FINGAL VICTORIOUS THANKS TO DE FREITAS 6-FOR

It was a day to savour for Balbriggan’s Chris de Freitas, as he was the hero with the ball for Fingal, taking 6/12 to secure a hugely convincing victory in the BUAKIT District Series opener.

Earlier in the day, Brandon Kruger won the toss and elected to bat first on a wicket which he had made 62 the day before. After a subdued but solid start, the loss of Cameron Rowe, Suliman Safi and Jeremy Martins, all to Abdullah Taniwal, in relatively quick time saw Kruger join de Freitas at the crease.

After de Freitas fell with the score on 91, Kruger shared a stand of 60 with Sebastian de Oliveira, before being dismissed for 46. De Oliveira amassed 36 before falling to Srihan Karpe.

Taniwal returned at the death to remove Luke Whelan and secure his 5 wicket haul, however that was not before Fingal had already compiled 264/9 as their 50 over total.

A good start would be crucial to South Dublin & Midlands and that’s just what they got, Mark Tonge dominating an opening partnership of 49 with Karpe, making 36. De Oliveira and De Freitas then combined for their first burst of wickets, taking the score to 67/4.

At this point, Tristen de Beer joined Younas Ahmadzai at the crease and the pair both batted nicely, adding 58, before the ball was thrown back to de Freitas again.

What followed was an amazing spell of 20 balls, producing 5 wickets and just 6 runs, seeing the Balbriggan man emerge with 6/12 to cap a fine performance.