Tel Aviv beat Jerusalem in Sri Lanka derby; Centuries for Dovi Myers and Yaniv Razpurker, Ronen Waskar takes 5-40

Over 250 spectators were on hand at Hadar Yosef on Saturday to watch Sri Lanka Tel Aviv defeat Sri Lanka Jerusalem by nine runs in a Division 2 match on Saturday. Both teams have been in excellent form through the season, but with just one game left to play the win makes Tel Aviv hot favorites to seal automatic promotion to Division 1 next season, with Jerusalem likely to have to settle for second spot and a promotion play-off match.

Sent into bat, SL Tel Aviv were dismissed for 174, Danushka taking 4/27, and although Jerusalem would have backed themselves to reach a relatively low score, they were all out for 165, with Sujith the hero for Tel Aviv taking 5/52.

In further Division 2 matches played over the weekend, Ronen Waskar starred once again for Lions Be'er Sheva, taking five for 40 as Eilat were all out for 171 in reply to the home team's score of 177. Petah Tikva won their second match of the season, defeating Ra'anana 2 by 60 runs at Hadar Yosef on Friday. Dovi Myers was in superb form on Friday, hitting 155* as Tel Aviv declared after 34.5 overs on 315/3 against Lod, and looked set for a victory before being frustrated by the 9th wicket pair of Avner Waskar (61*) and Joel Varsulkar who managed to earn the home team a draw, Stanley Perlman and Mike Mohnblatt with three wickets each the pick of a very uninspiring Tel Aviv attack. The Dimona derby also ended in a draw, with Dimona A batting out their 45 overs in amassing 308/6, with Nir Dokarakar (78) and Adiel Yaakov (67*) impressing with the bat. Despite three wickets for Solomon Varsulkar, Dimona C were able to bat out for a draw, finishing their 35 overs on 175/8.

In the last two remaining fixtures of the first round of matches in Division 1, Neve Yonatan secured their top four finish with a draw against Lod Rangers in Ashdod. Yaniv Razpurker scored 106* and Benny Razpurker 51* as the hosts, for whom a draw was enough to avoid Rangers jumping above them in the table, reached 300/3 batting out their full 45 overs. Lod Rangers made no attempt at reaching their impossible target, finishing on 100 for 8 after 35 overs.

Super Lions Lod achieved a maximum 40 points with a comprehensive win over Kiryat Gat on Saturday. Eshkol Solomon (90 from 40 balls) continued from where he had left off for Israel in Guernsey, after openers Shalom Rubin (71) and Yefet Nagavkar (56) had given the hosts a perfect start towards a total of 303/5 in 35 overs. Kiryat Gat were then dismissed for 126 in 30 overs.

The second round of Division 1 games sees the eight club teams divided into groups of four based on placings after Round 1. Ra'anana with 226 points hold the edge over Lions Lod (196) and Young Ashdod (189) but all three teams will still fancy their title chances. The first weekend of matches sees Lions Lod meeting Young Ashdod with both sides knowing a defeat would certainly end their title hopes. Ra'anana and Lod play in the final week of matches, in what may just prove to be the championship decider. In the bottom half, Kiryat Gat will need to win a couple of matches to avoid relegation, with the other teams fighting to avoid finishing second bottom and forced into a promotion-relegation play off.