There was further last-ball drama at The Mardyke as Leinster edged out Cork County, while Merrion trounced Balbriggan by ten wickets.

There was no sign of the excitement to come as Cork County were reduced to 25 for 5 batting first, but 42 from Sukphal Singh and 20 from Alex Gasper salvaged something from the wreckage and a total of 138 for 9 in a rain-reduced 37 overs game gave their bowlers something to aim at.

Mark Tonge (3-21) was best with the ball and he was to be at the centre of the win too with the willow in hand.

The Dubliners were in trouble at 15 for 3, before Gareth Delany (30) and Saqib Bahadur (27) added 50, but the Munster side were still favourites at 86 for 7 - 53 needed from eight overs.

Tonge (27*) and Karthikeyan Jawahar (28*) were the heroes with Jawahar scoring the 12 needed off the final over, making the trip back a very satisfying one for Leinster.

Meanwhile at Jack Harper Park, Merrion flexed their muscles with a ten-wickets win over Balbriggan.

Dylan Lues hit 7 fours and 2 sixes in 67 from 65 balls, but his was a lone hand in Balbriggan's 147 all out.

Jack Carty and Stephen Doheny shared an unbeaten opening stand of 148 to seal th ten wickets win in the 31st over.

Carty hit 11 fours and a six in his 82 from 103 balls, while Doheny's 55 came from 80 balls, and included 4 fours and a six.

SCORES

At The Mardyke, Leinster beat Cork County by 3 wickets
Cork County 138/9 (37 overs; S Singh 42, A Gasper 20; M Tonge 3-21)
Leinster 139/7 (37 overs; G Delany 30, K Jawahar 28*, M Tonge 27*; B McDonough 2-19, E O’Sullivan 2-39)

At Jack Harper Park, Merrion beat Balbriggan by 10 wickets
Balbriggan 147 all out (37.5 overs; D Lues 67; M Sinan 2-22, A Sidhu 2-24)
Merrion 148/0 (30.3 overs; J Carty 82*, S Doheny 55*)