Neve Yonatan win Ashdod derby; Diamond shine against Petah Tikva

In a game of immense significance to the final standings of Division 1, Neve Yonatan scored a surprisingly easy win over neighbors Young Ashdod on Saturday. Batting first, Aby Daniels led the way for Neve Yonatan with 41, sharing a 59-run opening stand with Shai Shirgaokar (23). Young Ashdod did well to get themselves back in the match, picking up five quick wickets to reduce Neve Yonatan to 87 for 6. But Yaniv Razpurker (29) and Gabriel Chordekar (31) added 75 for the 7th wicket to shift the balance of the game back in Neve Yonatan's favor. Raymond Ashton picked removed both batsman and claimed the final two wickets quickly to finish with 4 for 24. Danny Malyankar took 4 for 46 as Neve Yonatan were all out for 175.

Young Ashdod would have fancied themselves to reach that target based on the way they have played through the season, but their batsmen were simply not up to the task on the day. Malyankar top scored with 23, and Shai Penkar made 21, but all the others failed. Benzie Kahemkar bowled another superb spell, taking 3 for 15 in 7.4 overs, as Young Ashdod were all out for 92. The 83-run win leaves Neve Yonatan at the top of the Division 1 table, having completed all their matches. Young Ashdod are 4 points adrift in second place, but have a game in hand. They play Dimona C on September 6 knowing that they have to win by a huge margin to finish ahead of Neve Yonatan who have a far superior net run rate.

In contrast to the dramatic promotional race of Division 1, the Division 2 contest was decided weeks ago as no team has been able to challenge Lod. There is however an interesting battle being played out for second place between the Diamond X1 and the Negev Academy. The Diamond's would now seem favorites to finish second, after they beat Petah Tikva by 8 wickets at Hadar Yosef. The Negev Academy meanwhile suffered a surprise 30-run defeat to Kiryat Gat. The Negev youngsters, including 6 members of the Israel U15 team that won the European Championships last week, were made to pay for sloppy fielding and wayward bowling, allowing Kiryat Gat to reach 235, of which Yakov Pizrekar scored 90. U15 leg spinner Ronen Waskar was impressive, conceding just 19 runs from his 9 overs although not taking a wicket. Although losing George Sheader early for 6, Raz Ben-Zaken continued the superb form he showed in France, and scored an excellent 69, and Eliezer Yugadayev contributed 50, to keep chances of victory alive. But once both batsmen were out, all the others failed and the Academy were all out for 205.