Mixed day for Israel as seniors disappoint v India but juniors overpower GB

Not the first time in recent memory, the Israel junior team overshadowed their senior counterparts, putting in a superb team performance to defeat Great Britain at Hadar Yosef 2, whilst the senior team were well below par in all departments, losing to a jubilant India team at Hadar Yosef 1. Defending champions South Africa started with a win, defeating Australia by 5 wickets at Lod.

The cricket competition of the 18th Maccabiah kicked off with three matches today. Both Hadar Yosef grounds were in pristine condition to welcome both Israel's senior and junior teams, who took on India and Great Britain respectively. Israel seniors again suffered from a top order collapse which left the innings in early ruin at 33 for 4. Raymond Aston (39) and Yaniv Razpurker (18) both played well, but 127 all out was a miserable effort. Israel needed to be at their very best in the field to have any chance of defending their score, but whilst the bowling was decent in parts, four catches were spilt which made Israel's efforts of defending their score basically impossible. Bension Sogawker led the way for the Indians, scoring an impressive 65 although he was the beneficiary of the Israeli generosity in the field.

Captain Gabi Schachat (62) and his younger brother Rafi (31) added 101 for the 4th wicket, before Nir Dokarkar (58*), scoring a half century for the first time in his career, added the finishing touches to a perfect one-day innings of 242 for 9. Great Britain were in the game for most of their chase, but as the required run rate mounted so the wickets tumbled, and they were eventually all out for 176. Levy Divekar (3 for 36) and Gil Nojman (3 for 40) were the pick of the Israel attack.

At Lod, Australia did well to recover from a top order collapse to post 175, but South Africa, despite losing wickets as well early on, reached their target with 5 wickets and more than 20 overs in hand, with Craig Lyons (51) top scoring.

The tournament takes a break Monday as the teams take part in the opening ceremony, but resumes Tuesday with a Great Britain - South Africa double header; the seniors play in Lod and the juniors at Kibbutz Gezer.