Six wickets for Omer Penkar as Be'er Sheva humiliate Ashdod; Lod guarantee promotion

In an extraordinary Premier League game played in Be'er Sheva on Saturday, the home side dismissed Ashdod 'A' for a paltry 53, and then reached their target with 7 wickets in hand, to greatly enhance their chances of avoiding relegation. Be'er Sheva's win was bad news for bottom club Tel Aviv who now face the uphill task of having to beat both Be'er Sheva and league champions Lions Lod to avoid the drop.

Star of the Be'er Sheva win was opening bowler Omer Penkar who returned the amazing figures of 6 for 24. Naor Gudker had an enjoyable day as well, taking 3 for 11, as only Joel Rubin (14) managed to reach double figures for the visitors. To highlight the embarrassment for Ashdod, the highest score was extras (16). Yona Malyekar steered his team to victory, scoring an undefeated 20. Hillel Awasker grabbed two quick wickets but defending a total of 53 was always going to be a hopeless cause.

Neve Yonatan kept the pressure up on their city rivals Young Ashdod in the race for the Division 1 title, with a tight 16-run win over Ramle at Hadar Yosef. Having been sent in to bat, Shimshon Raspurker led the way for Neve Yonatan, scoring an undefeated 63. His team was eventually all out for 201, with Moshe Charikar picking up two late wickets to finish with 4 for 50.

Benzie Kahemkar grabbed three quick wickets to have Ramle in early trouble. Opening batsman Isaac Samson kept the innings on track before being run out for 47, and although three players in the middle order passed 20, and Ramle managed to bat out all their overs, they never really looked like reaching their target. Kahemkar was once again superb with the ball for Neve Yonatan, taking 3 for 16 in his 9 overs.

Lod Cricket Club have been far too good for any of the other teams in Division 2 this season, and that trend continued as they convincingly beat Dimona A in Lod. Despite bowling 36 wides and conceding 56 extras in total, Lod were able to restrict Dimona to 168. Joel Versulkar (3 for 31) was the pick of the Lod bolwers, with former Israel U15 player Adiel Changuakar (31*) the top scorer for Dimona. Although Hannan Sogadson was run out for just 5, Ravi Khanna (62*) and Shimon Penkar (54*) both played good innings to seal a 9-wicket win for the home team and guarantee their promotion to Division 1 next season.

Petah Tikva secured their first win of the season, beating Kiryat Gat by 7 wickets at Hadar Yosef. Bensi Solomon bowled a tight spell, taking 2 for 11, and their were wickets a piece for Rafi Penkar and Yossi Satamkar, as Kiryat Gat were restricted to 149 for 7 in their 45 overs. Johnny Varsulkar scored an undefeated 50, and Avshalom Sankar made 30. Petah Tikva cruised to victory, as Eziekiel Penkar finished not out on 83.