Ra'anana gain early initiative in Division 1 with win over Lions; NY start with big win over Kiryat Gat

A full round of Division 1 games took place over the weekend, starting with Lions Lod hosting Ra'anana 1 in Lod on Friday, and continuing Saturday with Lod Rangers playing Ashdod A in Lod, Neve Yonatan hosting Kiryat Gat in Ashdod, and Young Ashdod traveling to Be'er Sheva.

Lions Lod have dominated Ra'anana over the last ten years, but a convincing performance in all departments by the visitors earned them a hard-fought victory by 82-runs. Batting first, Gabi Schachat starred for Ra'anana with an agressive 88* and Gal Matz scored a patient 46, after Daniel Hyman (28) and Josh Evans (35) had added 52 for the first wicket, allowing Ra'anana to declare after 38 overs with 229/3 on the board, leaving Lions 42 overs in which to chase the target. Yefet Nagavkar gave the home side a flying start, reaching 31 off just 24 balls. However when he hit Des Moss straight to long-off with the score on 62, the scoring rate began to slow. Wickets fell at regular intervals, with Evans getting the key wickets of Isaac (2) and David (6) Massil. At 81 for 4 Lod began playing for the draw, with Eshkol Solomon battling through a side strain, seemingly standing between Ra'anana and victory. Although he was bowled by a delivery from Schachat (3/39) that kept low for 37, the Lod lower order fought hard to defend their wickets against good quick bowling. By the time the final wicket fell they were just 19 balls away from hanging on for a draw.

Newly promoted Kiryat Gat were no match for Neve Yonatan, with Yaniv Razpurker enjoying a good day with both bat and ball. He took 5/32 as Kiryat Gat were all out for 138, and then scored 39* as Neve Yonatan won by 7 wickets, with Arieh Oscar scoring 49.

Ashdod A were just one-wicket away from scoring a win over defending champions Lod Rangers (previously Ramla), with Rangers batting out their overs with their score on 133/9, in reply to Ashod's 191.

Young Ashdod, according to some the team to beat this season, were held to a draw in Be'er Sheva. Avishai Satamkar (60) and Avner Chirekar (55) took the hosts to 243, with Efraim Jhirad taking 4/21. In reply, Young Ashdod completed their overs on 188/6, despite 81* from Kapila, making his league debut for the club. Moshe Chirekar took 4/37 for Be'er Sheva.