Stanley Perlman stars in Tel Aviv win; Lions Lod extend perfect start

It has been a long time since one man has so dominated a game of cricket in Israel as Stanley Perlman did when Tel aviv defeated Beer Sheva 'A' by 8 wickets in their Premier League game played in Be'er Sheva on Saturday. Besides for picking up three wickets and taking three catches, Perlman scored one of the fastest centuries in the history of the game in Israel, taking Tel Aviv to their first win of the season.

On a beautifully cool Negev afternoon, with camels and sheep grazing in the foreground, the home side won the toss and elected to bat. Tel Aviv welcomed back opening bowler Lushenko Perreira, but Beer Sheva got off to the better start, and were looking good at 43 without loss after 10 overs. Simon Lipschitz, playing his first game for Tel Aviv, got the breakthrough as Kenny Alayza was caught by Elad Graham at point for 24. Yona Malkar retired hurt, and when he returned he was caught behind by Steve Leigh off David Mordechai for 34. Avner Greenberg then set about the middle order. He took 4 for 12 in his second spell, finishing with the figures 4 for 32. Stanley Perlman returned into the attack, picking up 3 quick wickets, including Omer Penkar who scored 18. Perlman finished with 3 for 23, as well as taking 3 catches in the outfield. In the end the Beer Sheva batsmen had only themselves to blame for such an inept display of batting as they were all out for 169 in 37 overs.

After the luncheon interval the mayhem began. It is years since a batsmen has taken a bowling attack apart as Perlman did on Saturday. It took him 25 balls to reach his 50 and only 59 for his hundred. This surely must be an Israeli record. His innings contained 7 sixes and 10 fours as he smote the Beer Sheva bowlers all over the show. Dropped once in the eighties Perlman was particularly hard on anything short which was inevitably despatched out of the ground. Three of his sixes were hit over deep point, the other four hooked over mid wicket. After 10 overs, Tel Aviv had scored 94 runs of which Perlman had scored 80. In the end Tel Aviv reached their target of 170 having lost 2 wickets. Perlman finished not out on 111 and Steve Leigh not out on 30.

Even though they did not perform to their best, Lions Lod extended their perfect start to the season, and ran out easy winners by 109 runs against Ashdod 'A' in the Premier League match of the weekend, played at Hadar Yosef. There has been a history of heated affairs between these two rivals but all that was put behind them as the two captains shook hands at the toss and hoped for a game played in the right sprit. Lod won the toss and had no hesitation in batting first. Although getting off to a solid start, their scoring rate was a bit on the slow side with both Mahendra Jaiswar and Yefet Nagavkar not in their best form. But to their credit they dug in and put on an impressive 100-run partnership. Most of the runs came off the bat of Nagavkar who took a few chances and played some attractive shots, scoring 53. Jaiswar was content to play a supporting role, until he was trapped LBW by Hillel Awaskar for 25. Ashdod might have put more pressure on the opening pair and with a few balls flying through the slip and gulley area, they may have managed an earlier breakthrough. The Lod middle order kept the scoreboard ticking but, apart from Isaac Massil (21) there were no other significant contributions, and good, tight bowling backed up by good fielding from Ashdod restricted Lod to 199 for 9 in their 45 overs. Awaskar was the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 32.

From the very first ball of the Ashdod innings, when David Massil, aided by a good catch by Anim Solomon, removed Gershon Waskar, the Lod bowlers were dominant. The Massil brothers were as tight and lively as usual but it was Janeth Silva with 4 for 39 and Solomon with 2 for 22 who ripped though the Ashdod middle order. David Massil returned to claim two late wickets and finish with 3 for 15 as Ashdod were all out for just 90.

In the only Division 1 match played on the weekend, Neve Yonatan comfortably beat Dimona 'C' by 4 wickets in Ashdod. Benzie Kahemkar returned the brilliant figures of 4 for 6 in 9 overs, including 5 maidens, and there were two wickets each for Yaniv Raspurker and Shimshon Raspurker, as Dimona were bowled out for 116. Although chasing a low total can be tricky, Aby Daniels scored 41 to ensure Neve Yonatan reached their total. Jacky Divekar took 3 for 30 for Dimona, but without enough runs on the board, even his efforts were not enough.