Young Ashdod favorites heading into second stage

Young Ashdod defeated Lod Rangers by 43 runs in Ashdod on Saturday to top the Division 1 standings at the completion of the first stage of the season. The top four teams, Young Ashdod, Sri Lanka Tel Aviv, Ra'anana and Neve Yonatan, now all play each other again in the second round of matches, with Young Ashdod starting in poll position, enjoying a narrow 10-point lead over the second placed Sri Lankans and a healthy 31 point advantage over defending champions Ra'anana who lie in third. Meanwhile Petah Tikva ended their season on a high, defeating Dimona A by a massive 188 runs.

Batting first in Ashdod on Saturday, Young Ashdod stumbled to 161 for nine, thanks almost entirely to 75 from Danny Malyankar, declaring in order to get maximum bonus points should they have gone on to win, and backing their bowlers to defend what was a relatively small score. Rangers began well enough, openers Herschel Gutman (35) and Eliezer Samson (23) putting on 65 for the first wicket, but once the first wicket fell the rest went like dominoes, all out for 116.