VITALLITY FIRST TEAM LEAGUE PREVIEW – JULY 27TH

This week sees the first full round of fixtures in this league for a couple of weeks. The action is very much hotting-up as each team vies to book their place in the 2026 Premier League.

The action this week is as follows: North Kildare will look to get back on track after a disappointing loss to Terenure last week as they host Adamstown at The Maws. Terenure will head to the Phoenix Park to take on Civil Service as both these teams aim to remain in North Kildare’s slip stream heading into August, the visitors have the opportunity to leapfrog this week’s opponents with a victory in this tie.

At present North Kildare still sit clear at the top of the table but now only one win ahead of Civil Service in second place and with 1 more game played than everyone else. Terenure and Adamstown both sit on 74 points in 3^rd and 4^th but will know a win this weekend will catapult them right into the title race.

CIVIL SERVICE VS TERENURE

Terenure got their campaign back on track last week with an excellent win over North Kildare. Donie Lynch was the hero with 87 as he powered his side to an unassailable total.

They are expected to line up similarly this week as they hunt for another win. With regular opener Mick Cotter unavailable, Gareth Morgan will have a new partner at the top of the order for this weekend, and whoever it is will likely be joined in the top three by Zeeshan Mumtaz who is in good form, having made a decent start last week. Overseas Hancke Von Rauenstein will lead the middle order with support from skipper Donal Lynch, Thomas Shand and Sid Nair if he wins his fitness battle.

The bowlers will be led by Dylan Cleary, he will likely share the new ball with Shand who prised out two early wickets last week. Terenure have further seam reinforcements in Benjamin Dillon and Kripesh Shetty. The spinners will be led by Jinal Khatri and he will be supported by the part-time offering of Niqash Ali, who also bowls off-breaks.

Civil Service had no game last week but come into this game off the back of a good 6 wicket win against Cork Harlequins. They will no doubt have enjoyed seeing this week’s opponents, Terenure, beating North Kildare last week, as they moved to within 1 win of the top spot, with the leader’s game in hand wiped out.

They have had a settled batting unit this season led by skipper Deepak Jayachandran who has been in fine form. He has had support from the likes of Kushal Narang, Ankit Gusain, Simranjeet Singh and Dhiraj Shetty who have all enjoyed a fruitful time this season at differing times.

Their bowlers are led by the evergreen Mubasher Siddique, whilst Naveed Khan will likely join him on new ball duties. Service can also call on Shreyansh Khanna and Dhiraj Shetty in the seam department along with the offerings of Simranjeet Singh, Aamir Bafanda and Suman Dey who had a great day out against Cork taking 4 wickets.

Deepak Jayachandran is his side’s key, if he gets his team off to a solid start their hitter can do real damage, Dylan Cleary will be charged with removing him early and setting the cat amongst the pigeons.

Key Battle – Deepak Jayachandran vs Dylan Cleary

ADAMSTOWN VS NORTH KILDARE

Adamstown will be taking part in their first game since July 5^th this week as they take on North Kildare, they are in a strong position in the table to mount a challenge but will need a win this week.

They will line up similarly to how they have all season with Sidharth Biju, Aditya Gupta and the returning Niranjan Shankar taking spots in the top 3. Biju and Shankar in particular were in good form at the last time of asking and their side will hope for more of the same this week. The middle order is led by Dinesh Antony Kidagan David, alongside him they have Rohit Gulati, Kunal Nagare and the utility of Prabhanshu Kamal in a strong batting unit.

Their bowlers led by a duo of quicks in Pomin Ponselvan and Nithin Padmaprabhu who have both found great success this season with the ball. Kidagan David provides more than able support in the seam department. Prabhanshu Kamal will be the main spinner in the side and he has been in fine from already picking up 14 wickets in this competition, Shankar will provide a second spin option with his off breaks should they be required.   

North Kildare come into this fixture somewhat reeling after a loss to Terenure that has seen them pulled right back into reach of the chasing pack, they will want to put that right this week with a win.

Their batting is led by Yash Kalasannavar, he has already amassed 371 runs at 74.20. Husnain Maroof and Moise Haider in the top 3. From there the Kilcock side have a litany of big hitters to call on the most notable of whom are Josh Uddin and Asadullah Ahmadzai who are both capable of taking the game away from their opponents off the back of a strong foundation.

Husnain Maroof’s shoulder issue has kept him away from the bowling crease of late, so Anees Ahmad will likely take the new ball alongside Nurulain Boda, North Kildare also have the Ahmadzai brothers, Adnan and Asadullah to call upon. Ali Elahi’s hamstring injury last weekend is a cause for concern, so it would be a boost if he is also available, as if not, they may need to continue experimenting with the exploits of Haider and Josh Uddin to round out their attack.

Yash Kalasannavar will be the key to his side’s batting as he has been all season, Adamstown will look to their quick in Pomin Ponselvan to remove him and put his side on top early doors.

Key Battle – Yash Kalasannavar vs Pomin Ponselvan