst great scenes of celebration.

Galway chased 126 to beat DCU in the first semi-final of the 11-team event, while DBS were 71-run victors over SETU.

It was a disappointing competition for the hosts Ulster University, whose team only won one match all weekend, while they were skittled out for 0 in one of the round-robin games.

There was also disappointment for Trinity, whose two sides also failed to taste success over the three-days of competition.

The victors were presented with their trophy by Philip Carson of the Irish Universities Cricket Association, who complimented all the teams on a successful tournament, and who is already very much looking forward to 2024, marking the 50th anniversary of the Irish Universities cricket competitions.

Semi-Finals

Dublin Business School 169/4 (Vishnu Suresh 39, Sanjay Shetty 33no, Farhan Raja 31, Samran Patel 21) beat South East Technological University 95 (Abhijith Vasudeva 34, Junaid Riaz 3/30, Samran Patel 2/8) by 74 runs.

Dublin City University 126 (Darshit 49, Faizan Ali 34, Mohammad Suffyan 3/35) lost to NUI Galway 129/1 (Mohammad Danish 27no, Nikhil Prasanna 25no, Srajesh Mishra 25no, Akhil Bolisetti 23no) by five wickets.

Final

Dublin Business School 64 (Srajesh Mishra 5/6) lost to NUI Galway 66/3 (Srajesh Mishra 17no) by three wickets.