It was a round of big rivalries and nail-biting finishes, with many games leaving players on the edge of their seats in a packed Round Four of the JCL.

Rangers captain Aloysius Chathuranga scored his maiden JCL hundred making it the second hundred already from a Rangers player in their win over Max CC.

Spectacular opening bowling from Max’s Dinesh Sandaruwan and Bhanuka Ranathunga knocked off the high-scoring top order, sharing five wickets each, leaving the Rangers looking dead in the water. 118 for eight at one point, the innings’ resurgence came in a 10th wicket stand with Manoj Lakmal (40*) and Chathuranga, who had an incredible captain’s knock of 100 of 70 balls. This 138-run partnership launched the Rangers into a very competitive score of 247 after 40.

Max had a 50-run opening partnership to start the innings positively but from there, they were not able to sustain any long-term partnerships for the remainder of the game.  Dissanayake Malinda top scored at number six with 47 but eventually ran out of partners as the Rangers’ tight bowling unit halted the side to 188 all out.

The Alpha Quashers got their first win of the season in a big way, beating the Wyverns in a one-run thriller. 

Batting first, the Alpha Quashers’ top four did a great job setting up their side for a big score led by Rohit Kesari, scoring 59. To the Wyverns’ credit, they did not let any of the batters get away, Kohei Kubota the pick of the bowlers ending with figures of three for 32. Sadly, 30 extras did not help the Wyverns’ cause, as the Alpha Quashers ended on an above-par score of 229 for six from 40 overs.

Wyverns got off to the start they needed, opening their innings with a near 100-run partnership through their trusty pairing of Shogo Kimura (58) and Wataru Miyauchi (73). The Wyverns were cruising to the total through JCL’s current leading run scorer Miyauchi, but after he fell, the collapse of all collapses began. Only needing 42 with six wickets in hand, batters four through 10 could only manage of those 41 runs in a game that came down to the last over. Fortunately for the Alpha Quashers this game, luck was on their side.

On the same day, two of Japan’s biggest rivals, Men in Blue and Tokyo Falcons, faced off against each other at Sano One. Winning the toss and batting, the Men in Blue found it hard to score on a slow grass wicket; Raja Jayaram scored a gutsy 31, but the Falcons bowlers, led by Nikhil Pol (three for 22), stormed through the middle order. A couple of valuable ninth and 10th wicket partnerships at the end gave the total a much-needed boost before the Falcons finished them off for just 121.

JCL’s current leading wicket-taker Vishal Patel and bowling partner Prasanth Manvi then ripped through the Falcons high scoring batters, taking seven wickets between them. At 41 for seven MIB looked down and out, however, Abhi Telang, batting at nine, gave the team hope by adding 45. It was however, too little too late as the Men in Blue bowled Falcons out for just 103, thanks to Patel’s four-wicket haul, to win by a close 18 runs.

The biggest upset of the year came from the Paddy Foleys overcoming the seemingly unbeatable Tigers on Sunday, 21st May. 

After a tough start, the Paddy Foleys clawed their way back into a strong position batting in the first innings. Led by Waseem Javed (53), the middle and lower order made valuable contributions on their way to a strong total of 233 all out from the full 40 overs. Last year’s Player of the Year, Sabaorish Ravichandran, once again led from the front with bowling figures of eight overs, three for 22.

Tigers were cruising in the first 20 overs, as they were 157 for two before, thanks to Ajay Thakur’s 63 and Ravichandran’s quickfire 34 off 18. Both were then dismissed with the score still at 157, but at 189 for five with 14 overs to go, confidence remained high in the Tigers camp, but that quickly turned. A team bowling effort from the Paddy Foleys caused a flurry of wickets in the last 10 overs resulting in bowling out the opposition out 22 runs short of the total.

Sano had a tight win over the Rising Stars.

The Risings Stars’ batting innings gained momentum after a slow start with a solid 70-run partnership between Mdruhul Kabir (26) and Md Alamgir (53). Furthermore, Abuhasnat Alam (34) added some valuable runs at the end however, Sano’s top-order bowlers Reo Sakurano-Thomas and Kazumasa Hiratsuka, took three wickets each with economies under three, restricting the side to 159 all out.

In spite of a couple of early hiccups, Sano’s chase was looking good, Sakurano-Thomas (53) and Souta Wada (25) built a strong partnership at two for 95. When Sakurano-Thomas fell, a pile of wickets in the middle order followed, making for a tight ending. Zubair Khan (24) calmed all the faces on the Sano sideline, however, as he guided his team home, winning the game by two wickets and launching Sano to the top of the table.

A high-scoring affair between the longest rivalry in the JCL, The Chiba Sharks, and the Tokyo Wombats rounded off the final game of round four.

In the annual fixture played at the Mount Fuji ground, Chiba Sharks batted first and posted a very competitive first innings total of 257 for eight. The top scorers for the side included Ibrahim Takashi (78), Dhugal Bedingfield (41), and Tsuyoshi Takada (39) to set up an enticing chase.

Wombats had the dream start with the two opening stalwarts RIchie Bracefield (69) and Alex Shirai-Patmore (66), posting a 123-run first-wicket partnership. The game flipped on its head when the first breakthrough struck, and then Muneeb Siddique gave his Sharks side a big boost, taking four wickets and dismantling the middle order. The Sharks eventually bowled the Wombats all out for 189, and with that win, moved into the top four in the standings.

Points Table: HERE