Big win for Ashdod A as season kicks into full swing

The local domestic season kicked into full swing last weekend, with a number of fixtures played in each of the three divisions. Ashdod A easily defeated Be'er Sheva A in Division 1, whilst in Division 2, Dimona C scored a narrow win over Tel Aviv, thanks to a fine all round performance by Jacky Divekar, and Shimshon Razpurker scored the first century of the season as Neve Yonatan overcame Ramle. Lions Be'er Sheva were convincing winners against the Negev Academy, as were the Diamond's against Dimona A in the Division 3 fixtures of the day.

Ashdod A, runners up to Lions Lod last season, started their 2004 campaign with a huge 133-run win over Be'er Sheva A in a Division 1 fixture played on Saturday in Be'er Sheva. Joel Reuben (93) top scored for Ashdod, and Menashe Wadhawker added 52, as the visitors amassed 229 for 6 in their allotted 40 overs. Be'er Sheva lost both openers cheaply, and although Shimshon Chordekar scored 40, no other batsman, besides for David Gudker (13), could reach double figures. Gershon Waskar was the pick of the Ashdod bowlers, returning the outstanding figures of 5 for 36, as the hosts were dismissed for 96.

Dimona C edge out Tel Aviv; Shimshon Razpurker scores century in Neve Yonatan win

The Division 2 match between Dimona C and Tel Aviv in Dimona on Friday was a far closer encounter. Batting first, the hosts had Jacky Divekar to thank for rescuing them from a disastrous start. The hard hitting Divekar smashed six 6's and six 4's in scoring a rapid 75, which boosted his teams' score to 196. Sunny Ashtamkar contributed as well with 49. For Tel Aviv, no less than six catches went down in a poor fielding performance. Paul Thomas bowled tidily to finish with 4 for 20.

The Tel Aviv reply started well enough with Ben Fisher and Stanley Perlman adding 65 for the first wicket, before Perlman was caught off the bowling of Divekar for 26. Fisher fell for 32, before, with the score on 103, Steve Leigh was run out for 17 and Frank Auger was dismissed for 16. David Mordechai (23) played a few big shots and Brett Kree (21*) did his best to win the game, but eventually ran out of partners as Divekar returned to grab the last two wickets, dismissing Tel Aviv for 186, 10 runs short of their target. Divekar completed a fine individual all round performance by taking 4 for 32.

Also in Division 2, Neve Yonatan proved too strong for Ramle in Ashdod. Batting first, Ramle struggled to 196 all out, thanks largely to good efforts by the lower order batsmen. Aby Daniels was the most successful of the home bowlers, taking 3 for 40. There were two wickets a piece for Yaniv Razpurker, Shimshon Razpurker and Shir Shai.

Daniels (19) and Shir (18) produced a solid enough start, but it was Shimshon Razpurker, batting with his nephew Yaniv Razpurker, that really provided the fireworks. The younger Razpurker scored 23, but his uncle became the first centurion of the season, finishing not out on 101, leading his team to a 5-wicket win with 10 overs in hand.

Diamonds polish off Dimona A, Lions Be'er Sheva brush aside Negev youngsters

The Division 3 fixtures of the round produced two one-sided games. At Hadar Yosef, Dimona A slumped from 35 for 0 to 82 all out as Mahesh (3 for 12), Nirav (3 for 13) and Prashant (3 for 39) all enjoyed good spells. The Diamonds had a few problems of their own reaching their target, losing 5 wickets along the way but the win was never going to be in doubt.

The Negev Academy enjoyed a good debut season last year, but the youngsters were given a stern opening lesson to the current season by Be'er Sheva Lions in Dimona. Samson Borgharkar (65*), Moshe Saul (60), Samson Ashtamkar (52) and Saroja Sakin (33) all contributed, as did very ordinary Academy fielding, to a score of 282 for 5. In reply, Adiel Chanduakar (26) and player-coach George Sheader (24*) added 37 for the 8th wicket to add some respectability to the score, but not even a gift of 57 extras, including 38 wides, could bring the Academy close, and they were all out for 174. Saul was the most successful of the bowlers, taking 3 for 47.