No surprises as ICA Cup gets underway

The ICA Cup got underway this weekend with three first round fixtures being completed. Petah Tikva, who finished bottom of the Division 2 league with just one win all season, moved into the second round with an easy win over Kiryat Gat. Be'er Sheva A and Ashdod A also advanced with wins over Dimona A and Neve Yonatan respectively.

Petah Tikva's victory was built on the back of some sterling individual performances. Firstly, Shai Samuel scored 70, leading his team to 192 all out. Openers Yossi Satamkar (19) and David Malekar (25) also made useful contributions, but no other batsman managed to reach double figures. In reply, Kiryat Gat had no answer to the accurate medium pace bowling of Satamkar (3 for 15) and Rafi Penkar (4 for 26), and were all out for 75, handing Petah Tikva victory by 117 runs.

In a Negev derby, Premier League outfit Be'er Sheva A were too strong for Division 2 strugglers Dimona A, and won by a comfortable six wickets. Batting first, home team Dimona A reached 195 all out, with Rachamim Charikar (43) top scoring. Be'er Sheva captain, slow bowler Yoel Tzirekar, took 5 for 49. Anything less than 250 is normally too little on the batting friendly Dimona pitch, and Dimona would have required a very special bowling performance to cause an upset. They were unable to provide it, and with Keneth Elaza (54) and Yona Malyekar (27*) in good form, the visitors needed just 22.2 overs to reach their target.

Neve Yonatan, having narrowly missed out on promotion from Division 1, would have relished the chance of taking on their Premier League neighbors Ashdod A. But despite a superb performance by young fast bowler Yaniv Raspurker, they were outplayed and well beaten. Raspurker took 5 for 31, as only Romi Chaulkar (60) and Menashe Wadawker (43) managed sizeable contributions. But with Neve Yonatan conceding 39 extras, Ashdod A managed to reach 199. Aby Daniels took 4 for 50. Ashdod then preceded to take wickets on a regular basis, never allowing Neve Yonatan to build a meaningful partnership. Daniels scored 44, but no other batsman passed 20. Left arm spinner Hillel Awaskar was as accurate as always, taking 3 for 15 in 6 overs. Gershon Waskar took 3 for 31, and Neve Yonatan were all out for a disappointing 126, 73 runs short.

The remaining ICA Cup first round fixtures will be played over the coming weekend.