Lod stay top despite Perlman's effort; Ashdod A edge out Ra'anana

Tel Aviv's Stanley Perlman batted like a man with a plane to catch, blasting 64 against Lions Lod before having to retire to race to the airport in order to catch a plane.

Despite his efforts, Tel Aviv fell 64 runs short as Lod maintained their magnificent start to the season, winning their 4th straight game in the Premier League to move to 16 points, 8 points clear of Ashdod A who managed a 16-run win over Ra'anana on Friday.

Lions Lod won the toss and had no hesitation in deciding to bat. To their dismay, Yefet Nagavkar (0) was bowled by the gentle slow bowling of Avner Greenberg, and then Mike Mohnblatt picked up Isaac Massil (21) and Anim Solomon (4) in quick succession.

When Paul Thomas returned to trap David Massil (11) leg before, Lod were in a spot of trouble with 4 wickets down. But Mahendra Jaiswar, as he has done so often in the past, anchored the innings superbly, and in Janeth Silva found a partner who could both stay with him, and make sure the scoreboard kept moving. Silva was eventually out for an excellent 70, and Jaiswar finished undefeated on 76, as Lod completed their allotted 45 overs on 222 for 5.

Perlman, fresh from having scored the quickest century in Israeli history against Be'er Sheva a fortnight ago, immediately began setting about the Lod attack. After Mohnblatt (3), Frank Auger (10) and David Mordechai (5) had all been dismissed, Steve Leigh joined his captain and continued the aggressive approach.

Tel Aviv's challenge essentially ended with Perlman's retirement, although Leigh (43) fought a brave battle. David Massil returned to pick up 3 wickets, finishing with the figures of 4 for 47. Tel Aviv's innings petered out towards the end, and they were eventually all out for 158.

Ashdod A pulled off their second win of the season, edging out Ra'anana by 16 runs. Batting first, Ashdod were all out for 158, which, with the heavy outfield making scoring boundaries very difficult, was a useful score. Ra'ananan got off to the better start, with Des Moss removing Gershon Waskar in the very first over.

Joel Rubin and Romi Chaulkar added 38 for the second wicket before Chaulkar, finding scoring difficult, was frustrated into a loose shot and was caught at mid off off Gedaliya Auerbach for 6. Rubin was next out for 23, and then Michael Levy claimed the prize wicket of Menashe Wadhukar, who, having looked very dangerous in hitting three 6's, hit a short and wide ball straight to cover, and was out for 30.

Moss removed Isaac Solomon for 12, but Hillel Awaskar (24), aided by support from the tail, ensured Ashdod batted out their overs and were eventually all out in the final over. Moss finished with 3 for 30, Adrian Vard took 2 for 23 and Steven Shein returned useful figures of 1 for 11 in his 9 overs.

Ra'anana's chase began in the worst possible fashion. Gal Matz was bowled by Waskar first ball, and then Rafi Zauer was well caught by Awaskar at short leg off Wadhukar for a duck. David Silver and Dani Hotz set about repairing the damage, before Hotz, who played some delightful shots, especially through the off side off the back foot, lost his concentration and was bowled by off spinner Danny Malyankar for 20.

Malyankar struck again two balls later when Vard (0) edged to the wicketkeeper Solomon. With the score on 106, Ashdod picked up the big wicket of Silver, brilliantly caught by Chaulkar at slip, to become the first of Rubin's four wickets. Ashdod thought they had removed him earlier in his innings when Chaulkar, diving forward, claimed a catch in the gulley. Silver waited for the decision, and, with the umpires unable to determine whether the ball had been grabbed just above the ground or not, was adjudged not out.

When he was eventually out he had once again played a brilliant innings of 65. With Silver out, Ra'anana needed to consolidate, but Auerbach (0), trying to use his feet and hit Rubin out the ground, was easily stumped by Solomon.

Sammy Benjamin and Des Moss took the score to 128 before Malyankar bowled Benjamin for a well played 20. Moss walked past a straight one from Rubin and was stumped for 6, and with the runs all but dried up, Shein tried to pull Rubin and was trapped LBW for 4. Levy (1) was the final wicket to fall, run out attempting a suicidal second, leaving Tal Becker not out on 7, and completing a miserable batting performance by the visitors.

The three Ashdod spinners all bowled well, with Rubin (4 for 25) and Mayankar (3 for 28) picking up the wickets, and Awaskar (0 for 23 in 9 overs) keeping the scoring rate down.

Young Ashdod won the crucial Division 1 derby against Neve Yonatan by 5 wickets. Both teams went into the game as yet undefeated, adding to the importance of the game. Neve Yonatan won the toss and chose to bat. Benzie Kahemkar and Shai Shirgaokar added 54 for the first wicker, before Shai Gefen, fresh from having taken 6 wickets in his previous match, and Raymond Ashton, tore out the Neve Yonatan top order, as they collapsed to 78 for 6.

Gefen took 3 for 20 and Ashton 4 for 17, including Kahemkar for 40. Shimon Aaron contributed 38 down the order to lead a recovery and help Neve Yonatan reach 147. Wicketkeeper Avi Talkar pulled off 4 catches, including two one handed, and could have had a fifth dismissal of the final ball of the innings, but sportingly decided against stumping 11-year old Itamar Kahemkar.

Young Ashdod had few problems in reaching their victory target, with Jared Solomon (32) and Talkar (31), sharing a 73-run stand for the 2nd wicket. Although Kahemkar (3 for 30) and Shimshon Raz (2 for 12) picked up a few wickets, the win was never in doubt and Young Ashdod passed their target with almost 20 overs and 5 wickets in hand.

Ramle recorded their second win of the season, beating Dimona C comfortably at Hadar Yosef. Dimona batted first and could only manage 136. Joel Saigwakar and Moshe Charikar picked up 3 wickets each, with only Sammy Digorkar (49) adding a useful contribution for Dimona. Sunny Ashtamkar and Jacky Divekar grabbed two early wickets each for Dimona, before Yakov Mashilkar (36*) and Akiva Shimshon (32*) steered Ramle to their target.