BUAKIT DISTRICT SERIES 50 OVER PREVIEW - MATCH DAY 2 (6TH MAY)

The second round of fixtures in this season’s BUAKIT U23 District Series takes place this Bank Holiday Monday, and with this season starting much like last, with wins for Dublin City and Fingal, meaning this weekend brings a massive contest between the two sides.

Unfortunately the College Park campus is closed for the weekend, and therefore the fixture between Dublin University and South Dublin & Midlands has been cancelled with a No Result and the points shared.

FINGAL VS DUBLIN CITY

Fingal were terrific in their victory last weekend, coach Andre Botha had a full hand to pick from and his side duly delivered with a brilliant performance. They make a couple of changes to their side for this weekend, with Matthew Langan returning to their side after a loan to South Dublin & Midlands for last week’s game. Their batting was led by Brandon Kruger and Chris de Freitas, with de Freitas confirming himself as a true all-rounder with 6/12 in the second innings. Having missed his flight and therefore the game last weekend, Mike Frost returns to the squad once again and combines for an excellent left-arm spin pairing with Nasir Totakhil, with in-form Dylan Lues the third spinner in the side. Their seam bowlers are spearheaded by Sam Willemse and Sebastien de Oliveira, with support from Jeremy Martins and de Freitas.

Dublin City meanwhile are slightly weaker this weekend than last time around. Railway Union are responsible for 7 of the members of this weekend’s side, with Forqan Hassanzada taking the gloves and leg-spinner Hamza Maan coming into their side. Liam McCarthy drops out of the side and as a result Swapnil Modgil takes the captains armband. Fellow Merrion man Danny Forkin joins Clontarf’s Cillian McDonnell as one of two left-arm spinners. The batting is led by Ashli Prakash and Modgil, in a side which should be well able to put up a strong challenge to Fingal in this fixture.

FINGAL; Brandon Kruger (Capt) (The Hills) Matthew Langan (WK) (Malahide) Chris de Freitas (Balbriggan) Cameron Rowe (Balbriggan) Suliman Safi (North County) Nasir Totakhil (Rush) Sam Willemse (Balbriggan) Jeremy Martins (Malahide) Sebastien de Oliveira (Balbriggan) Dylan Lues (Balbriggan) Yaseen Sherzad (The Hills) Mike Frost (Malahide)

DUBLIN CITY; Cillian McDonnell (Clontarf) Sankeerth Karpe (Railway Union) Forqan Hassanzada (WK) (Railway Union) Hamza Maan (Railway Union) Ashil Prakash (Railway Union) Hedayatullah Khogiani (Railway Union) Andrew Doheny (Merrion) Danny Forkin (Merrion) Sean O’Brien (Railway Union) Swapnil Modgil (Capt) (Merrion) Esmat Ibrahim’s (Railway Union)