Merrion, The Hills, Balbriggan, and Railway Union will contest the semi-finals of the Alan Murray T20 Cup.

Dublin University missed a great chance to beat Merrion in their first encounter as they reached 85 for 3 in 11 overs chasing 141. Nigel Jones (38) and Gavin Hoey (25) had added 58 in 7 overs to lay the perfect platform. However the wheels came off as Tom Stanton took four wickets as the students finished 10 runs adrift. Merrion's 140 for 6 was based primarily on an opening stand of 93 in 13.3 overs between Irish international Stephen Doheny (48) and Jack Carty (43). John Anderson hit two sixes in a breezy 28, while there were three wickets for Gavin Hoey and two for Mikey O'Reilly.

Merrion duly clinched the semi-final berth as they beat Leinster by 7 wickets, while maintaining their NRR superiority over Dublin University. Joey Carroll's half century helped Leinster to 140 for 6, with 20s from Peter Francis and Michael Hogan. Stephen Doheny matched him with a better than even time 54, while John Anderson (35*) found boundaries when needed to seal the win with seven balls remaining.

Dublin University won the battle but lost the war, as they bowed out of the cup despite an emphatic demolition of North Kildare. Two wickets apiece for Scott Ruttle and Gavin Hoey saw Kildare skittled for 69. The chase saw Hoey and Rory Betley go quickly, but Nic Pretorius (35*) and Sanil Gupta (27*) shared an unbroken third wicket stand of 62 in 7 overs as the win was achieved in the 9th over.

Leinster ran out very convincing 8-wicket winners as they brushed aside North Kildare. Three wickets apiece for Joey Carroll (3-14) and Devender Ranolia (3-19) restricted Kildare to a very modest 91 for 9. Saqib Bahadur hit four boundaries in his unbeaten 43, while Peter Francis sped them across the line with 30 not out from just 15 balls (3 fours, 2 sixes) to seal the win with nearly seven overs to spare.

Skipper Andrew Kavanagh kept The Hills' semi-final hopes alive as he and Cian Nulty delighted the sizeable home support with a match winning 7th wicket stand. Chasing 145, Hunter Kindley (3-19) has the hosts reeling on 67 for 6, before the pair added 64 in 7 overs to turn around the tie. Kavanagh top-scored with an unbeaten 40 ( 3 fours, 2 sixes), while Nulty clubbed 3 sixes and 2 fours in a hard-hit 31 from just 15 balls. Nulty had taken three wickets too in a fine bowling display, which also saw Jonathan Tall claim two scalps. Ali Frost (46) and Kindley (25*) were the best of the villagers 144 for 7.

Llew Johnson was in the runs again as the New Zealand professional's boundary laden 97 ensured a very comfortable win for Rush against North County in the Fingal derby. Johnson thumped 7 fours and 7 sixes in his brilliant 97 from 45 balls as Rush posted 180 for 9 - Cian Egerton (21) the only other batter to pass 20. Tanvir Hassan and Abdul Sattar claimed three wickets apiece. John Devane's 32 was the best of the County reply - three wickets for Jared Barnes and skipper Nathan McGuire in the 75-run victory.

Nathan Rooney's boundary blitz ensured The Hills sealed their semi-final berth as they beat Malahide for a second time. Coming to the middle with the hosts in trouble at 10 for 3, Rooney thumped 9 sixes and 4 fours in his 84 from just 35 balls to completely alter the complexion of the contest. He added 72 with skipper Andrew Kavanagh (19), while there runs down the order from Tomas Rooney (29) and Cian Nulty (27). James Newland and David O'Halloran both had figures of 3-41. Malahide's reply never got any momentum with three wickets for Jonathan Tall, and two apiece for Sean McNicholl, Nic Laegsgaaard and Cian Nulty. It took an entertaining 40 from just 24 balls by Fintan McAllister (2 fours, 3 sixes) to get them over the 100.

Jonathan Andrews hit a sparkling unbeaten hundred to dent Rush hopes of qualification and do his former Hills teammates a favour. Andrews 101 not out came from just 60 deliveries, which included 11 fours and 4 sixes. Eddie Richardson also chipped in with 39 as County made a challenging 191 for 6. The target became even more daunting when Llew Johnson fell cheaply, and Rush were always well behind the rate despite the best efforts of Neil Rock. 'Pebbles' hit 6 fours and 3 sixes in his 42-ball 61, while Jack McGee made 30. Abdul Ghaffar (3-31) and Eddie Richardson (2-21) ensured the 32-run verdict.

The Railway Union bandwagon rolled on as they steamrollered YMCA by 9 wickets to secure qualification for the semi-finals. Four wickets for Hamza Maan, three for Liam McCarthy and two for Alan Mathew saw YM kept to 104 for 9 - Jack Tector's run-a-ball 28 their best effort. That total proved woefully inadequate as Riley Mudford hit 3 fours and 4 sixes in his unbeaten 51 from just 28 balls, sharing an opening stand of 82 with Kenny Carroll (40) as they cruised to victory using just half their allotted overs.

Seamus Lynch powered Terenure to an emphatic 8-wickets in the first of their T20 clashes with Pembroke. He hit 7 fours and 7 sixes in a whirlwind unbeaten 79 from 37 deliveries, sharing an opening stand of 94 in 9 overs with Raghav Grover (23) as the hosts chased down 116 easily. Donncha Tucker dismissed Grove and Mick Cotter (0) in the space of three balls, but it was only a little consolation in a one-sided contest. Rob Kelly hit 5 fours and 3 sixes in a hard-hit 44 from 20 balls, but there was little else for Pembroke to cheer as three wickets for Bhavic Tukrel and Darshit Shetty saw them bowled out for 115 - nowhere near enough.

With qualification having been already secured in the morning match, both sides experimented with their line-up and batting orders with little at stake but bragging rights. Fakhar Zaman made 39 and took two wickets, while 14 year-old debutant Johnny Woods scored an unbeaten 6 an also picked up his first senior wicket. YM would have been happy to have restricted Railway to 114 with a combined six wickets for the Anders brothers. YM though couldn't chase it down despite 34 from Jack Tector, losing by two runs - Aaron Bailey hitting a four off the final delivery when a six was needed for a tie.

Seamus Lynch hit another typically belligerent 55 from 26 balls (5 fours, 5 sixes) as Terenure beat Phoenix again. There was little to play for but pride, and in a tight encounter Lynch's pyrotechnics proved decisive, as the win was clinched with two balls left - vital late order runs from Hilal Asad and Niqash Ali.

A second wicket stand of 109 in 12 overs between Callum O'Byrne and Jed Wiggins saw Phoenix beat Civil Service for the second time, sealing the seven-wickets win in the final over. O'Byrne scored a run-a-ball 57, while Wiggins made a quickfire 49 and George Dockrell a rapid 23.

Balbriggan put in fine all-round performance to beat Clontarf by 6 wickets in another derby game. Ruan Cronje top-scored with a run-a-ball 38 as the Castle Avenue side posted a modest looking 106 for 7 - Eoghan Delany making 26 and Matthew Pollard (3-11) the best of the attack. Balbriggan were always in control of the chase although it did take them until the final over. Greg Ford (33), Chris De Freitas (32) and Connor Fletcher (23) all chipping in to the win - teenager Liam Gilhooly (2-12) once again in the wickets.

Connor Fletcher was in the runs again as he scored a brilliant century to lead Balbriggan into the last four, beating Clontarf for the second time in the day. He cleared the ropes 8 times and also stroked 7 fours in an unbeaten 102 from 60 balls. Fletcher shared a second wicket stand of 142 with Cameron Rowe, whose 42 included 6 fours, sealing the win with 14 balls left.

Phoenix had little trouble accounting for Civil Service in the local derby. Srikanth Boddu made 41 but received little support as the Civil Service were restricted to 102 for 9 - three wickets for Irish international George Dockrell, plus two apiece for Jed Wiggins and Oliver Hald. Dockrell went cheaply in the chase, but Levon Shields cleared the ropes five times in his undefeated 59 from just 41 balls, as they eased to the 8-wickets win in just 12 overs.