Lions Be'er Sheva start with win, double-header defeat for U19's

The Israel U19 team began their league campaign with a double header against last years league finalists, taking on Ra'anana on Friday and Lions Lod on Saturday. Although losing both games, new national coach Herschel Gutman, who captains the youngsters in the league, would be impressed with the improvement shown from the first game to the second, and had it not been for dropped catches, they may well have pulled off a sensational win over league champions Lod. In Division 2 action, Lions Be'er Sheva were somewhat surprise winners over the much-fancied Jerusalem Sri Lankans, winning by 6 wickets after dismissing the Lankans for 149.

Ra'anana piled on the runs in Ashdod on Friday, with Daniel Hyman (61) and Gabi Schachat (65) adding 138 for the 2nd wicket, before Gerrit Grundling scored a quick-fire 55* to take Ra'anana to 279 for 4 declared. Josh Lazarus picked up 3 for 25 as Israel U19 managed just 159 in reply, with Gutman contributing 53. Saturdays game followed a different pattern as Israel U19 batted first, and reached 176 with Nadav Razpurker blasting 51. Shalom Rubin (30) and Isaac Massil (33) helped Lod sneak to 3-wicket win in reply.