VITALLITY FIRST TEAM LEAGUE PREVIEW (JULY 5TH)

This week sees the first round of the Vitallity FTL to take place after the summer solstice in round 7. The action is heating up heading into the halfway stage as teams gear up to put themselves into a good position for the business end of the season. This week’s action sees North Kildare travel to Cork Harlequins in a fixture that the chasing pack will hope Cork can perform an upset in and Terenure will play hosts to Adamstown in a must win encounter.

They league table is tightening up at the top, Civil Service were able to turn over North Kildare last time around to close the gap to the leaders, and open the door for both themselves and Terenure to potentially mount a challenge in the next couple of week. In the other game Cork Harlequins took home their first win as Adamstown succumbed in a tough chase away from home.

All this means that North Kildare still sit top by a comfortable margin but will know that another hiccup along with wins for Terenure and Civil Service will make things very tight at the top of the table with the ultimate prize of Premier League cricket in 2026 on the line.

NORTH KILDARE VS CORK HARLEQUINS

This may look like a straight forward fixture on paper of first versus last but a closer look shows it to be anything but, North Kildare come into this game reeling off the back of a disappointing loss to second place Civil Service while Harlequins come in on a complete high having secured their first win of 2025 last week.

Cork’s batting will be built on a foundation laid by Shivam Kislay and Sumantu Powale who will look to get their team off to a solid start as they did against Adamstown sharing a partnership of 66. Their middle order will be made up of Brewster, Hickey, Joyce and Jones in some combination, they are a quartet that lack neither skill nor experience and will know that their team will need them to fire if they are to post a competitive total against the form team of the competition. They also have the controlled batting of wicket-keeper Sumasinghe to call on should they find themselves in trouble.

Their attack is led by their skipper Seanan Jones’ left arm seam, he will be joined in the seam attack by Mustak Mardan and Christian Laubscher while the men will also have the exploits of Hickey, Joyce and Kieran O’Reilly at their disposal should they be required.

As previously mentioned North Kildare come into this fixture off the back of a poor loss but will feel confident after their start to the season and will seek to put in a performance similar to what got them to this point. Their batting is spearheaded by the elegant Yash Kalasannavar, he is supported by an incredibly attacking and hard hitting top order in the form of Husnain Maroof, Josh Uddin and the Ahmadzai brothers. North Kildare know they have the ability with the bat and will be hopeful of increased application this week ensuring a competitive total.

With the ball, they are led by their skipper’s left arm seam, and he will be joined on the new ball duties by Anees Ahmad, from there the Kilcock side have the Ahmadzai brothers, Asadullah & Adnan, along with Nurulain Boda and Uddin to call on in a strong attack.

Husnain Maroof is his teams leader with the ball, he will look to keep a strong Cork middle order under wraps and in particular remove Hickey to really set the cat amongst the pigeons.

Key Battle – Husnain Maroof vs Adam Hickey

TERENURE VS ADAMSTOWN

This is a must win game for Terenure who, after a week off in which Civil Service were able to open the door for the them, will know a win will really see them putting the pressure on at the top of the table. Their batting is led by Mick Cotter who has been in brilliant form this season, he will be joined by Gareth Morgan and stand-in skipper Jinal Khatri in the top order and together those 3 will attempt to get their team off to a strong start. Through the middle order they will have overseas Hancke Von Rauenstein along with Kashish Ghandi who returns to the side and the long-levers of Thomas Shand in a batting unit the Clee will feel confident of dealing some damage.

Dylan Cleary is the key man for his side with the ball, his new ball spell will prove pivotal for his side. He is likely to be joined in the seam department by Benjamin Dillon, Kripesh Shetty and the part time option of Thomas Shand. Their spinners will be led by Ghandi while he’ll have support from Khatri.

Adamstown come into this fixture off the back of a disappointing loss but will know they can mount a comeback on the remainder of the league season with the squad they have at their disposal. Sid Biju leads their batting unit alongside fellow young gun Dinesh Antony Kidagan David. They will be joined in the top 5 Niranjan Shankar, skipper Kunal Nagare and Aditya Gupta. Adamstown have in their possession a batting unit capable of putting it up to anyone on their day and will be hopeful of an improved showing this week.

Speed duo Ponselvan and Padmaprabhu lead the attack for their side and will be hopeful of dealing some early damage on a quick surface in Terenure, they will be supported in their department by Kidagan and youngster Aryan Adelkar in a seam attack not lacking in options. Their spinners are led by Prabhanshu Kamal with support from Niranjan Shankar.

Mick Cotter holds the key for his side this week, if he gets his team off to a good start his team will be in a good position. Pomin Ponselvan will be tasked with ensuring this doesn’t happen.

Key Battle – Mick Cotter vs Pomin Ponselvan