BOLTS LAND FIRST STRIKE IN FUTURE SERIES OPENER

The Sherwin-O’Riordan Leinster Lightning Bolts got their campaign off to a strong start this afternoon, opening their seasonal account with a relatively comfortable 22 run victory over the Munster Heat in The Mardyke.

Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Leinster had a promising Power Play led by Swapnil Modgil as they reached 47/1 from the first 6 overs. Modgil was joined by Balbriggan man Chris de Freitas and the pair added an excellent partnership of 110 for the second wicket.

De Freitas was dismissed for 58 bringing John McNally to the crease, and the Tarf teenager put together an excellent unbeaten 34 from just 16 balls to really boost the score. Modgil continued about his work, with his 70 being the top score in the side’s total of 192/4 in 20 overs.

With the ball, Mikey O’Reilly started well, with wickets off the final two balls of the first over. When Amish Sidhu also took back to back wickets Munster were 53/4 and almost certainly too far behind the game to get competitive.

A good partnership between the Joyce brothers was broken by Olly Riley, before Reuben Wilson took the important wicket of Devon Joyce with the very next ball. Cian Nulty later clean bowled Shivam Kislay to end any hope of a late charge from Munster, ensuring they would finish on 170/7 and see Leinster run out 22 run victors in the opening game of the Future Series of 2023.