Israel seniors bounce back with win over Australia; SA defeat Israel juniors

Adrian Vard scored an invaluable half century as Israel bounced back from an all too familiar top order collapse to post a good score of 172, which proved beyond the Australians reach today in Lod, whilst the South African juniors marched to their second straight win, beating off a brave challenge by Israel at Kibbutz Gezer.

Having won the toss and decided to bat, the Israel top order again failed miserably, with wickets falling like dominoes to leave the innings in tatters at 37 for five, with opening bowler David fayman having grabbed four of them. The Australian bowlers were guilty of conceding too many wides early on, or else things would have been even worse. However the middle order was expertly marshaled by Vard, who added 48 with Herschel Gutman (17) for the 6th wicket, and then 50 for the 7th wicket with Shalom Rubin (14), finishing 55 not out and ensuring a score of 172 at least gave the bowlers something to defend. Fayman finished with four for 43, and leg spinner David Majtus also bowled well in taking three for 37. The Israel opening bolwers Gerrit Grundling (none for 17 in 10) and Eliezer Samson (two for 20 in 10) were both right on target, making scoring difficult for the Australians who never helped themselves by losing two of their top three batsmen to run outs. At 66 for 7 the game looked easily won by the hosts, but some excellent late hitting by Fayman (59), who refused to throw in the towel and added 31 for the last wicket with Brett Joffe (0*), made the winning margin of 42 runs slightly closer than Israel would have expected. Gutman finished with three for 15.

Israel and South Africa met in the junior competition after both teams won their opening games. On a pitch staying low and making scoring difficult, SA were dismissed for 148, with Ryan Krug (30) and Jonathan Ostrofsky (26) putting on 45 for the 5th wicket after SA were reduced to 51 for 4. Shifron Waskar excelled with the ball, taking four for 22. Israel would have fancied their chances of chasing down their target, but apart from Mikki Cohen (23), the top order were rolled over and at16 for four, the game was probably over as a contest. Some late hitting by Gil Nojman (16) and Eli Gilbert (17) gave the innings some respectability, with Israel all out for 95, losing by 53 runs.