Hat trick for Penkar as Lod beat Diamonds

Hat trick hero - Simon Penkar, Lod CC © Israel Cricket

Simon Penkar took 5 wickets for 34 runs, including a hat trick, as Lod defeated Diamonds by 61 runs in a Division 2 fixture played at Hadar Yosef on Saturday. In Division 3, Lions Be'er Sheva defeated Negev Academy 2 by 7 wickets, and Dimona A easily outplayed Rishon to win by 172 runs.

Asher Penkar top scored with 55 as Lod reached 231 for 6 against Diamonds, for whom Prashant once again bowled well, taking 4 for 34. With the Diamond batting line up having failed to get going this season, Lod would of fancied themselves to defend their total, but with Harsh (55) and Shailesh Bothra (34) having laid the platform with good innings at the top of the order, the game was evenly balanced. Until Simon Penkar returned to the attack. Having removed both opening batsmen earlier on, Penkar then produced a magnificent hat trick, to effectively end the game.

Negev 2 captain Safania Naguakar scored a classy 37 against the strong bowling attack of Lions Be'er Sheva, but the rest of the batsman struggled, particularly against Danny Bhonkar (4 for 17), and the Academy was all out for 144. Shmuel Jawlekar (41) and Benny Saygavkar (22) added 86 for the first wicket, and although Guy Karasnti took three wickets in just 3 overs, Samson Ashtamkar (22*) and Moshe Saul (20*) steered Lions to a comfortable win.

Rishon paid the price for a miserable bowling performance, allowing Dimona A to reach 252 for 7 in their 40 overs. The Rishon batting effort wasn't much better than their bowling, with just two batsman reaching double figures in a score of 80. Danny Divekar and Rafi Varsulkar each took 3 wickets for Dimona A.