Silver shines in Ra'anana win; Rubin stars for Lions Lod

Both top teams in Division 1 won over the weekend, as Ra'anana defeated Ashdod A and Lions Lod were too strong for Young Ashdod.

David Silver scored 80 as Ra'anana convincingly outplayed Ashdod A in Ashdod on Friday, winning by 133 runs. Walking in to bat with the score on 68 for 2, with both openers Adrian Vard (23) and Des Moss (22) out, Silver started cautiously, remained unperturbed as wickets fell regularly at the other end, and shifted into top gear towards the end of the innings as Ra'anana took 79 runs off the final 10 overs, to reach 225 for 8. Menashe Wadhawker returned the respectable figures of 3 for 39, and Rimon Nigorkar bowled well to take 2 for 45.

Chasing a big score, the Ashdod batsmen seemed to forget that playing a defensive shot was still permissible. A succession of players swung across the line, as no less than seven batsmen were out bowled. Des Moss (3 for 18) did the initial damage, and Eyal Matz (3 for 25) ran through the middle order. Only Hillel Awasker played with the determination and application that was required. However his effort of 32, which included some crisply timed shots through the on side, was too little, too late, and Ashdod A were dismissed for just 92.

Young Ashdod put up a brave fight against league leaders Lions Lod, but their efforts were not enough to cause a major upset in Ashdod on Saturday. Shalom Rubin starred for the visitors, falling just two runs short of a century, when he was caught for 98. Mahendra Jaiswar scored 31 at the top of the innings, with David Massil contributing 22 in the middle order, as Lions reached 229 for 9. Shai Gefen was the pick of the Young Ashdod attack, finishing with 3 for 43.

Avi Talkar led the home sides run chase, before being stumped off Yefet Nagavkar for 50. The middle and lower order could not capitalize on a good start made to the innings, as off spinner Anim Solomon continued his good form, taking 4 for 30. Young Ashdod were eventually all out for 176, giving Lions the win by 53-runs.

The Negev Academy moved up to second in Division 3 with a comprehensive 80-run win over Lions Be'er Sheva in Be'er Sheva on Saturday. Batting first, the Academy team reached 175 for 7 in their 40 overs, with player - coach George Sheader top scoring with 26 not out, as almost all the batsmen reached double figures before getting out. Raymond Waskar took 3 for 18 in 8 tight overs.

Be'er Sheva would have fancied themselves to reach their target, but came up against excellent Academy bowling. Oren Chinchulkar (2 for 15) and Adiel Changuakar (1 for 13) were both tight early on, Michael Muchie (1 for 14) bowled with genuine pace, but it was the spin twins of Ronen Waskar (3 for 15) and Solomon Varsulkar (3 for 31) who again did the damage, as Lions Be'er Sheva crumbled to 95 all out. Saroja Sakin (30) was the only batsman to manage any sort of contribution.