Young Ashdod crowned champions of the Division 1 - Dubi Silbowitz Trophy

Young Ashdod's 18 year wait to lift the Division 1 - Dudi Silbowitz Trophy came to and end in Ashdod on Saturday as they comprehensively beat Sri Lanka Tel Aviv by a massive 150 Run margin. Young Ashdod started the day 4 points clear of 2nd place SLTA and after winning the toss, YA captain, Raymond Aston had no hesitation in batting first. The home side were soon in trouble and at 71/4 things were looking good for the visitors, but Man of the Match, Kapila Parera scored an invaluable 47 with Ishara Tanekoon chipping in with 65 not out to post a total of 227.

Sri Lanka Tel Aviv, set up the run chase in comfortable fashion, reaching 25 with no loss before Kapila Parera (6 wickets) and Manjula Jayasinge (3 wickets) ripped through the SLTA batting line up, bowling them out for a paltry 77. Young Ashdod captain, Raymond Aston was ecstatic after the match claiming 'I have waited a long long time to lift the trophy, every squad member contributed to our success and we are going to have a big party to celebrate'. Although Sri Lanka Tel Aviv were the losers on the day, they must be given huge credit on a brilliant first division debut season, finishing Runners Up, after last year earning promotion by capturing the Division 2 title.

Ra'anana secured third place in the league standings after defeating Neve Yonatan by eight wickets in Ashdod on Friday. Thumped in their last two matches by both Young Ashdod and Sri Lanka after suffering batting meltdowns to rival that of Australia's at Newlands last week (well not as bad but then that really would have been hard to beat), Ra'anana at least finished the season on a high. Dovi Myers (73*) led the Ra'anana chase of their 198-run target, with Danny Hotz (42) also chipping in. Earlier in the day, it seemed the hosts would struggle to reach 100, reduced to 55 for six before an 83-run seventh wicket partnership between veterans Aby Daniels (45) and Shamu Razpurker (28), followed by a further 54-run stand between Daniels and Itamar Kehimkar (33*) for the eighth wicket, at least ensured Neve Yonatan would have something to defend. As it turned out that was well below what would have been required anyway.

Ra'anana CC who had last month handed the 1st team captaincy over to Israel u19 captain Rafi Schachat was thrilled to win his first senior game as captain, claiming that he would love the opportunity to take on the position full time next season, 'the u19 European Championship was a great learning experience for me. It's challenging captaining a senior side as it takes time to earn the respect from the senior team-mates. But, I do believe that with the experience I've gained, and the experience I will hopefully gain in the near future, I could become the next permanent RCC captain'

Lod Rangers warmed up to next weeks vital Promotion/Relegation play off match against Lions Be'er Sheva, by beating Lions Lod by 5 runs in a thrilling match in Lod. Batting first, Lod Rangers managed a challenging total of 194 with Eshkol Solomon (3w) the pick of the Lions Lod bowlers. Lions Lod started their run chase in comfortable fashion with Yefeth Nagavkar (55) and David Massil (15) putting on 60 for the first wicket before the Lod Rangers bowlers starting doing damage with Eliezer Sampson (3w) and Herschel Gutman (4w) the pick of the Lod Rangers bowlers. Needing 15 to win with 3 wickets and 6 overs remaining, Herschel Gutman removed danger man Eshkol Solomon (32), Gershon Massil (2) and Anim Solomon (0) in the space of 8 balls as Lions Lod captain, Isaac Massil (11 not out) could only watch from the non strikers end. Lions Lod who were Runners Up in the T20 competition finished 5th on the log table while Lod Rangers play Lions Be'er Sheva on Saturday in a match that will define both teams seasons as the winners will be allowed to play in the 1st division next season, while the losers play in the 2nd division.

Night Cricket League starts with thrilling upset

Last year's winners, Pearl Dental Cricket Club were handed a shock loss at the hands of last years Runners Up Pommeranz Juice Good Old Boys on Motzei Shabbat. The seasons now full in swing, with the first game being a wash out and it was a sense of irony that brought together the finalists from last year, the PDCC and the PJGOB.

The players from both teams were eager and ready, Pearl looking to repeat its form and re-affirm it's dominance, and PJGOB looking to avenge the narrow loss from last season's final. Pearl won the toss and chose to bat, getting off to a quick start. Some fine bowling under pressure in the final 2 overs from PJGOB kept Pearl to a very competitive, but attainable, target of 91 runs. PJGOB started with a responsible show of batting in the 1st 4 overs, scoring 33 runs and this consistency continued such that with 8 balls to go, the runs target had been achieved and the pressure was on the batsmen to hold onto the lead and not lose valuable wickets and runs. A quick runout levelled the scores and added to the tension of the last over, but the final batting pair remained determined and PJGOB came away with a sweet victory, scoring 106 and setting up what is to definitely be an exciting season.

Pearl Dental captain, David Wiseman was full of praise for the Pommeranz Juice Good Old Boys team and captain PJ Sahor, saying, 'We were a bit rusty but full credit to Pommeranz, they played well and deserved their win. We didn't score enough runs and then couldn't take enough wickets'.

This Thursday night sees two teams who are quietly confident in their teams capabilities this season, with KAT Israemploy Tigers captain, Michael Barnett and Modi'in EasyIsrael captain, Michael Morris looking to secure victory. Match starts at 19:30.