Dimona C skittle Petah Tikva for just 17; Sri Lanka Tel Aviv too strong for Ashdod A

The race for third place in the Division 2 Blue Group is wide open after the two bottom teams going into last weekend, Ra'anana 2 and Dimona C both won for the first time this season to move up the table. The two teams meet in their final round one games with the winner likely to secure the third spot and a place in the upper group of round two, after Petah Tikva, slipped down the table after slipping up, or rather crashing down, to a 9-wicket defeat in Dimona on Saturday, after scoring just 17.

There isn't all that much to write about a game that lasted all of 13 overs in total. The only actual highlight for Petah Tikva, who had shown such a remarkable improvement this season, was winning the toss. But their decision to bat first backfired spectacularly, as Roger Goslaker top scored with five, nine players scored ducks and one remained nought not out. Thank goodness for the wides which took their total to 17. Jacky Divekar (five for 12) and David Talkar (four for five) must have felt like Ambrose and Walsh. Although Safania Nagavkar became the tenth duck of the match (anybody want to check the world records to see if this is a new one?) when he was bowled by Manoj Patel, Dimona C duly completed a nine wicket win in just four overs.

In a match played Friday in Hadar Yosef, Ra'anana 2 defeated Lions Be'er Sheva by 39 runs, with captain Anthony Harris, with 69 with the bat and then three for 31 with the ball, leading by example. The Ra'anana innings of 193 was built almost entirely around a 2nd wicket stand of 159 between Harris and Josh Evans (73), before Ronen Waskar (five for 24) bamboozled his way through the rest of the order. In reply, Lions lost wickets at regular intervals, never managing a substantial partnership, 34 for the last wicket was almost the highest of the innings, dismissed for 154.

In one Division 1 league game played over the weekend in Ashdod, Ashdod A remain rooted to the bottom of the table after a 99-run win to Sri Lanka Tel Aviv. The visitors scored 218/9 declared, Amishka Nimentha scoring 50 and Indika Alwis 45, before dismissing Ashdod for 119. Sudith Priyasantha took four for 36, with just Menashe Wadhawker (43) offering any resistance for the home team.