Argentine Domestic: Cavaliers, Eagles turn up heat

Belgrano Cavaliers and Lomas Eagles turned in powerful performances over the weekend to surge to the top of the championship table after the third round of 1st Division fixtures.

At Pinazo, Belgrano crushed the St.Alban's Sharks by 172 runs. Piling up 282 for 8 in their allotted 50 overs was always putting the game beyond their young opposition. Nota was again to the fore with 56, the Ferguson brothers, Paul (47) and Alejandro (22), and Perez Rivero, with 41, all contributed soundly.

In reply, St.Alban's could only muster 110 all out, largely thanks to a fighting 54 from Matias Paterlini. Young off-spinner Paul Ferguson completed a great all-round performance, taking 4 for 12.

At Hurlingham, Lomas destroyed the Hawks by 6 wickets, having bowled out the home opposition for a mere 69, and then proceeded to knock off the required 70 runs for victory in only 16 overs for the loss of 4 wickets.

For Hurlingham, only Gooding, Culley and Van Steeden reached double figures, while for the Eagles Savage, Lord and Irigoyen each took 3 wickets to cause the damage.

Savage made 26 of the required runs, while Gerben Zwaga bowled bravely, taking 2 for 15.

Big clashes loom this Sunday. At Lomas, in a top of the table clash, the winners of the Belgrano v Lomas game will take an unchallenged lead, while at Corimayo, St.Alban's will be fighting to get their season off the ground, while Hurlingham will be looking to stay in touch with the frontrunners.

In 2nd Division action, Old Georgians (228/9) reached the Dragons target of 223. For the OG's, Van Steeden made 74, Whitelegg 41, and Cassels 30 not out, while for Dragons, Patrick Hopkirk made an impressive 101 not out. Hartwell had a good all-round game for Dragons, making 26 and taking 3 for 32.

Lomas A beat Hurlingham by 5 wickets. Best batsmen in Hurlingham's 98 for 5 were Whitworth (27) and Ross (26), while for Lomas A, P.Macgowan and Mackenzie both made 41 in their total of 102 for 5.

Lomas C made 190, but it was not enough for Belgrano A, who replied with 191 for 6. Iglesias made 65 for Lomas, supported by Ryan with 45, with Fletcher and Milligan sharing 2 wickets apiece for Belgrano. Paul Ferguson , 50, Valcarenas, 32, Ortega, 20 and Gramajo, 22, knocked off the required runs, with Cabrejas taking 2 for 39.

In the 3rd Division, Lomas B (187 for 6) were too strong for St.George's North (79 all out). For Lomas, Mauro made 53, Redruello 33, Matias Gibson 17 and Birba 15, while Birba also took 2 for 10, as did Bruno. For St.George's North, Roberts contributed 35, while Churuvija took 2 for 35.

Probably the biggest story of the day was St.Alban's claiming a last ball victory over Belgrano B - Juan Del Valle hitting a four. Belgrano B made 186 for 9, thanks to Annand 47, Geddes 36 and Bori 27. Maurice Runnacles showed the youngsters a thing or two with his 4 for 26. In reply, Paterlini top-scored with 84, with valuable contributions coming from Casime 38 and Julian Bordacahar 17, to reach 188 for 8.